Democrat supremacist Donovan Richards plays race card without a full deck

Queens Chronicle

A series of online comments begun Thursday between Borough President Donovan Richards and Councilman Bob Holden (D-Maspeth) escalated vitriol even by election season standards, including accusations of “white supremacy,” using “racist dog whistles” and “unhinged behavior.”

Holden, who has endorsed U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Suffolk) over Gov. Hochul in next Tuesday’s election, on Thursday posted a photo of the council’s Common Sense Caucus and comments denouncing Hochul’s support of congestion pricing.

The measure would, if approved by the federal government, allow an as yet undetermined surcharge for driving into Manhattan south of 60th Street to raise money for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Estimates have run between $9 and $23. The group has called on Hochul to put it to a vote via referendum

“What is she afraid of? The people have a right to decide,” the post asked.

Richards, from his private Twitter account, replied in less than an hour.

“After he loses this election let’s elect an actual democrat,” Richards tweeted. Holden and the entire council are up for election next year, two years early, because of the 2020 U.S. Census. It didn’t take long for the councilman to reply.

“I’m a Democrat longer than you’ve been alive,” he wrote. “If the party platform is now to further tax its constituents, including those with low income and seniors, you can have it. It’s time to elect a Borough President who actually works for Queens, not against it.”

“So why are you surrounded by republicans?????” Richards asked.

“I guess @KalmanYeger is a Republican. Breaking news,” Holden replied.

Yeger is a conservative Democrat from Brooklyn.

The temperature kicked up several degrees when a poster with the handle Secret Squirrel @sheila.sq defended Holden.

“He’s one of the few that represents us,” she posted. Richards’ reply was direct.

“yeah white supremacy.”

“White supremacy!?? WOW... that’s actually hysterical,” Secret Squirrel replied.

Yeger chimed in a few hours later.

“Drunk tweeting in the middle of the day, Donovan?”

To which Holden posted a GIF of actor Will Ferrell in a movie where he shakes uncontrollably while trying to sip a glass of wine with the comment “Donovan right now ...”

Richards, in an interview on Friday, said the white supremacy comment was not aimed at Holden’s district or the congestion pricing plan, with which he has some issues of his own, including the possibility of a $23 fee.

“This is over his support of Lee Zeldin,” Richard said. “Democrats should stick with Democrats. And this election is high stakes.”

Where was Donnie's twitter and drunk courage when he stood with "white supremacist" "Republican" Holden when they were promoting rain gardens not long ago? And where were his hardcore "Democrat" values when Republican Joann Ariola stood next to him that morning? The only supremacy going on here is for the Democrat Party. 

Why are you standing with a Republican @JoannAriola32 and the guy who's standing with Republicans?

Your played yourself pic.twitter.com/J4sWkGGx9Q

— JQ LLC (@ImpunityCity) November 4, 2022

Albany Democrats present blatantly gerrymandered redistricting map, Gianaris claims it's justified

 

 NY Politics

A new and long-awaited proposed New York congressional district map was released by the Senate and Assembly on Sunday. As a result of the 2020 census, the map reflects the state’s loss of one congressional district, bringing the state’s delegation down to 26 members.

New York State legislators are expected to pass the map later this week and send it to Governor Kathy Hochul for her approval. New maps for New York State Assembly and Senate district maps are also expected to be released and approved later this week. Following those enactments, county boards of elections will realign election districts with the new Assembly Jdistricts so petitioning for Spring 2022 primaries can get underway in early March.

The task of drawing the initial line drawing fell to the New York State Legislature after the state’s advisory “Independent Redistricting Commission” failed to agree on congressional and state legislative maps in early January. The commission had been created under a 2014-enacted state constitutional amendment that aimed to remove the legislature from the initial line-drawing process.

This map represents the first opportunity for Democratic Party legislative leaders to manage drawing the state’s congressional maps in 90 years.  In those prior years, Republicans or a politically divided legislature drew the maps. The current congressional lines were drawn by a federal court in 2012 after the legislature failed to come to an agreement on a map.

City & State

State Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who has led his chamber’s redistricting efforts, asserted that his party did not engage in gerrymandering despite proposing a new congressional map that clearly benefits Democrats. In an interview with City & State, Gianaris stood by the controversial proposal that could cut the number of Republicans in the New York delegation in half.

The maps clearly disadvantage Republicans, who will likely lose four seats in the next election cycle if the proposal stands. The GOP was quick to denounce the new lines and promised to take the matter to court. But they weren’t the only ones crying foul. The left-leaning think tank Brennan Center for Justice, which focuses on voting rights, said Democrats took a heavy hand to district drawing. Michael Li, the organization’s redistricting expert, called the New York maps an “aggressive gerrymander,” and even asserted they would be struck down under the John Lewis Voting Rights Act that Democrats are championing in Congress. 

Still, Gianaris defended the maps against claims that they were overly partisan, especially in some of the most unusually shaped districts. “We’re very confident this adheres to the current requirements,” Gianaris said, adding that he fully expects the issue to end up in court. “Other people make those decisions, we’ll make our case why we believe it does.”

Given specific examples of districts that have drawn scrutiny, Gianaris offered a legal claim for each. For District 11, currently held by GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, he claimed the new lines “conform to some historical norms for that district” – which apparently just happen to turn the right-leaning swing district into a fairly safe Democratic seat. Expanding District 3, being vacated by Democratic Rep. Tom Suozzi, from Long Island into the Bronx and Westchester unites communities of interest along the Long Island Sound, according to Gianaris. He added that this particular decision came from public input from a coalition representing communities of color that presented a “unity” plan, but the move seemed to baffle many. 

 Democrats have been accused of using redistricting to strengthen their position in the state Legislature despite criticizing gerrymandering in the past. “As we unravel the gerrymanders of the past, it doesn't make it a gerrymander of today,” state Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who chaired the legislative task force that oversaw redistricting along with Assembly Member Kenneth Zewbrowski from the Hudson Valley, said on The Brian Lehrer Show Tuesday. “These are districts that are drawn fairly,” Gianaris added. Whether or not Gianaris’ rationale rings true despite the proposed Democrat-friendly lines, Republicans did use methods other than line-drawing to help them maintain their state Senate majority in the past. Packing more people in Democratic districts versus GOP areas was one strategy.

Tish calls it quits

 

 Queens Crap

New York Attorney General Letitia James has suspended her campaign for governor and is running for re-election.

The news was broke via Twitter with Capitol reporters getting the news that her campaign was being ‘suspended’.

.@ZackFinkNews with the scoop that @TishJames is no longer running for Governor. In the last Siena Poll Tish got 18% and Hochul got 36%. @GloriaPazmino reporting Tish will run for re-election.

— Susan Arbetter (@sarbetter) December 9, 2021

James shed some light on the decision, which took most of New York’s political scene by surprise on Thursday.

“I Have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general. There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job. I am running for re-election to complete the work New Yorkers elected me to do,” the statement from her gubernatorial campaign said.

The decision appears to have come after some internal reflection by the Democratic Party, which sees a challenging year on the horizon if there are hotly contested primaries.

 

NEW: @TishJames is suspending her campaign for Governor.

— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) December 9, 2021

*Jay Jacobs is also calling on New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and Rep. Tom Suozzi to drop their primary challenges to Gov. Hochul as well.

— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) December 9, 2021