Gotham Gazette

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Elections

Elections

  • Cuomo-Launched Women’s Equality Party Will Soon Make Statewide Nominations

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    Cuomo, Hochul & the WEP bus (photo: Andrew Cuomo/Facebook)


    As he sought a second term in 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo created the Women’s Equality Party amid a primary challenge from his left by Zephyr Teachout and as he sought to undermine the Working Families Party, which had begrudgingly endorsed him after he begrudgingly made a set of policy and political promises.

    Cuomo said it was time for a political party dedicated to women and traveled around on a bus highlighted with pink streaks to underscore his point.

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  • Party Nominations for Statewide Elections Come Into Focus

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    Cynthia Nixon at the WFP convention (photo: Make The Road Action)


    It’s political party convention season as this state and federal election year heats up in New York, with federal primaries on June 26, state primaries September 13, and the general election November 6.

    Over the weekend, the Working Families Party and Green Party held their nominating conventions on Saturday and the Reform Party held its on Sunday. This week the Democratic and Republican state parties will hold their conventions, nominating candidates for the

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  • James Victory in Attorney General Race Would Trigger Citywide Special Election

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    Public Advocate Letitia James (photo: Mayor's Office)


    Eric Schneiderman’s resignation has triggered what could be a domino effect in New York politics, potentially creating vacancies in local offices and perhaps leading to New York City’s first citywide special election.  

    When Schneiderman stepped down from the post of attorney general, it kicked off a mad dash of people interested in becoming the next top legal officer of New York State. Even as the state Legislature moves through a process to choose an interim appointee, others have

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  • Exploring Attorney General Run, Zephyr Teachout Pursues Working Families Nomination, Democratic Ballot Line

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    Zephyr Teachout at an anti-IDC rally (photo: Ben Max)


    The recent resignation of former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent shockwaves through the New York political world, and with just six months until New Yorkers elect a new attorney general in November, it sent potential candidates scrambling. Political party nominations are being decided, ballot spots must be secured, and party primaries are September 13.

    Soon after Schneiderman’s departure amid accusations that he was physically abusive of four women he had been

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  • Letitia James Launches Campaign for Attorney General

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    Public Advocate Letitia James at her AG campaign kickoff (photo: @saritamanhattan)


    New York City Public Advocate Letitia James officially launched her campaign for attorney general on Wednesday, seeking to make history as the first woman of color to serve as the state’s top legal officer.

    James, who is serving her second and final term as public advocate, and is the first woman of color elected to a citywide position, is running in the Democratic primary to replace former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who

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  • The Contradictions of Cross-Endorsements in the Governor’s Race

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    (photo via Facebook: @HowieHawkinsForGovernorPolitician)


    That didn’t take long. On Saturday, April 13 the Working Families Party endorsed Democrat Cynthia Nixon for New York Governor. By the following Tuesday, the WFP said they didn’t really mean it.

    “We will not be a spoiler,” said Bill Lipton, the WFP’s political director, indicating that the WFP will take Nixon off its ballot line if she loses the Democratic primary against Governor Andrew Cuomo. Perhaps the WFP will offer Cuomo their ballot line for a third time if he wins the Democratic primary – if he will

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  • Marc Molinaro and The Trump Question

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    Marc Molinaro, left, and Chris Gibson (photo: @marcmolinaro)


    The presumptive Republican nominee for governor of New York did not vote for the Republican president of the United States.

    One question Marc Molinaro was asked most often in the early weeks of his campaign to replace Governor Andrew Cuomo is whether he voted for Donald Trump in November 2016.

    “I did not, I voted for Chris Gibson,” Molinaro told reporters in Albany on April 2, the day of his official campaign launch, naming the former Congressional representative who

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  • Defining 'Real Democrat,' Cynthia Nixon Offers Early Policy Platform

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    Cynthia Nixon (photo: Cynthia for NY on Facebook)


    Actor and activist Cynthia Nixon launched her challenge to two-term incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo by calling him a fake Democrat who has governed like a Republican and only takes progressive stances when they are politically expedient or he has no choice.

    Nixon, who certainly has an uphill climb if she wants to beat Cuomo in the September 13 Democratic primary, has staked her campaign on claiming to be a true progressive, with a liberal agenda focused on racial and economic

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  • As Cuomo Chooses Democratic Unity, Party Activist Base Chooses Nixon

    Governor Andrew Cuomo

    Gov. Cuomo at NAN (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)


    “Unity” is the trending word in New York politics, ever since Gov. Andrew Cuomo stepped into the back room of a Manhattan steakhouse and put together a deal to end the Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group of Democratic senators who collaborated with Republicans to control the state Senate. As a result of that “unity” deal, Democrats in Albany are prepared for the possibility of a truly united front in the upper chamber of the Legislature, with the ability to pass long-gestating

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Political Purity Tests in New York

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    Ben Max, left, of Gotham Gazette, and Jarrett Murphy, right, of City Limits


    April 25, 2018 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Political Purity Tests in New York

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    Stanley Fritz is the New York City campaigns manager for Citizen Action NY, a progressive advocacy organization that has endorsed Cynthia Nixon for governor and is an affiliate of The

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  • Special Election Results for 11 State Legislative Seats

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    Shelley Mayer (photo: @Shelley4Senate)


    The Democratic conference in the New York State Senate will soon be one seat shy of a majority. After special election wins Tuesday night to fill two vacant Senate seats, both previously held by Democrats, the party will soon have 31 members in the 63-seat chamber. Shelley Mayer has won in Senate District 37, in Westchester, and Luis Sepulveda has won in Senate District 32, in the Bronx. Both are currently members of the Assembly, seats they will vacate to move to the Senate.

    Democrats hold an overwhelming majority in

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  • Progressives Draft Convention Resolution to Allow Unaffiliated Voters in Democratic Primary

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    (photo: Philip Kamrass/Governor's Office)


    As the Democratic primary between Governor Andrew Cuomo and Cynthia Nixon continues to heat up, a group of progressive activists is pushing for the state party to change its rules and open up the primary to unaffiliated voters.

    New York Progressive Action Network, a grassroots coalition affiliated with Our Revolution, which grew out of Senator Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign, is drafting a resolution that its members hope to introduce at the State Democratic Party’s nominating

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  • Is Cynthia Nixon Qualified to be Governor?

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    Cynthia Nixon (photo: @CynthiaNixon)


    In 2016, leading up to the presidential election, Democrats criticized Republican candidate Donald Trump’s lack of political and governmental experience while heralding Hillary Clinton’s long career in politics. This year, New York Democrats face a somewhat similar situation within the party given the primary challenge from actor and activist Cynthia Nixon to incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo.

    Since Nixon announced her candidacy in March, questions of qualifications and experience have been raised

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  • Major Cuomo Supporters Don’t Want a Democratic State Senate

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    Cuomo at ABNY (photo: Don Pollard/Governor's Office)


    With the specter of a competitive Democratic primary squarely in front of him, Governor Andrew Cuomo, the two-term incumbent, announced on Wednesday, April 4 that he had brokered a unity deal between two groups of Democrats in the state Senate, setting the stage for the possibility of capturing the majority in the chamber, which is the only Republican stronghold in state government. Cuomo brought together the mainline Senate Democrats and the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, a group

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  • Republican Governors Association ‘Keeping Close Eye’ on New York

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    Gov. Cuomo (photo: Governor's Office)


    In the 2014 race for governor, when Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic incumbent, was leading by 37 points over his Republican rival Rob Astorino with nearly four months till Election Day, the Republican Governors Association wrote off the loss.

    Then-RGA chair Chris Christie, governor of New Jersey at the time, publicly refused to come to Astorino’s aid. “I will spend time in places

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  • Cuomo's Progressive Promises, Reminiscent of Four Years Ago, Received Differently

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    Stewart-Cousins, Cuomo, and Klein at unity event (photo: Govenor's Office)


    In May 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo attempted to earn the last-minute endorsement of The Working Families Party with a video address at its nominating convention. As Cuomo sought a second term that year, he made a series of promises demanded by WFP members and received the party’s backing and ballot line. The deal with frustrated progressive activists and labor union leaders, who make up the WFP, was in part brokered by Mayor Bill de Blasio after the WFP threatened

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  • Molinaro Outlines Initial Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform Agenda

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    Marc Molinaro (photo: @marcmolinaro)


    When he formally launched his run for governor earlier this month, Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro said that “all New Yorkers are paying a corruption tax.” It is a tax, Molinaro explained, that is the result of both legal and illegal malfeasance, of wasteful, ineffective, and corrupt government. In his initial remarks that day, at events in Tivoli and Albany, and during multiple exchanges with journalists, Molinaro has outlined elements of a reform agenda that, he says, will help restore faith in government

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  • Nixon Candidacy Spotlights Education Advocacy Group

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    Cynthia Nixon, right, with Assemblymember Felix Ortiz in 2014 (photo: Ortiz's office)


    When actor and activist Cynthia Nixon held her first news conference as a gubernatorial candidate, at a Pentecostal church in Brownsville, Brooklyn, she was introduced by Zakiyah Ansari, an education activist and longtime ally.

    In New York’s advocacy ecosystem, Ansari and her organization, the Alliance for Quality Education, have long held prominence in outspoken fashion. The group, a nonprofit advocacy organization formed in 2001 and historically funded by

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  • After Government Investment, Cuomo Taps Brewing Industry for Campaign Contributions

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    Gov. Cuomo at Three Heads Brewing in Rochester (via Governor's Office)


    After years of efforts to help beer and other craft brewing businesses grow in New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is tapping into the industry for an upcoming campaign fundraiser.

    His re-election campaign is hosting a beer-and-wine-themed event next month at Midtown Loft & Terrace in Manhattan. Attendees likely can expect a festive atmosphere, plenty of brews — and a steep

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  • Cuomo, State Democrats Issue Misleading Pleas About Flipping Senate

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    Gov. Cuomo endorsing Shelley Mayer for Senate (@Shelley4Senate)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo appears to be contradicting himself about Democrats’ chances to take majority control of the state Senate, currently Republicans’ only stronghold in state government.

    In announcing a unification deal between two Democratic factions in the state Senate on Wednesday, Cuomo said the Democrats would be able to regain a majority in the chamber if they win two state seats in special elections set for April 24 and if a renegade Democratic senator who caucuses with Republicans rejoins

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  • Nixon-Cuomo Primary Spotlights Role of State Democratic Party

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    Geoff Berman on NY1


    In challenging Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary this year, actor and activist Cynthia Nixon faces tough roadblocks ahead, not the least of which is that the New York State Democratic Party is seemingly throwing its weight and resources behind the incumbent. That has led many left-leaning activists and Nixon allies to cry foul and question why the state party, short of an outright endorsement, would choose sides so far ahead of the party primary.

    In ...

  • In Run for Governor, Marc Molinaro Will Make a Character Argument

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    Marc Molinaro (photo: @MarcMolinaro)


    Marc Molinaro wants you to believe in government again. In order to do so, he will argue, you must elect him to be the next governor of New York, eschewing the cutthroat, divisive, corrupt politics of Andrew Cuomo and opting for unity, dignity, and bipartisan problem-solving.

    The 42-year-old Republican is in his second term as Dutchess County Executive; on Monday he will officially launch his gubernatorial campaign from the town of Tivoli, where he grew up and was elected mayor at 18, in

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  • Cynthia Nixon Recently Re-registered to Vote in Manhattan

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    Nixon at a campaign event (photo: @CynthiaNixon)


    When actor and activist Cynthia Nixon recently launched her gubernatorial campaign, she said that in 2010 she voted for Andrew Cuomo, the man she is now running to unseat in this year’s Democratic primary, but that she became disillusioned with the governor as his approach to governance took shape.

    While there is no apparent reason to doubt Nixon’s claim about that vote, there are questions about her voting record, particularly where she has been registered in recent years.

    Nixon has shifted her voter

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  • ‘Sex and the City’ Likely to Stay on Air Through Nixon-Cuomo Primary

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    (image via Sex and the City website)


    With actor Cynthia Nixon now running for governor of New York, questions arise about whether reruns of her most famous show, “Sex and the City,” would need to be pulled from the airwaves to not violate federal election rules mandating equal time for candidates on television and radio broadcast networks.

    But, given its current distribution, Nixon’s show may not be subject to the federal equal time rule, which applies to broadcast networks but not cable channels or streaming services.

    The Federal

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  • Cuomo Campaign Removes Misleading Boast of Old Endorsements

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    Gov. Cuomo being endorsed by 1199, Feb. 2018 (photo: @nydems)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo’s campaign website has been updated with a 2018 logo but was touting dozens of endorsements that the governor received in the 2014 election cycle, with no indication that the backing of the groups listed did not apply to the current election, in which the Democrat is seeking a third term.

    The Cuomo campaign took down its endorsement page, which said “endorsements updated daily,” on Thursday after Gotham Gazette inquired about it. Shortly after an email to a campaign

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