Kevin Powell released a statement earlier today commenting on his loss to Ed Towns in the NY-10 Democratic primary last week. The statement touches all the bases such a release should. It thanks the volunteers and the donors and voters. It also states quite clearly that Powell is indeed running again in 2012, whether against Edolphus or his son Darryl.
We also know all residents deserve representation that will speak loudly on their behalf around matters like affordable housing, education, healthcare, jobs, and ending the war in Iraq. And we know these residents deserve representation that does not campaign for just the last few days of a campaign cycle. And we know that all the voter intimidation, manipulation, and suddenly broken voter machines were not mere coincidence. Nor were the attacks on my character that appeared in certain newspapers and websites. Nor is it a coincidence that Mr. Towns refused to debate one single time, in spite of repeated calls for a public hearing about the issues. Elected officials like Congressman Ed Towns do not believe in democracy. They believe in maintaining their power and privilege, at the expense of the American people, by any means necessary. So we will never know, for sure, what the real vote count was, because this was never a fair campaign from the very beginning.
That is why I am proud to say I will be a candidate for Congress again in 2010. The campaign has already begun because of you.
It has begun because of all the outpouring of love and encouragement I have received from you, the people, here in Brooklyn, in other parts of New York City, and from across the country. All the phone calls, emails, text messages, and snail mail has been so incredibly humbling and gratifying. Sometimes when you are in the middle of a very serious campaign for political office, you have no idea how many people care, how many people want you to win, how many people believe in you and your team and the desire to see a movement for change across America. And I am especially grateful to the multicultural army of younger people who worked on our campaign, who voted, who told me this is the first time they actually took politics seriously. I say to the young people, in particular, do not give up, and do not forget that it has always been younger people, in America, and around the world, who make change happen. Together, we will win in 2010.
We the people are the leadership we are waiting for in Brooklyn, in America, and we are not going to let anyone turn us around. I have learned so much from this experience, am so grateful for the amazing people I have met, and I don't care if I am running against Mr. Towns in 2010 or his son, Assemblyman Darryl Towns. We are going to end the business and cycle of family politics and shameless nepotism in Brooklyn once and for all.
Just as Abraham Lincoln lost nearly a dozen political campaigns before becoming president of the United States, just as Barack Obama lost a Congressional campaign in 2000 before becoming the Barack Obama of today, we are going to take this 2008 campaign as a necessary step toward victory in 2010.
I sure hope he learned some stuff about campaigns and campaigning this year.
Tonight there were more than a few surprises at the ballot box. The Senate's longest-serving incumbent, Martin Connor was beaten by progressive newcomer, Dan Squadron. Alice Kyrzan took atvantage of the Davis-Powers mudfight to pull a Kerry in Iowa. Incubents Ed Towns and Sheldon Silver won their re-election bids by roughly 2-1. And happily, Bronx Senator Efrain Gonzalez, who is facing federal corruption charges, was defeated by fomer Councilman Pedro Espada Jr.
As I have been covering the AD-64 race with the most interest, here are a few observations. First off, Shelly does have a Republican opponent, and let me say that I wholehartedly endorse him against his Republican opponent. While we Democrats have the privilege of being picky in our primaries, even the worst Democrats are better than even the best Republicans any day. Vote Sheldon Silver in November.
Secondly, I am hoping Shelly can learn from this primary fight. Shelly had a roughly 30-1 cash advantage against his opponents, and more importantly, he had the backing of the WFP and every union that decided to endorse in that race. He also had almost every member of the Assembly and their staffs pounding the payment, taxpayer-funded constituent mailers, and $7 million worth of pork to slather his district with. Newell had 40 volunteers, zero endorsements by any elected officials, and an office rented in a dance studio. Shelly also had the downtown Democratic clubs and there were people handing out pro-Shelly literature on virtually every corner of that district today. And still 1/3 of the Democrats in his district cast votes against him. Shelly did about 10 points better than Martin Connor did in 2006 (who was facing a much better financed opponent), and we know what happened to Connor tonight.
To his credit, after Shelly's leadership was challenged from within his caucus in 2002, he got the message and changed his behavior afterwards. Let's hope he draws the same lessons from today. If he actually starts passing rules reform in his house and works with out soon-to-be Democratic Senate to pass campaign finance reform and redistricting reform, it will be because of this courageous primary challenge by Paul Newell. And let me say also, that if Shelly does these things, I will stop railing against him on a daily basis on this blog. But he has to do those things first.
On another note, the real winner tonight was the WFP. I don't think they lost a single race where they endorsed. Very impressive.
And finally, I am looking forward to having a real reformer going to Albany in January by the name of Dan Squadron. For a challenger to beat the former minority leader by almost 10 points is almost hard to describe in its impressiveness. With a victory like this, Albany will have to take notice of Squadron's 11-point plan for reform, which includes Clean Money Clean Elections, redistricting reform, and rules reform. I'm looking forward to Squadron taking this plan forward with the same force as did in his enormously successful campaign.
So celebrate tonight everyone, because we live in a democracy where we can have these discussions in public without fear of government retribiution. Even if your candidate lost, you can't argue with the voters having their say.
The Hasidic communities of South Williamsburg in Brooklyn are once again making their presence known in key primary races. The race between SD-25 challenger Dan Squadron and incumbent Marty Connor could very well be decided by who those communities choose to support and early indications are that they are divided in their loyalties. The factions have been warring since 1999 when the sect split in a succession dispute and that split has also influenced their political participation. Liz has a story about the electoral dimensions of the dispute in this morning's Daily News.
A warring Brooklyn Hasidic sect is divided in a key Democratic state Senate primary that involves some of the city's most powerful political figures - and could affect the '09 mayoral race.
The Satmar faction led by Williamsburg-based Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum rebuffed an eleventh-hour plea by Mayor Bloomberg to support his candidate, political newcomer Daniel Squadron, in the 25th Senatorial District.
Zalman loyalists are backing Squadron's target, incumbent Sen. Martin Connor, who is championed by Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
The Zalman camp received a visit last week from Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey. He pleaded Squadron's case, but left without a deal, said a source close to Zalman's political adviser, Rabbi David Niederman. Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser declined to comment.
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Meanwhile, followers of Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum - who is based in Kiryas Joel in Orange County but has a presence in Williamsburg - are supporting Squadron.
In these low turnout NYC primaries, the Hasidim are often able to exert great influence and, in a race as close as the SD-25 race is expected to be, their votes could be the difference. The UJCARE folks claim they turned out 10,000 people last night at a rally for Squadron and the UJO folks are sticking with Connor at the request of Brooklyn Dem Boss Vito Lopez.
Another race where the Hasidim could prove the difference is the primary race between challenger Kevin Powell and incumbent Ed Towns. The northwest part of the district holds a large part of the South Williamsburg Hasidim. Powell has been aggressively, if not rather clumsily courting them and it seems he's made at least some progress. That said, though there is some anger at Towns in the Satmar community, he's a known quantity to to many.
Both of these races could swing on Satmar votes. Which factions will show up and who they support could very well be decisive.
This Tuesday, unless your incumbent legislator is personally known to you to be a genuine reformer (2 names come to mind: Senator Bill Perkens and Assemblyman Jim Brennan), vote for the challenger. Here are some endorsements in selective races.
SD-25:
This primary pits newcomer Dan Squadron against longtime incumbent and former Senate Minority Leader Martin Connor. Connor was sacked by his conference in 2002 because of his perceived failure to challenge the Republicans agressively enough either in the caucus or at the ballot box.
28-year-old Squadron is promising to make significant reforms to the Albany game. He is has also refused to accept PAC, corporate, and lobbyist money for his campaign.
It's too bad Shelly has 2 challengers who will likely split the opposition vote. Of those 2 challengers, Paul Newell is the stronger one. In the last filing he raised $40,015 to Henry's $510. He has deep roots in the district and is waging an energetic campaign. Newell has been endorsed by the New York Times, the Daily News, the Downtown Express, the Villager, and has the necessary grassroots operation to even have a chance of pulling off the upset of Silver. It's time to send a message to Albany that the ridiculousness ends now, with a strong message to the upper eschelons of power. Justin Sullivan, a filmmaker, is making a documentary about this race- let's give that movie a happy ending.
This congressional primary pits longtime Democratic Congressman Edolphus Towns against former "Real World" star and activist, Kevin Parker. Towns had some serious "wtf" votes considering he represents one of the most Democratic districts in the country, including his vote for the Bankruptcy Bill and for CAFTA. On the Bankruptcy Bill alone, Towns deserves to lose his job. Powell has a compelling life story and appears he will be a good representative for Brooklyn's 10th District.
Elsewhere: As mentioned earlier, our legislature is the worst in the country. Unless you can personally vouch for your incumbent legislator (there are maybe 5 or 10 incumbents that deserve to be re-elected), vote for the challenger. It's time for some long-overdue accountbility in Albany.
Kevin Powell has come out with a video targeting his primary opponent Rep. Edolphus Towns over Towns' acceptance of Big Tobacco contributions and opposition to legislation that would implement bans in public places and regulate menthol in cigarettes.
For some historic perspective, here are the total contributions given to Towns by the tobacco industry from all election cycles dating back to 1990.
TOWNS TOBACCO CONTRIBUTIONS (Information compiled from OpenSecrets.)
1990: $7,850
1992: $21,245 - Towns had the ninth highest total of contributions given by the tobacco industry in this election among all members of the House
1994: $11,500
1996: $6,000
1998: $15,550
2000: $9,500
2004: $1,000
2006: $10,000
2008: $5,000
Here is the aforementioned video from the Powell campaign hitting Towns on his support for Big Tobacco:
- There will be no endorsement in SD-32, as Sen. Ruben Diaz, who has been an opponent of gay causes, did not receive an endorsement from the Stonewall Democrats and because there is no other candidate in the race, no one will get an endorsement.
I know quite a few folks who were going to this thing last night and it sounds like NY-10 primary challenger Kevin Powell had assembled a pretty good crowd. The candidate was there. About 500 people were there. The headliner? Not so much.
It was no joke.
More than 500 people waiting for a performance by funnyman Dave Chappelle for a political fund-raiser were stunned when he didn't show.
The event at Eugene, a hip-hop club on W. 24th St., was for Kevin Powell, who's challenging incumbent Edolphus Towns for a congressional seat in Brooklyn.
Doors opened at the club at 7 p.m., but shortly after 10 p.m., Powell, 42, faced the inevitable.
"We got a call saying he has missed his first flight and he was trying to catch a second flight, and he didn't catch that one," he said.
Powell said those who bought tickets can come to his next fund-raiser.
DFNYC recently held an endorsement vote in the Democratic primary races for US Congress in District 10 (Brooklyn) and NY State Assembly
in District 64 (lower Manhattan), Democracy for NYC members voted to endorse:
Kevin Powell, running against incumbent Congressman Ed Towns in District 10: 72%.
Luke Henry, running against incumbent State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and Paul Newell in District 64: 67%.
DFNYC also held an endorsement vote in the State Senate race in District 25, but neither Senator Martin Connor nor Daniel Squadron achieved the 60% necessary for the DFNYC endorsement.
I'm puzzled by the Henry endorsement, ambivalent about the Powell endorsement and truly baffled by the lack of an endorsement in SD-25.
Former cast member of "The Real World" and self-described hip hop activist Kevin Powell, who bowed out early from a 2006 congressional bid against Rep. Ed Towns in the 10th CD, plans to formally announce his 2008 campaign this Sunday.
Powell's campaign slogan is (as it was in '06): "The leadership we are waiting for is us," which is very Barack Obamaesque.
Powell will have his own blog, although there is only a few posts on there right now.
But Powell will have a huge challenge on his hands. Towns has received at least 90 percent of the vote in each of his last six elections. This will not be an easy race for him.
