Dean Skelos really hates Craig Johnson.
So much so that he dropped over $1Million into Barbara Donno's flailing campaign from the Republican Senate Campaign Committee.
And it wasn't just a loss, it was a big loss 56-44.
So how much did it cost Donno to get creamed like that?
The final financial filings aren't in yet but her run so far cost $1,395,432. That ends up at $28 per vote for 49,050 votes.
Craig Johnson's re-election cost $657.052 which is $10 per vote for 63,470 votes.
I'm sure Upstate and Queens republicans would like to know if a personal grudge was worth the expense.
Skelos and crew dropped more than $800,000* on Barbara Donno's bid against Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington). She lost Plandome Manor, where she's mayor, early tallies say.
I'm sure Frank Padavan thanks you, Senator Skelos.
The new Siena Polls on four state Senate Races are out this morning and it is a decidedly mixed bag.
7th SD - Nassau County - Craig Johnson (D, incumbent) vs. Barbara Donno (R)
Johnson has a 50-35 percent lead over Donno, down from a 49-25 percent lead in the previous Siena New York Poll. Johnson has the support of more than three-quarters of Democrats, while Donno has the support of more than two-thirds of Republicans. Johnson has a nearly two-to-one lead among independent voters, 50-28 percent, up from 36-24 percent in the last poll. Donno's overall gain in the poll comes largely from Republican voters, where she went from leading 47-28 percent, to now leading 68-19 percent.
Johnson is viewed favorably by 40 percent and unfavorably by 28 percent of voters (36-17 percent last poll). Donno currently has a 29-23 percent favorable rating (16-9 percent last poll).
...
37th SD - Westchester County - Suzi Oppenheimer (D, incumbent) vs. Liz Feld (R)
Oppenheimer has maintained a large 64-29 percent lead over Feld, down slightly from 61-24 percent in the previous poll. While Oppenheimer has support from 88 percent of Democrats, Feld is only winning among Republicans 64-30 percent. Oppenheimer has a better than two-to-one, 59-28 percent, lead among independent voters. Oppenheimer leads in every region and with virtually every demographic group.
...
56th SD - Monroe County - Joseph Robach (R, incumbent) vs. Richard Dollinger (D)
Robach leads Dollinger 52-39 percent, edging up slightly from 49-38 percent in the last poll. Robach has the support of 84 percent of Republicans and 34 percent of Democrats in this district with a large Democratic enrollment edge. Dollinger has the support of 55 percent of Democrats and 13 percent of Republicans. Robach leads among independent voters 56-37 percent, up from 46-34 percent. Dollinger leads by 11 points in Rochester and eight points in Brighton, however, Robach leads 67-27 percent in Greece and Parma.
...
Obama has a commanding 61-32 percent lead over McCain.(!)
Volker has a 50-39 percent lead over Konst, down six points from the last poll, when he led 50-33 percent. Volker has the support of three-quarters of Republicans, while Konst wins among Democrats 60-28 percent. Konst now leads among independent voters 47-40 percent, after trailing with these voters 43-28 percent previously. Volker has a small three - point lead in the Erie County portion of the district and a large 23-point lead in the Livingston/Ontario/Wyoming Counties portion of the district.
Much, much work to do. If you are in or near the 56th or the 59th, now is the time to get off the bench. I still think that the Rocbach/Dollinger race is going to turn largely on the Obama GOTV effort. Obama leads McCain 2-1 in that district and the urban parts of Rochester are going to be key. If you are anywhere near there, now is the time to get involved. This is a winnable race, folks.
(Dear Senator Skelos, please keep spending big money on this race. Thanks so much. - promoted by phillip anderson)
Skelos is pulling out all the stops for Donno to defeat Craig Johnson. According to the 11 Day Pre-General filing, Dean through the republican senate campaign committee paid for ads and such with $244,294.00 for Babs on October 20th. That's $882,821 total in cash from Albany.
But wait! There's more!
In October she got even more money in direct contributions to her campaign!
10/2/08 - $89,900
10/9/08 - $29,370
10/15/08 - $85,000
The GRAND TOTAL is $1,087,091
For a candidate who says she isn't a "typical politician" and promises to "... work to be your voice in Albany", taking over a MILLION DOLLARS from Albany isn't the way to do that.
We're looking at over 90% of Donno's campaign money coming from Dean Skelos and the Albany republicans.
Donno is bought and paid for by Dean Skelos so don't expect her to do anything except be what Skelos wants her to be.
To say that GOP money sop Barbara Donno's ridiculous ad released yesterday a was a "streeeeeetch" woul be something of a rather profound understatement. The Donno ad was simply beyond ridiculous, though I'm beyond happy that Dean Skelos continues to dump big bucks into this race. Srsly, Dean, you rule.
Craig Johnson is out with a new ad of his own today and it is remarkable for ads in this race in that it appears to be rather free of complete and utter BS.
Port Washington cops last night arrested a 22-year-old man who's been paid as a campaign consultant to Nassau Republican Senate candidate Barbara Donno (left), charging him with the theft of re-election signs for her opponent, Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington).
He's identified as Vincent Jeffrey, 22, of Manhasset.
Donno campaign spokesman Bryan Hurst described this as the action of "an overzealous campaign supporter" who has been suspended from the campaign without pay and who he said "obviously" wasn't acting on the orders of higherups.
The Johnson campaign gives this account, calling it a "new low" for Donno: "A Johnson campaign volunteer caught a person matching Jeffrey's description attempting to take a sign from Port Washington Blvd., just north of Wakefield Avenue, during Thursday's morning rush hour. The campaign later discovered that 70 to 100 Senator Johnson signs, many along Port Washington Blvd. and Searingtown Road, turned up missing within that same time period. Nearly all of them were replaced by Donno signs."
"The campaign volunteer was able to get the license plate number from the silver convertible the person was driving and a complaint was filed with police... Jeffrey was found with some of the missing signs in his possession and placed under arrest, according to Port Washington Police. Records on file with the New York State Board of Elections show that Jeffery has been on the Donno campaign's payroll since at least June 19."
Hurst of the Donno campaign said: "This was an overzealous campaign supporter who acted obviously outside the campaign...He has since been suspended without pay.
"Previous to this incident, the Town of North Hempstead Republican Party filed a complaint with the Port Washington Police Dept. stating that our signs had been stolen."
Normally, it would be easier for me to swallow the whole "overzealous staffer" thing. But, given the overtly dishonest campaign Donno has so far run, I'm not so sure.
(It's what they do. - promoted by phillip anderson)
The ever-desperate campaign of Babs Donno trips over itself again and again. This time Donno comes out swinging at the wind attacking Craig Johnson over Assembly Speaker Silver talking about bringing back the communter tax. Never mind that Johnson opposes the commuter tax. Donno never lets a fact get in her way.
Senate candidate Barbara Donno doesn't identify herself as a republican. You 'd be hard pressed to find it spelled out on her website or mentioned in her TV ads or in her mailings. On election day, she'll have the word "Republican" spelled out under her name.
How can republican candidates like Donno run like mad from her party name and still have a party designation?
Do what Gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi is doing in Washington State.
As if you needed any more proof this week that Republicans can't handle money, take a look at where Dean Skelos has been blowing his campaign committee's money so far this cycle. He's spent close to $1.3 million on Barbara Donno ($650K in SD-7) and David Renzi ($600K in SD-48). The result? Their candidates are being crushed by 20 points or more. It seems that Skelos just can't let the SD-7 race go, as he continues to pour money into a vendetta race against Craig Johnson. As for SD-48, I guess they just can't get over the fact that they lost a seat they'd held since the 19th century and must feel that they are owed it or something. Darrel Aubertine appears to have sealed the deal with the good people of the district and even $600K doesn't seem to have changed that perception all that much.
The point is that that money is gone. It's not coming back. Dean has dropped well over million bucks on two long shots and has gotten two blowouts in return.
Of course, this all pales in comparison to the nearly $1 million, give or take a cup of coffee or two, that Dean has dumped into defending Serph Maltese. That's a lot of money and it's only September. The result? A dead heat against 20 year incumbent. A million bucks and Maltese is still in real serious trouble.
With mad fiscal skillz like these, is it any wonder our state budget is in such a mess?
Republican challenger to Sen. Craig Johnson has received $462,000 in direct contributions from the New York Senate Republican Campaign Committee so far.
There is also the money spent by the SRCC on Donno's behalf which adds up to $196,527.
(The latest from Barbara Donno, our very own Sarah Palin. - promoted by phillip anderson)
For someone who says "I'm not your typical politician" and "I learned that we are all fed-up with politics as usual, partisan sniping and outright character assassination- especially when that's what we get instead of progress" she sure doesn't live up to that.
For a local race, Donno has brought sleaze to a new level. And considering her party in Nassau, that says alot.
What does Republican Barbara Donno, who is running a doomed campaign against Sen. Craig Johnson, and Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin have in common?
Well, two things:
(1) They are or were mayors of very small towns
AND
(2) They both like (or liked) to spend their town's money over the amount that was budgeted.
At the end of Barbara's first year as mayor, March 2008, the budget line for legal expenses was $114,904 over the $60,000 amount budgeted for the year. That is almost exactly the same amount that was spent by the previous mayor for his entire two-year term. This means that the village's legal expenses went from being an item that represented only 9 percent of the budget and grew to 18 percent in one short year. Mayor Donno offers residents an excuse that litigation is costly and she inherited these expenses. Oddly enough, when Barbara Donno brought an Article 78 Proceeding against the village during her predecessor's administration, the legal fees didn't rise dramatically. By the way, our former village counsel, who won that legal proceeding, worked for 10 years with three mayors. Mrs. Donno replaced him to hire a longtime associate of hers as village counsel. She will say that the board of trustees approved her appointment. That is true as far as it goes; the trustees' vote was split, so Barbara's vote was the deciding factor. In her "year in review" letter to Village residents and currently on the website, Mrs. Donno admitted, "The issue of these costs remains a concern to me..."
You also have to look at the quality of advice the board of trustees and mayor received for this very costly service. The village had a road study performed by an outside engineering firm to address safety concerns raised by residents. At the June 26, 2007, board of trustees meeting, the board approved the recommendations. Mrs. Donno cast the deciding vote. But the recommendations have not been completely implemented yet. Why hasn't counsel advised the board that this failure to improve safety conditions leaves the village with a greater liability should an accident occur in the area studied?
In late August, 2007, Mayor Donno called an unscheduled meeting of the board to approve the issuance of a bond for a large road project. There was no notice given to residents; personally I thought the meeting was held illegally and refused to vote at that time. It was interesting that counsel was not present at that unscheduled meeting. One of our village residents wrote a Letter to the Editor of the Manhasset Press saying the "hastily called meeting is irresponsible..."
On July 17, 2008, a Legal Notice appeared in the Manhasset Press giving notice of a zoning board hearing that evening. These notices are supposed to appear at least a week in advance; why wasn't counsel reminding the village that this was inappropriate and leaving the village open to litigation?
When she ran for mayor, Barbara's campaign letter referred to the newly revised Code of Laws passed in 2005 and 2006 and said "ensure that they are necessary and appropriate for our village." Only minor changes have been made since Barbara took office. Did the previous mayor and board do such a good job, or is she afraid to spend the money it would take to have her counsel do a review?
That same letter complained about permit fees. Barbara's term of office is almost three quarters over. If she hasn't been able to reduce the fees in this small village, how does she expect to do it in New York State?
It amazes me how the Democrats always get the label of "tax and spend" when the Republicans are the real tax and spenders. Someone once debated with me the difference between "fiscal responsibility" and "fiscal conservative", saying that they were one in the same. I beg to differ, considering the Republicans will call themselves "fiscal conservatives" only to tax towns, counties, states and countries into oblivion.
Barbara Donno: Just another tax and spend Republican.
Yesterday we reported on the minor party ballot line shenanigans in SD-7, where two parties, the Working Families Party and the local Independence Party both wanted Freshman Senator Craig Jonson on their lines only to end up with Johnson off the WFP line and with challenger Barbara Donno taking the Indy line at the insistence of the state Indys. WFP chief Dan Cantor released this statement late yesterday afternoon:
"Senate Republicans used the courts to circumvent the democratic process and the will of Working Families Party members in the 7th Senate District."
"Senator Johnson has been a champion of middle and working class values, and has worked tirelessly to make sure that their issues and concerns are heard in Albany. No matter what line his name will be on in November, he will continue to have the support of the Working Families Party, and more importantly, the support of the hard-working men and women in his district."
"We have no doubt that Craig Johnson will be re elected to the State Senate."
More fun with minor party ballot lines in the 7th. Liz is reporting that the Appellate Division 2nd Judicial Department has ruled unanimously that freshman Senator Craig Johnson will be kept off the Working Families line. This is ironic in that the WFP is a big reason why Johnson is a Senator today and they endorsed him again 2008. The court also ruled that his challenger, Barbara Donno, will keep the Independence Party line even though the local IP has endorsed Johnson as well.
(Lots of info in this post. This smells pretty bad. - promoted by phillip anderson)
Dan Janison at the Newsday Spin Cycle posted this:
Ruling that Sen. Craig Johnson's campaign violated proper petitioning practices, State Supreme Court Justice Karen V. Murphy has thrown the Nassau Democrat off the Working Families Party's November ballot line. If the ruling stands, it will be the second time this election season that Johnson lost a minor-party endorsement that he'd appeared to have secured. The first occurred when the GOP-aligned state Independence Party recently changed its bylaws as a prelude to overruling its county committee to nominate the Republican challenger, Barbara Donno.
Now all this seems like normal petition stuff, until you realize who the judge is in this case. Karen V. Murphy was before ascending to the bench, the Republican County Clerk in Nassau. More to the point, the current County Clerk, Maureen O'Connell, was Judge Murphy's close political ally and her hand picked successor to the Clerk's office. If the name Maureen O'Connell rings a bell, she is the same Maureen O'Connell who lost the special election to Craig Johnson in SD 7.
Well, The Newsday Spincycle had this sad story from SD 7.
Nassau GOP Senate candidate's son accused of DWI
The son of Barbara Donno, the Republican candidate running against Sen. Craig Johnson, was arrested for DWI and pot possession. His photo is on our DWI "wall of shame." Some of the early details are here.
IF this charge holds up in court: Relevance to the race? Impact? Should there be? Your take requested, since we have our doubts. But of course, it's in the news stream now...He appears in her campaign ad and has been active in the campaign.
I think we now have a pretty good idea of how the last Republican State Senate Majority leader of our lifetimes, Dean Skelos, plans to try to hold on to his rather tenuous and doomed majority. Basically, they are planning to hopelessly play offense while they've got incumbents in real, genuine danger and, perhaps most importantly, they are going to run away from their own party and the dysfunction they've helped create over the last 70 years or so.
Take a look at the TV ads that Skelos' crew is funding for three of their challengers. There a number of common themes running through all three of them. First, never will you see one of these candidates identify themselves as a Republican, even though, despite their claims of "independence", the Republican Senate Committee now being run by Skelos is bankrolling these ads. Second, not only will they not identify themselves by party, they are all running against something they refer to as "Albany". I'm assuming this is the same Albany that their party has had a major hand in running into the ground all these years. That's right, these seemingly party-less challengers are all running for the state Senate in order to clean up the very dysfunction that their party, the ones funding the ads, largely helped create and, especially in the case of the GOP controlled Senate, have robustly defended. They do so while claiming to be "independent" leaders called to the fight against a corrupt and out of touch Albany. That's rich.
She's "not a typical politician" who is running because "Albany isn't listening." OK. It should be mentioned that her chances of actually defeating Craig Johnson are slim at best. In reality, this campaign is not much more than a personal vendetta for Skelos and Joe Mondello, both of whom simply haven't gotten over the fact that they lost this seat last year.
Here's an ad by Liz Feld who is running a rather quixotic campaign against Suzi Oppenheimer. You'll see a few of the same themes and notice many of the same omissions:
It should also be noted that Liz Feld's run is just as puzzling as Donno's. She simply isn't going to beat Oppenheimer. It won't even be close, no matter how much money Skelos may choose to dump into it which, given that this race isn't on Long Island, will probably not be anywhere near as much as Donno's.
Finally, check out this ad from SD-48 challenger Dave Renzi. Once again, you'll see the candidate in their home, no mention of party ID and a distinct anti-Albany bent. This one is special though, as it actually mentions the word "dysfunction" and even calls for this year's buzzword, a word Republicans the nation are over are trying desperately to find a way to co-opt, "change." Because, ya know, nothing says "change" in Albany like maintaining the status quo of the GOP Senate majority...
So, there ya go. How does Skelos hope to hang on to his doomed Senate GOP majority? By running away from the fact that there even is a Senate GOP majority and running against the dysfunction perpetuated by the same. He plans to do this by playing offense with long shot (and expensive) candidates who refuse to even identify as Republicans.
This hasn't stopped Skelos and his crew from talking up their chances to reporters though. Check out this gem:
Senate Republicans are privately feeling confident about winning back some seats that they have lost in recent years to the Democrats as they seek to retain control of the Senate majority.
Best of luck with that, Dean. When your whole strategy seems to be to run away from your party and from the facts as they are, that's quite a tall order.
(Travel day for me. But, check this out. I still can't believe that Skelos and Mondello are making a play for SD-7 when they've got incumbents in real jeopardy. This can't be going over well within his caucus. Joe Robach, I'm looking at you... - promoted by phillip anderson)
The mark of a top-tier serious candidate is being able to raise money. Barbara Donno is Skelos' girl to beat Democrat Craig Johnson. And she REALLY is Skelos' girl.
Donno "raised" $400,000 according to her new filing.
The dirty tricks campaign worked but two important things.
1) Johnson has enough signatures for a primary.
2) Johnson won the Special Election without the "I" Line.
Overruling Nassau Chairman Bobby Kumar, the state Independence Party's executive committee is backing GOP state Senate candidate Barbara Donno against Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson.
The panel, meeting in Albany, voted 24-1 for Donno one day after Frank MacKay, state and Suffolk chairman, said he'd support Kumar, who'd petitioned for Johnson. (See previous post here).
"It was decided that this is in the best interest of the state," said MacKay, an ally of Senate Republicans who are fighting to keep a majority. "Having a government with checks and balances is more important than anything else."
Several sources say the Independence Party fears Democratic state domination would curb minor-party power by banning cross-endorsements. "I love New York City," McKay said. "But I don't want the whole state controlled by one party in New York City."
Despite Dean Skelos' little upstate tour last week, it appears that he is still primarily focused on defending his home turf. Skelos has been saying that he and the GOP were coming after freshman Senator Craig Johnson since before he actually took the oath last year. This year that challenge to Johnson seemed to become something of a long shot when they recruited the mayor of Plandome Manor, a village of roughly 800 souls, one Barbara Donno. But, apparently, Skelos is not be deterred from burning precious SRCC resources in the state's most expensive media market in his Ahab-like quest to bring down Johnson.
The SRCC is launching this ad for Donno in which she claims she's not a "typical politician" and in which she says she's running against Albany. She makes no mention of party ID, a wise move this year when the GOP brand is essentially in the toilet, nor that she's running to maintain a GOP majority in the Senate, a major part of the Albany that, in her words, "isn't listening."
The ad itself is pretty unremarkable, but what is interesting is the choice of targets by Skelos and the hapless state GOP chair, the much endangered Joe Mondello, also a Long Islander. With as many as a half dozen GOP Senators in jeapordy, if not more, playing offense in Long Island with a long shot candidate like Donno seems an odd choice, one that may upset many of those threatened incumbents in other parts of the state. Everyone knows that both Skelos and Mondello took it rather personally when they lost the SD-7 special election in February of 2007. It was race they were supposed to win, a race they poured a ton of money into and it happened in their own back yard. Now it would seem that they are willing to spend serious cash to win that seat back with a less than credible candidate. That can't be sitting well with those upstate senators who are genuinely feeling the heat, especially after Skelos was glad handing them in their districts just last week.
