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From the
Daily News:
City Public Advocate Letitia James burned through nearly all of the more than $750,000 in taxpayer matching funds in a lopsided race against a poorly funded opponent — spending $500,000 on a single Election Day expenditure, public records show.
James, a Democrat who cruised to reelection over Republican political consultant J.C. Polanco, spent about $1.7 million in total on the race, according to filings with the Campaign Finance Board. She crushed Polanco, her nearest competitor — earning 812,234 votes to his 172,601.
James was widely expected to win her reelection bid — but still filed a statement of need requesting the entire amount of matching funds, citing Polanco as a strong opponent. In doing so, she noted media coverage about the would-be pol — including stories about how little money he had raised.
Candidates are required to return matching funds they do not spend on their race — but James has just $39,018 left in her coffers, meaning the taxpayers will get back little, if anything.
James spent a whopping half-million in one day — Nov. 7, the date of the general election, when she reported the $500,000 payment to Global Strategies Group. Her campaign said the payment was for digital ads that appeared on social media sites, community and ethnic newspaper sites and other news sites — including the Daily News website.
From the
Daily News:
THE 2013 mayoral primary race is under a cloud of uncertainty — and it’s not just who will win but also when.
Albany is mulling the prospect of moving the crucial Democratic primary from September to June, and the possibility of a switch has thrown fund-raising, campaign strategy — not to mention vacation plans — for a loop.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has a dim view of plans to move the Democratic primary from September to June. He said the possibility of the change makes it hard to plan mailings, hiring and other campaign efforts. “If it’s a crapshoot, you can’t really put a plan together,” he said.
New York has traditionally held September primaries, but the Board of Elections asked the state to move the election up three months because of complicated new voting machines and to consolidate primaries for state and federal races.
Federal primaries for presidential and congressional elections have already been moved to the summer because of a new law that claimed the short window between September primaries and November general elections didn’t leave enough time for oversees and military voters to get their ballots.
J.C. Polanco, the Bronx commissioner for the Board of Elections, said the board also needs more time between the primary and the general because it takes too long to reset the city’s new voting machines between elections. He called a September citywide primary “a practical and legal impossibility.”
Moving the election to June would be a boon for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, said campaign consultant Hank Sheinkopf. Not only has she largely completed fund-raising for her mayoral run, she also has the advantage of controlling millions of dollars in the city budget that could flow to people and groups that might be in positions to offer key endorsements.
From
City Hall:
For the past seven months, the 10-member New York City Board of Elections, consisting of five Democrats and five Republicans, has been deadlocked in appointing a $180,000-a-year executive director. No candidate has been able to line up the six votes necessary to win the job, and the board has refused to conduct a public search for the best national talent.
But Queens Republicans have renewed their push for the appointment of former City Councilman Anthony Como, and have struck a tentative deal with Brooklyn Democrats under which party chairman Vito Lopez would back Como, according to two sources with knowledge of the agreement.
Como, a Republican, would be appointed executive director, while a Brooklyn Democrat—most likely current Board of Elections counsel Steve Richman—would be appointed deputy director, the board’s other plum patronage post. Board of Elections rules require that the executive director and deputy director be from different parties.
Como and Richman both declined to comment.
From
City Hall:
On Monday afternoon, Anthony Como conceded his State Senate race to Joe Addabbo, issuing a statement that concluded, “I remain committed to public service and look forward to the new challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
By Monday night, he was already on to those new challenges and opportunities, renewing the bid to be executive director of the Board of Elections that he abandoned in June to seek the Senate seat. Como called several commissioners and began the outreach to the county chairs who would be crucial in putting him in the top job, now vacant again after George Gonzalez’s firing.
But Como’s newest attempt to get the $172,000-per-year job, which has prompted derision from several close Board observers who see him as now looking for a job in the wake of the Senate loss, may be over before it gets off the ground. To be selected, Como would need at least six votes, and he does not appear to even have a solidified bloc of the five Republicans: Bronx GOP Commissioner J.C. Polanco is not on board.
Polanco, who supported Como through the spring, had put himself forward as an alternative for executive director after Como withdrew. But after the Queens GOP made a surprise, ill-fated attempt to install former State Sen. Serf Maltese in the top job, Polanco joined with the Democrats to vote for Gonzalez and break what had been a six-month stalemate. According to a source, Polanco remains disgusted with Como and the Queens GOP, and is completely opposed to supporting the former City Council member for executive director.
Asked about his position on Como, Polanco referred instead to his call for a nationwide search for executive director, as Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Council Government Operations chair Gale Brewer have supported.
