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New York has a primary election on Tuesday.
There is a general political consensus that our legislature is the worst in the country.
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.
On some level, Connor is probably a well-intentioned Democrat but after 32 years in office, typical Albany behavoir that reeks of conflict of interest has become second-nature to him.
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.
Volunteer for Dan Squadron
AD-64:
This race pits one of the "three men in a room," co-Governor Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver against 2 young challengers, Paul Newell and Luke Henry. Silver is most likely going to be re-elected despite a career that includes lowlights like never spending an single dime of his campaign contributions to help a Senate Democratic challenger, presiding over one house of the aforementioned "worst legislature in the nation," responding to allegations of rape by a female legislative aide against one of his staffers by holding a press conference in support of that staffer and keeping the staffer until he pleaded guilty to sexual assault a few years later, and killed the congestion pricing issue without even affording the voters of New York the dignity of seeing where their legislators stood on the issue after taking many campaign contributions from parking garages and auto dealers.
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.
Volunteer for Paul Newell
NY-10:
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.
Volunteer for Kevin Powell
SD-32:
The "Democratic" incumbent Ruben Diaz Sr. is an outspoken homophobe and anti-choice crusader. He is so conservative on social issues, he was dripping with praise for Sarah Palin last week. He is also running for the Republican nod in Tuesday's primary. He had one primary opponent who was knocked off the ballot. Please write-in that opponent, Luis Monge.
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.
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