Shockingly it is rumored that Silver and Assemblyman Thomas DiNapoli are sitting on their hands to hurt Craig Johnson in his State Senate race.
Silver and DiNapoli are encouraging the N. Hempstead Democratic field workers to sit out Johnsons tight race as revenge for no assembly member being on the Comptrollers' list approved by an indepenant commission. ie DiNapoli.
This pre-Spitzer behavior used to be invisible. A secret deal between Silver and Bruno that let each remain in power.
DiNapoli and those Hempstead Democrats must quickly reverse course and help reform. This is not a time for politics as usual.
The special election in 7th state Senate District is only 22 days away! It's a hugely important contest and one that should command the attentions of all those committed to reforming our state government. The stakes are HUGE and it's going to be one hell of a dogfight.
If you are like NYBri, the Governor and, well, like myself and have decided to support Craig Johnson for this seat, you may be asking yourself what you can do to help. Well, here ya go!
TPM Cafe' has a list of new hires by the John Edwards campaign and among those new hires, there are a number of familiar names. For New Yorkers, none sticks out more than Alex Navarro of the Working Families Party and most recently press/communications guru for the Craig Johnson campaign.
Okay, in another sign that it's full steam ahead for John Edwards, his campaign is preparing to roll out a bunch of new campaign hires. And Election Central has obtained an advance list of the names.
...
Policy Communications Coordinator, Alex Navarro
Navarro joins the campaign after working as Communications Director for the Working Families Party. In 2004, he worked as Press Secretary for Senator Edwards' New York campaign. Navarro has worked in press and policy roles for numerous New York campaigns.
New GOP state party leader Joe Mondello was arguably one of the biggest losers Tuesday night. Only my good friend Joe Bruno had more on the line. Mondello lost in his own back yard and lost big. He got waxed even though Bruno and his crew at SEIU through everything they could into this race. Now the knives are out. Check out this blistering indictment of Mondello by former Republican Congressman and wingnut extraordinaire John LeBoutillier in today's Newsday.
The Senate seat loss this week highlights 24 years of arrogant, self-serving rule and a miserable track record
Eight days before the special election for State Senate in Nassau this week, an upstate New York GOP county leader drove for hours to Nassau Republican headquarters in Westbury. He had been summoned to an urgent meeting by state GOP chairman - and long-time Nassau GOP "boss" - Joseph Mondello. Before the meeting was to start, this leader spoke to me over lunch about the upcoming Senate race, keeping in mind that a Democrat hadn't won a state Senate seat on Long Island in more than 20 years.
"We ought to be able to win this race. . . . We're sending down 50 workers for the final weekend, and the counties that don't send foot soldiers are sending money. . . . Mondello knows what he is doing . . . the Nassau GOP machine is the best in the country," he said.
The man was stunned when he finally went in for his meeting and was shuffled off to one of Mondello's assistants - denied face time with a fellow county chairman. "Arrogance," he later called it, shaking his head. And he was just as stunned when the Republicans lost the election.
His big mistake was to assume that Mondello knows what he is doing. County Clerk Maureen O'Connell's campaign was run by Mondello - and she lost to Legis. Craig Johnson by a humiliating 54 percent to 46 percent.
Thank you so much for all of your help. This was a tremendous victory for the residents of the 7th Senate District, Nassau County and all of New York State.
This seems like the right place for Liz and I to offer special thanks to the bloggers and the netroots community who energized this race from near and far. I don’t want to leave anyone out, but let me mention The Albany Project, The WFP Blog, Daily Gotham, Nassau GOP Watch and, of course, Daily Kos, which hosted our blograiser.
Yet another gracious statement ( via Times Union Capital Connection) from the Senate Majority Leader. I bet these guys are thrilled to be working for Bruno right about now. He also had this to say about about Sen. Robach, "He's staying a Republican for the rest of this life"
Well, that just means we will have to win the Senate Majority by electing good, progressive, reform Democrats! Explanation on the flip:
Gov. Spitzer drew GOP fire last week when he told Assembly Minority Leader James Tedisco, "I'm a [expletive] steamroller, and I'll roll over you." Appearing at a fund-raiser for State Senate candidate Craig Johnson, Spitzer quipped, "It's amazing how quoting a little James Taylor can get you in trouble. [Taylor's 'Steamroller Blues'] is such nice, placid music." The Albany Project event raised $60,000.
New state Democratic Party C-Chair Dave Pollak cornered me a little while ago and asked me to pass this message on to the albany project community and all the netroots folks who were involved in this race.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This couldn't have happened without you. This is only the beginning. We are only scratching the surface. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
He meant it, too.
I want to thank you all as well. These are very exciting times, friends.
P.S. Video of Craig's speech will have to wait until I get back to the city as the camera's battery finally died.
The mood here at Great Neck HQ is cautiously optimistic. There was word that Great Neck wasn't turning out. The office here emptied out completely with everyone hitting the thoroughly frigid streets. About half came back and the rest are doing visibility around town.
I am worried about this crap, but We'll just have to see. Should be getting the first results in about an hour.
thanks for putting up the picture of the scary queer flyer. I was able to get Craig two more votes from it. These two people were not planning to vote cause they didnt think it was that important. But they got all riled up and now they are on their way to their polling places.
Plus, the New York Blade is pretty riled up as well.
Nassau Co. Mailer Warns: A Vote for Dem. Candidate is a Vote for Gay Marriage
But David Verchere, president of the Log Cabin Republicans-which has backed the O'Connell campaign with volunteers and a pledge of $8,000-called the mailer both "mean" and "dumb."
"These tactics are beneath the dignity of the Conservative Party of New York," Verchere said. "They remind us of people like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson who use anti-gay rhetoric to preach hatred and intolerance." He added that the mailing was not indicative of O'Connell's "strong record" on equal rights for all New Yorkers, nor did it reflect the "mainstream values" of the people of Nassau County.
Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Sends Out Illegal Order
For Election Inspectors to Disregard County Attorney's Letter on Voter ID
Democrats: We're Prepared for the Worst
With four hours before polls close in the hotly-contested special election between Craig Johnson and Maureen O'Connell, the Republican County Board of Elections Commissioner has taken illegal steps designed to intimidate and suppress voters.
Commissioner John DeGrace has illegally ordered election inspectors to disregard a legally binding court order, as well as the written instructions of the Nassau County Attorney - effectively encouraging Republican poll workers to suppress voting by demanding identification from voters.
DeGrace issued an order on Board of Elections letterhead requiring Election Inspectors to "disregard" the Nassau County Attorney's letter delivered to all poll watchers this morning.
Johnson campaign spokesperson Alex Navarro said, "We're prepared for the worst. Our campaign has deployed dozens of extra voter protection attorneys to at-risk areas, We have real concerns that Commissioner DeGrace is attempting to interfere with the lawful conduct of the last hours of this critical special election."
The scuttlebutt here is that turnout in Port Washington, Craig's home turf is much better than expected. The Great Neck area has been canvassed to death and some crews are hitting neighborhoods for the third and fourth time. New state party C-Chair Dave Pollak just walked in the door and picked up a stack of door hangers. He's about to hit the streets.
I have to say that I am amazed at the sheer volume of folks who have been through this office today. It's pretty amazing to watch all these people coming back for more lit and a cup of hot coffee over and over again. I've seen at least 100 different people come through these doors in the past 3 hours or so. Seriously.
The word from the canvassers are that there are very, very few folks on the street for O'Connell.
This flyer was sent by the Conservative Party and just brought into HQ here in Great Neck. The lady who brought it in is a member of a local Orthodox synagogue and says she's has received tons of this crap.
Republican Judge Thomas Phelan just issued his ruling on the notices Judge Brandveen ordered delivered last night to all poll sites and poll workers regarding ID checks.
Phelan did not rule that the instructions on ID were wrong. He ruled that, technically, the County Attorney had no standing to file the suit that resulted in last night's ruling that Notices informing voters of their rights with regard to presenting ID should be posted in polling places and given to poll workers.
Phelan ruled that because of this technicality, poll workers should not have received these notices, and should instead refer to their manuals and their training. Of course, these manuals say the same thing the notices say--that blanket ID checks are not allowed, and that voters should not have their IDs checked unless indicated on the poll ledger.
Judge Phelan's order has been subject to an automatic stay while it is appealed. This is good, since it seems like Phelan's order is likely to generate the sort of confusion that the Republican intimidation strategy was intended to generate in the first place.
Bottom line: Blanket checks of IDs remain illegal, and the notices informing voters, poll workers, and election officials of this fact are still up in the polling sites.
But the campaign is redoubling its voter protection efforts.
Stay tuned...
They just can't win without cheating. This is your NY GOP's death rattle...
I arrived at Craig Johnson HQ in Great Neck a few minutes ago and the vibe is infectious. Volunteers are coming in and out (to warm up. it's freakin' cold) and there are at least two dozen folks in the office at any given time. Apparently I just missed Senate Minority Leader Malcom Smith who is now out pounding the frigid pavement. I passed a couple of sign waving volunteers on the main street here in Great Neck on my way from the station. I haven't seen a single O'Connell volunteer or even a yard sign yet. Anyhoo, here's a pic of the inside of the HQ.
That's Kate from WFP and our very own am in the beret..
(Ladies and Gentlemen, let the dirty tricks begin. - promoted by lipris)
This just in from Nassau Voter Protection; the above flyer (click to enlarge), clearly pretending to be an official statement from the U.S. Attorney's office, is currently being districbuted in the Seventh District.
