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This belongs to you. Take it back...
NY-29 
Mon Mar 09, 2009 at 04:40:22 AM EDT
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Chris Bowers is running out of Democrats to hate. In his latest post, hilariously titled "Eric Massa Votes Against Housing Bill Because He Doesn't Like People Outside His District" he takes Massa, one his progressive heroes during the campaign, out to task for doing what he believed was right for his district...and he didn't do it nicely;
On Thursday, freshman Eric Massa, for whom we helped raise money in 2006, 2007 and 2008, was one of the twenty-four Democrats to vote against the Help Families Stay in Their Homes Act. His reasoning for this vote is self-contradictory, spiteful, hateful, and, dare I say it, borderline unpatriotic.
Yep, he went there.
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Thu Mar 05, 2009 at 21:31:06 PM EST
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This is hilarious, if not completely pathetic. It seems that the NRCC, because they have nothing better to do and things are going so swimmingly for them, has decided to attack 18 freshman Dems, including Dan Maffei and Eric Massa, for, uh, not being Blue Dogs. No, really.
The National Republican Campaign Committee on Thursday went on the attack against 18 freshman Democrats who it said weren't fiscally conservative enough to earn stripes as "Blue Dog" Democrats.
The only problem was the Blue Dogs said those 18 didn't ask to be a part of the group, which is the most fiscally conservative coalition within the Democratic caucus.
That didn't stop the NRCC, which blasted press releases to the hometowns of 18 vulnerable freshman, targeting their votes in favor of the $787 billion economic stimulus bill and the $410 billion omnibus spending measure as running counter to their campaign claims to help restore fiscal responsibility to Washington.
...
"The new membership list of the Blue Dog Coalition for the 111th Congress was released, but self-proclaimed "fiscal conservative" Rep. Harry Teague's name was noticeably absent," a version of the release read. "Despite Teague's rhetoric that he would be a good steward of the taxpayers' dollars in Congress, did the Blue Dog Coalition see Teague's claims as nothing more than empty rhetoric?"
Democrats charged Republicans with trying to score a cheap political point.
"This is yet another fabricated press release sent out by the Republicans who are looking to attack fiscally responsible, commonsense Democrats in the House," said Blue Dog spokeswoman Kristen Hawn. "It is shameless political ploy that has no basis in truth."
Good times.
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Thu Feb 05, 2009 at 10:53:47 AM EST
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Via F29th, Eric Massa has a list of projects that the stimulus might fund in NY-29:
. $95,710,930 for Higher Education School Construction -- SUNY --NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $163,816,000 for Transportation Infrastructure--DOT-NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $11,300 for Energy Infrastructure and Green Jobs--NY Power Authority--NYS Economic Recovery Package
· $11,100,000 for Waste Water Infrastructure--Environmental Facilities Corp--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $17,550,000 for Transportation Infrastructure--NYS Thruway Authority--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $35,000,000 for Clean Water--Department of Health Public Water Supply Protection--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $4,175,000 for State Parks Infrastructure--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $2,282,868 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Main Street Program--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $4,037,500 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Community Development Block Grant--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
· $45,052,732 for Affordable Housing and Community Economic Development--Division of Housing and Community Renewal--NYS Economic Recovery Projects
The Corning Leader (no link, it's subscription only) agrees with Massa's projections:
U.S. Rep. Eric Massa thinks he can get his hands on nearly $380 million to fund projects in the 29th Congressional District.
That jaw dropping amount would come from the $3 billion New York state would receive as part of the proposed federal economic stimulus package approved last week in the House and being debated now in the Senate.
[....]
Massa's predecessor, former U.S. Rep. Randy Kuhl, always took pride in what he brought back to the district and even bragged he had secured $250 million in funding in just his first term. That was impressive then, and would be today.
Massa could surpass that figure in just his first few months and appears determined to do so.
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Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 18:35:17 PM EST
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File this under "O RLY?" It seems the sad-sack dreamers at the NRCC have already started to circulating their, ahem, rather ambitious "target" list for 2010. That list includes five New Yorkers, including all three freshmen.
It makes some sense to me that they'd think they might have a shot at taking back NY-29. It's a pretty red district. Massa is smart and tireless. They'll make a run at him, but they ain't gonna out-hustle the guy.
To take back NY-13, they'd have to, ya know, actually find a candidate, something that turned into quite a soap opera last summer for them. And I don't think they are going to have a realistic shot at Maffei, even as a frosh.
They damn near picked off Arcuri in NY-24 last year, but I don't think that they'll catch him napping again, not to mention D-trip.
Gillibrand has proven to be one hell of a fundraiser and has worked her tail off to seal the deal with her district. She isn't going to be beaten anytime soon. I'm also pretty sure that they won't be lucky enough to find another self funding gazillionaire moron to take her on. Running a credible challenge to Gillibrand is going to cost money. Will they have it? I have my doubts. Even if they do have the moolah, I find it hard to believe they'd dump it into NY-20.
What's interesting to me is who didn't make their list. It seems that the NRCC won't be taking another shot at John Hall in NY-19.
Sorry, Mr. Lalor.
Oh, and I have a feeling that much of their effort in New York just might be sunk into defending NY-3.
Just sayin'.
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Mon Jan 12, 2009 at 15:01:57 PM EST
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Not only has freshman Rep Eric Massa signed on as a co-sponsor of the Employee Free Choice Act, an absolutely vital piece of legislation for American workers, he just released this vigorously unapologetic statement announcing his support:
SYRACUSE, NY - This afternoon, Congressman Eric Massa announced his co-sponsorship of the Employee Free Choice Act, the most critical labor legislation since Davis-Bacon. Having campaigned for four years in support of American Workers, Congressman Massa today took the bold step of publicly declaring his intention to vote for the Employee Free Choice Act. Rep. Massa's announcement came during a speech to the UAW Region 9's Triennial Convention in Syracuse.
"This critical legislation is not anti-business, it is pro-American, period," said Congressman Massa. "The American Labor movement represents, and in fact is, the only remaining force left to help move our country in a new direction toward fair trade and away from destructive open door free trade. I stand, proudly, with my fellow Americans to support the transformation of the domestic automobile industry into the 21st century and I reject the outrageously false attacks that claim living wages, pension security, access to quality affordable health care, safety and dignity in the workplace, are somehow un-American."
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Addressing the UAW audience, Rep. Massa asked, "How many of you make $74 per hour right now?" The audience's answer was silence. "Opponents of organized labor like Senator Corker and Senator Shelby want to make up false 'facts' and 'statistics' like this to try and break the union, but we won't let that happen. These same critics also say that the Employee Free Choice Act will abrogate the ability of workers to have a secret ballot, but we know this is false. I believe it is now time to level the playing field, overcome employer intimidation, and work with business hand in hand to defend what generations of Americans have put in place - the American Dream."
Well put, Congressman.
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Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 20:56:21 PM EST
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Fighting29th has a very good summary of Eric Massa's online fundraising efforts:
According to ActBlue, the Democratic fundraising site, Eric Massa raised an astonishing $724K from over 12,000 donors online. That's an average of about 50 bucks per donor.
[....]
Last cycle, Massa raised $415K from around 7,200 ActBlue supporters.
[....]
Some might object to ActBlue on the grounds that it allows influence from outside the district. But that's true of most of the money in contested Congressional campaigns. Union and corporate PACs contributions, party money and donations from sitting Members of Congress poured into this race. The difference between that money and ActBlue contributions is that the former comes with strings attached.
ActBlue, like Obama's millions of small donors, is a better way to finance campaigns, and we'll be seeing more of this kind of financing in future races.
The big questions, moving forward, are how much will Act Blue grow in terms of donations, what can be done to further increase progressive giving oline, and will Republicans catch up in terms of online outreach?
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Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 16:36:02 PM EST
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(Might as well... - promoted by phillip anderson)
Now that we know who won and who lost this year, it's easier to take a whack at 2012 redistricting. Redistricting NYC I'll leave to the people who understand the Racial barriers, but suffice to say we'll keep control of all of the seats.
Context: NY stands to lose 2 seats this year, and by pure population, one will almost inevitably have to come from the Albany area, while the other will have to come from NYC. It is nearly impossible to draw a map without Albany losing the upstate seat, and truly impossible to draw a map where upstate loses 2 seats; there are just too many people upstate.
I took a whack at it; this map is crude: the district lines are not precise; the districts don't all have exactly 770,000 714,000 people in them (the new target number), and Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany are all split in this map, it's kind of hard to tell. Also, I may have drawn congressmen outside of their seats, this was unintentional.
Most importantly, this map leaves Upstate with 1 Republican, as Chris Lee could not hold the seat I drew for him.
Criticize away.
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Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 13:46:10 PM EST
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Following up on Massa's announcement that he has won in N-29, Randy Kuhl has conceded:
I would like to congratulate my opponent on his victory. A few moments ago, I called Eric Massa to congratulate him on being elected to the 111th Congress.
[....]
This race was a close and tough battle to the end, and today I urge all of my supporters to give Congressman-elect Eric Massa the support and encouragement that he will need to carry out the great tasks that he will face in the 111th Congress. This country is facing an uphill battle. Our economy faces historic and unprecedented challenges, and we must unite to find the solutions that our country needs.
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Fri Nov 21, 2008 at 13:05:18 PM EST
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Congressman-elect Eric Massa held a press call today and announced that all the votes have been tallied and he is the winner in the 29th congressional district.
Massa mentioned in his opening remarks that Rep. Randy Kuhl had called to congratulate Massa and offered his staff and services to make the transition a smooth one.
 Here are Massa's opening remarks:
With all the votes counted, I am humbled by accepting the votes and the victory to represent the 29th congressional district in the 111th Congress in Washington D.C.
Let me first start by saying that I just received a gracious phone call from Congressman Randy Kuhl. I'd like to thank him for his many years of public service at the local, state and federal levels and for the tremendous services that he has rendered to the thousands of constituents he has helped in his tenure of public service. His has been a long and honorable stewardship of these public offices. We owe him our thanks and I'm deeply appreciative of his contributions. He recently, in the last few minutes, called me and very graciously pledged his staff and himself in an effort of very orderly transition. I have committed myself, at his convenience, along with the convenience of my staff to do the same to work hand in glove to make this transition as smooth as possible for the citizens and the voters of the district who are highlighting any specific case work or needs that may be. So again, a sincere thank you to Congressman Kuhl.
I'd also like to thank my wife and family, our many, many thousands of supporters who ran and participated in a true grassroots campaign. Make no illusions about it: This race has never been about me. It has always been about stewardship of a very important office and that office's value is what can be done to improve the lives of the citizens of this district and the economy and national security of our great country. I am very, very humbled by the faith that all have placed in me and I look forward to striving to my utmost to achieve the goals that have been laid out.
Massa also took a number of questions from members of the media, including a two-part question I asked him about health care and where it stands on the list of priorities for the 111th Congress and for Massa. Here was his answer:
I believe that health care and the economy are two sides to the same coin. They are absolutely, positively, one in the same. Getting it right as we move forward to reform our national health care policy is part of the necessity of moving forward to rebuild our economy. I see that they're both - from what I saw in Washington - at the highest priority level, very closely linked and I will work hard to keep it there.
Massa also took questions about the economy and addressed the possibility of a bailout for automakers.
Eric Massa is ready. He is ready to lead and read to become a member of the 111th Congress. He will bring a sensible voice to Washington on many issues and also will provide his district with real, progressive leadership that they have lacked.
Congratulations to Eric Massa for his official victory today.
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Wed Nov 19, 2008 at 20:17:20 PM EST
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There's a bit of good news on our long, dragged-out congressional races here in Central NY/Southern Tier. Hanna has finally conceded, acknowledging that Mike Arcuri has narrowly won reelection. I'd link to the Oneida Observer-Dispatch article, but it hardly seems worth it-- it's only 1 sentence long, just says he conceded.
Still no words of concession from Randy Kuhl, though, even though he could not possibly win the seat even if he were to get every single absentee and military ballot still left to count.
Update: Sean, in comments, sends the link to a more complete Oneida Observer-Dispatch (correction to newspaper name noted) article.
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Sat Nov 15, 2008 at 17:13:47 PM EST
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The latest on the vote count in the NY-29 race breaks down like this:
Massa's lead: 5,740
Absentee ballots as yet uncounted: <6,000
Do you think Kuhl might be gracious and concede? Nah, that might be making it too easy for Eric Massa to handle his PR as he heads into the transition. That's ok, Massa and his staff can handle it. As per Rochester's Democrat and Chronicle:
Massa's news releases refer to him as "Congressman-elect Eric Massa" and he will attend orientation for freshman members of the House of Representatives next week, his campaign confirmed Friday.
On the flip, text of a message from Massa's campaign.
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 at 17:06:36 PM EST
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The Fighting 29th updates us on the progress of the Massa-Kuhl vote-counting court order, with Monroe County's ballots starting to be counted today, and other counties the 17th (Monday). If the Monroe paper ballot count is overwhelming, as it may be, we could see Kuhl's concession speech any time now. Can't wait!
Meanwhile, other interesting news tidbits about NY-29 continue to trickle in... like, the Corning Leader article announcing the overturning, on appeal, of trespassing charges against 5 anti-war activists for sitting in at Randy Kuhl's office when he would not see them or accept their petition.
The group was among some 20 people who went to Kuhl's Buell Street office Aug. 6, 2007 to deliver a petition with 3,000 signatures asking Kuhl to vote against more funding for the Iraq war.
When the five protesters refused to leave the office at closing time and were were each charged with third-degree criminal trespass. They were all found guilty after a two-day jury trial the following September....
Attorney Ray Schlather, the legal advisor for the protesters, said the push by the county District Attoney's office to make the offense "a fingerprintable crime" showed a lack of judgment and allowed the protesters to turn the charges into political theater.
"This should never gone before a jury," Schlather said. "That lack of good judgment effectively played into the protesters' hands."
...And some excellent political theater it was that my neighbors executed, too. I guess that was the beginning of Randy feeling he had to pack heat to protect himself from his constituents.... good to see justice done.
More interesting tidbits on the flip...
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Tue Nov 11, 2008 at 18:59:46 PM EST
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The FEC audited Randy Kuhl's 2004 campaign and found a few irregularities. The report was just released today. I'll more information about the details when I have a chance to read more carefully, but the report finds that Kuhl should pay the US Treasury 118K as a result of these irregularities.
Update: The irregularities center around campaign donations towards his State Senate campaign that ended up getting used towards his Congressional race.
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Fri Nov 07, 2008 at 22:19:22 PM EST
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Congressman-Elect Eric Massa will be on "Fox and Friends", easily the most vapid and pathetic block of programming on a network which peddles such tripe by the gross, tomorrow morning at 7:45am. I seriously think that a competent academic study would show that watching "Fox and Friends" causes brain lesions and makes the viewer measurably stupider. That said, they've asked Massa on as part of a series to introduce their 70-something mouth-breathing audience to new members of Congress.
At 7:45 am on Saturday, November 8th, 2008, Congressman-elect Eric Massa will appear on Fox News Channel's Fox & Friends morning show. Fox & Friends invited Congressman-elect Massa because they are trying to introduce their audience to the freshman members of Congress. During the show, he will discuss the state of the Congress.
I actually spoke briefly with Massa today and he tells me that the NRCC is "parachuting" lawyers into the 29th at a brisk pace. He's got a plan to counter the onslaught and I'll have more about that and how we can help tomorrow.
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Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 08:52:00 AM EST
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I live a few miles from the NY-24/NY-29 border, and I worked pretty hard on both races. Good thing that, I guess. I am quite confident that we will pull both these out-- we lead in both. But, neither Republican intends to concede until after absentee ballots are counted.
Arcuri's race is at the Utica Dispatch:
One-term incumbent Michael Arcuri, D-Utica, appeared late Tuesday to have a nearly 6,000 vote lead over Republican Richard Hanna - 118,137 to 112,308, according to unofficial election results from across the 11-county district.
Massa's race can be read about at The Corning Leader for the more conservative approach, or, The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle for the "he won already" approach. DKos has the final numbers as:
Massa- 131,646
Kuhl- 127,232
Meanwhile, Rottenchester has this excellent post over at The Fighting 29
In case you missed it last night, Sean Carroll of WHAM reported that Amo Houghton and Eric Massa met last night:
Sean Carroll: Just got done talking Amo Houghton - and he just got here after visiting with Eric Massa!
Evan Dawson: Sean -- WOW WOW WOW. And why was he with Massa?
Sean Carroll: said he respects him - "stands for the right things" even though he's on the other side of the aisle. said he's still pulling for Randy, but after all "we're all Americans"
Amo Houghton would have racked up another 60/40 or 70/30 win last night against almost any Democrat, probably with my vote. If Republicans want to come back in New York State, they need to take a serious look at what Amo did right and what Randy Kuhl did wrong.
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Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 23:19:55 PM EST
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Ok-- Rottenchester over at Fighting 29 says Massa is now far enough ahead that the absentee ballots can't change it. Whadda night, whadda night.
Folks here are whooping and hollering so hard that my eardrums hurt!
Now McCain is conceding here. This is some loud and expressive crowd here!
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Tue Nov 04, 2008 at 22:55:19 PM EST
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WAMC has called several races
NY-13: McMahon takes Fossella's seat, D pickup
NY-20: Gillibrand reelected over Treadwell
NY-21: Tonko elected to safe D seat, replacing McNulty
NY-23: McHugh (R) reelected
NY-24: Arcuri in a contest
NY-25: Maffei elected to open Reynolds seat, D p/u
Also, Hinchey and Hall re-elected
NY-29: Called for ERIC MASSA by Chris Bowers of OpenLeft.com
Chris is a cautious analyst who doesn't count unhatched chickens.
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Mon Nov 03, 2008 at 20:43:50 PM EST
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Courtesy of the Kuhl campaign and the always awesome Fighting 29th:
There are no words...
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Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 18:07:07 PM EST
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Note the Kuhl lawn sign in the right-hand corner. I don't know what part of the district this comes from. Wonkette (where I found the picture) merely describes it as "Western New York".
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Sun Nov 02, 2008 at 18:05:13 PM EST
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I was in Horseheads this afternoon making GOTV calls for Eric Massa-- with a small but enthusiastic crew. We worked our way through our lists, took a break for some pizza... and then got back to work making sure that everybody knew where to vote and had a ride to the polls if they needed one.
We were just about ready to pack it in for the day, when a phone call came in-- it was the campaign, asking if we would please stick around for just ten minutes, as Massa's RV was on its way from Elmira to Horseheads, and Eric wanted to stop in to thank us personally for making calls! Talk about above and beyond the call of duty!
Well, the RV caravan (there is also a flatbed trailer with a giant sign) is truly spectacular, sorry I didn't get a photo. And, Eric did have a message for us to convey to our friends and allies: we are almost there, he says-- and it looks really good... but, we have to make sure that every supporter gets out there to the polls. Put out a few more signs, and make a few more phone calls tomorrow and Tuesday, please...
He's right, of course. Spoke to a woman today who said "Oh, isn't election day next Tuesday"? So, we still need your help. Find our where you can go to make Massa calls on the flip.
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