Democratic Primary Results
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with…
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with 20.2 percent); Maritza Davila, endorsed by Lopez, lost in the 34th District to Diana Reyna, a former Lopez staffer who fell out with the party boss. Incumbent Letitia James won in the 35th District with 81.2 percent of the vote, and Brad Lander took the 39th District with 41.1 percent due to, he told The Brooklyn Paper, his stances on “affordable housing, livable communities, jobs, and good schools.” In the race for comptroller, Councilman John Liu of Queens came out 8 points ahead of Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, but with 38 percent of the vote, did not have the 40 percent required to win outright. Thus there will be a runoff election held September 29. For more primary results, check out the Eagle’s coverage of the State Senate race.
33rd District: Levin Wins Handily [Brooklyn Paper]
35th District: James Steamrolls Yards-loving Foe [Brooklyn Paper]
39th District: Lander Crushes Four Rivals [Brooklyn Paper]
Liu and Yassky Headed for Runoff [NY Times]
State Senate Primary Results [Brooklyn Eagle]
everyone citing education reforms: do you have a child in nyc public schools? Lots of smoke and mirrors in the “improvement.” Did you see the article in the Times about how 7th graders passed the test with 44 percent of the answers correct?
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/education/14scores.html
If you make the test easier every year and require fewer right answers, the scores will go up. Do you really believe that 97 percent of NYC public elementary and middle schools deserve an A or B? I don’t! 84 percent got A’s! Where’s the curve?
“Seriously, what more do you folks want?”
Somebody who respects the will of the voters when it doesn’t suit him as well as when it does.
Term limits were approved by the voters TWICE. Bloomberg, or any other opponent of term limits, had ample time to offer another referendum to overturn them. Instead, the decision was made solely by the group of elected officials who themselves would benefit by repeal. This is a staggering conflict of interest even if Bloomberg and the other third-term aspirants were as saintly as you make them out to be.
None of the folks I know, the majority of whom support Bloomberg, have ever been given a dime by the man.
Advertising only goes so far. Most sane people realize that Bloomberg has been good for out local economy as well as very strong on repairing the infrastructure, not to mention the incredible job he’s done with parks on the waterfronts. I personally use them several times a day, and they make my life much much more enjoyable.
We all know most politicians really are scumbags who say one thing and do another. I’m not saying Thompson is necessarily a scumbag, but it’s clear that Bloomberg isn’t.
Is he perfect? Of course not. But he’s obviously incredibly astute, understands not only how to run a large business, but also one of the world’s largest cities, and he’s incorruptible since he’s already a billionaire.
Seriously, what more do you folks want? If the city were a company, who would you hire? It’s not even a competition. Hiring Thompson over Bloomberg would be insane.
fsrg, I got a good laugh out of your typo! 🙂
Look, I get your point about Thompson taking campaign donations from fund managers. I agree that is wrong. I also agree that they City’s campaign finance laws are terribly flawed. Not sure that you said that but you certainly seem to imply it.
There is a difference here though. I am not talking about the money Bloomberg (or Thompson) spends for conducting regular campaign functions (TV ads, mailings, etc). That is what the money Thompson is spending is going towards. The paper trails on it are public and out there.
I am talking about the money Bloomberg is spending, completely outside of that being reported as his campaign spending and completely outside of that which goes to function of a campaign, to buy silence and submission. Any elected official or hopeful can and does promise to reward elected officials, community groups and leaders or others with some sway over public opinion that endorse or support their candidacy. This sucks but it’s not unique to anyone and its generally reported on. For example, when DC 37 endorsed Thompson, Bloomberg dismissed it and the press reported it by saying that Thompson probably promised more. Not an impossibility. And if it happened, its certainly not right. But, when Colin Powell endorsed Bloomberg was anything reported pointing out that Bloomberg could have promised Colin Powell fundraising help (his own $ or connecting with his wealthy friends) if he ever intends to run for office? That’s something any savvy politician would be angling for. Bloomberg’s people know this and are not afraid to make use of it. It’s a possibility at least as likely as the DC37 promise. I don’t know anything about what was behind the Colin Powell endorsement. But, having been actively involved in NYC politics for my entire life, there’s not a potential candidate out there that wouldn’t think about that.
In the last election, when the Bloomberg campaign got word that organizations that received Bloomberg’s philanthropic donations employed people who had donated to his rival’s campaign or were publicly supporting his rival, Bloomberg’s aides actually called the organizations to say the philanthropic (supposedly not political) grants were in jeopardy. After that election, the Times reported this regarding arts and cultural organizations. After the election, his staff also admitted it publicly and on the record with regard to all types of organizations and people. This time around, it’s no wonder he’s gotten countless endorsements and Thompson is having trouble fundraising. Thompson, or any non-billionaire candidate, would never be able to buy support, submission and silence on this scale.
And Bloomberg has the gall to suggest campaign finance reform during campaign season!?!? Campaign finance reform that would further stifle his opponent’s ability to fundraise while leaving his silencing of the public to happen without restraint, and without public disclosure. He has done a few great things as mayor but power has corrupted him. He is not above the law. He should not be able to buy his way out of being held to the same standards and criticisms almost all politicians rightly receive.
Listen. The best leaders create and leave behind systems that work long after they are gone. Bloomburg has positives on his record. We thank him. Now, the notion that the City of New York can’t get by without him is false, narcissitic and all too familiar. Not to mention that his own personal finances have soared in the worst of economic conditions. Working for a dollar my… He’s back in this race to finish the back-room deal for himself and his cronies. You’ll see.
fsrg- why does he want to do that?
benson- until you’ve been in a fire its easy to talk about cutting vital services. Yes newer stock has been made more fireproof- but the majority of building stock in NYC is not new. ANd the Fire Department is an insurance policy, not a matter of supply and demand.The third thing to remember is that fires in hi-rises are much more difficult to battle. In addition, firefighters are highly trained in disaster response (necessary in this day and age, don’t you think?), medical emergencies and related technology. I want more of them around, not less.
Expanding the subway system? A short leg on the upper east side? Really- you must be joking.
I meant “isnt perfect”
aysataba – I’d rather have Bloomberg buying support with his own money;
then have Bill Thompson do it with our $ (you are aware that Bill took campaign donations from tons of the fund managers who he invested city funds with? – and those funds have significantly underperformed the market & peers. Further former employees of his went out and started their own fund and got Billions of pension funds from Thompson – they contributed to him as well)
Bloomberg is perfect and buying support is unseemly but everything in life is relative, and relatively speaking IMO Bloomberg is far and away the best choice.
Bxgrl – “Less crime? I attribute that more to Kelly and NYPD than to Bloomberg.”
Maybe but Thompson has already committed to replacing Kelly – so on that front Bloomberg should also get your support.