| Congressman Eric Massa was questioned for a few months about why he had not yet endorsed Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. He was asked on weekly press calls and in interviews why he had not endorsed Gillibrand. Simply put, Massa believed that his energy was better spent focused on his district and his work in the House of Representatives.
Massa announced his endorsement of Gillibrand late last week. In reporting the endorsement, Joe Spector over at LoHud posted about Massa's backing of Gillibrand:
As one of the last members of the New York House delegation to back Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's election next year, Rep. Eric Massa, D-Corning, announced today that he will back the junior senator.
A quick education for Mr. Spector. The New York House delegation has 29 members, 26 of which are Democrats. Of those 26 Democrats, 14 have endorsed Gillibrand. Massa isn't "one of the last" members of the New York congressional delegation. Is he one of the latest members to endorse? Yes. But there are 12 other members of the New York House delegation who have yet to endorse.
Here is the list of those who have endorsed:
* Congressman Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
* Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (NY-11)
* Congressman Eliot Engel (NY-17)
* Congressman John Hall (NY-19)
* Congressman Brian Higgins (NY-27)
* Congressman Maurice Hinchey (NY-22)
* Congresswoman Nita Lowey (NY-18)
* Congressman Eric Massa (NY-29)
* Congressman Michael McMahon (NY-13)
* Congressman Gregory Meeks (NY-6)
* Congressman Scott Murphy (NY-20)
* Congressman Ed Towns (NY-10)
* Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez (NY-12)
* Congressman Anthony Weiner (NY-9)
This is the list of New York Democratic House members who haven't endorsed Gillibrand:
- Congressman Gary Ackerman (NY-5)
- Congressman Timothy Bishop (NY-1)
- Congressman Joseph Crowley (NY-7)
- Congressman Steve Israel (NY-2)
- Congressman Dan Maffei (NY-25)
- Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
- Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (NY-4)
- Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-8)
- Congressman Charles Rangel (NY-15)
- Congressman Jose Serrano (NY-16)
- Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-28)
- Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-21)
I see bigger stories than Massa's endorsement here. None of the House members from Long Island have endorsed. Three upstate members - Maffei, Slaughter and Tonko - have not endorsed.
The biggest story? Some of the most prominent members of the delegation haven't touched the race. The aforementioned Slaughter, one of the most powerful members of the House, hasn't endorsed. Nadler hasn't endorsed. Rangel hasn't endorsed.
But what is the media focused on? Whether or not Massa, one of the few freshmen members of the delegation, has endorsed. Even with their focus on it, they managed to drop the ball and consider his endorsement "one of the last" when it was one of the first 14 of 26. |
