Empire State Elections
July 30, 2018 8:25 AM   Subscribe

New York City DSA endorsed Cynthia Nixon for Governor and Jumaane Williams for Lieutenant Governor following internal argument, Cynthia Nixon Thinks You’re Underestimating Her (NYT) - State Attorney General candidate Zephyr Teachout offered a plan to use antitrust laws against tech companies that exert monopolistic power in the news business. - State Senator Martin Dilan (District 18, Bushwick) is claiming that DSA-endorsed candidate Julia Salazar does not fulfill New York State's residency requirements to run for office - NY’s top election enforcement body has ruled a campaign finance agreement between the Independence Party and now-former members of New York's IDC (previously) to be improper, and demanded that former IDC members return the funds - A breakdown of Zellnor Myrie's bid to replace ex-IDC member Jesse Hamilton (District 20, Crown Heights) - Governor Cuomo told the Stonewall Democratic Club that he never "endorsed or financially supported" any IDC members, despite definitely doing that. The Stonewall Club endorsed him.

The New York State Primaries are on Thursday, September 13.
posted by The Whelk (123 comments total) 12 users marked this as a favorite
 
My State Senator, Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. isn't part of the IDC, so I'll probably be voting for him. I also am fine with David Weprin, who is my Assembly representative.

But you can bet your sweet bippy that I will be voting with all my might for Cynthia Nixon, because fuck Cuomo.
posted by SansPoint at 8:33 AM on July 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


Chris Cuomo Has herb popping up on screens a lot more lately and something about him always seems fake as shit to me. That he’s related to a basically-republican-dem who’s part of a political dynasty makes total sense to me.
posted by Artw at 8:35 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cynthia Nixon to Get Support of Indivisible, a National Grassroots Group

Also, while its outside of my Assembly District so I cant personally vote for her, ive met and heard from Genesis Aquino who is running for Female District Leader in AD 51 (Sunset Park, Red Hook, Gowanus, South Slope) and shes got all the right things to say and gives me hope for the future of the Democratic Party. We definitely need more voices like hers at the front.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:47 AM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]




Chris Cuomo Has herb popping up... 

I love the way auto correct works, filling in the word most often used after the word before.. often to hilarious effect.
posted by sexyrobot at 8:50 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Meanwhile, NY1 reported Thursday that Salazar was met by demonstrators at a press conference with actress Cynthia Nixon, who is challenging Gov. Cuomo in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Some, according to the station, shouted “liar” at Salazar for having once been a Republican before she changed her party affiliation to Democrat.

This seems fishy as hell, like paid protester fishy. Is there any public record of this 'protest' being organized anywhere?
posted by Space Coyote at 9:13 AM on July 30, 2018


“What a pleasure to be here, one of the few men in a room full of women,” Cuomo said, completely earnestly. “Could be worse, could be worse. Usually, it is worse.”

Ohhh nooooo.

Protip to dudes: Never ever ever ever make this joke. Not in any context. It is never okay. All of the women around you will make the same face. I guarantee you every woman in the audience has heard the same joke approximately 8 million times already and let me just repeat: it is never okay.
posted by soren_lorensen at 9:20 AM on July 30, 2018 [15 favorites]


I think the problem is that most of the men who make that joke, or similar jokes, see women make that face so often they think it's just what women look like.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 9:27 AM on July 30, 2018 [26 favorites]


People frequently, frequently, don’t understand how residency works and what makes you formally a resident of a state, unfortunately. If the statements about getting a Florida license are true, and it seems a weird thing to make up, Salazar probably doesn’t meet the residency requirements.
posted by corb at 9:28 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


I was finally canvassed at home a few weeks ago -- the first time ever in my 10+ years living and voting here -- someone checking their "triple primes" for Marisol Alcantara (SD-31). We're a No-IDC household, though, so we're voting for Robert Jackson.

Also -- Postcards to Voters is writing for Alessandra Biaggi in SD-34, if you want to join the fun.
posted by melissasaurus at 9:40 AM on July 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


a basically-republican-dem

Please don't do this.

If you like Cynthia Nixon, great, by all means vote for her. She's been outspoken on a couple of important New York City issues (subways and the DOE, both of which matter a great deal to me personally) and although she doesn't seem to know much, or have much to say, about the rest of the state, she's very smart and I'm sure she can learn. So, absolutely.

And If you don't like Andrew Cuomo, that's fine too. There are all sorts of reasons not to like him--not least his manner, his tone-deafness, and his lateness to the party on some important progressive issues, especially LGBTQ issues. He's far from perfect, that's for sure.

But please don't pretend that Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic Governor of one of the handful of genuinely progressive states left in the country is "basically republican," just because he's not Bernie Sanders (please) or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. This is how we get ants Trump.
posted by The Bellman at 9:53 AM on July 30, 2018 [18 favorites]


I didnt use the term but ill defend calling Cuomo "basically a republican" specifically in the context of NY State Poltics where he has, for 7 years abided basically Republican control of the legislature by being unwilling to do anything about the IDC.

I would also question how "genuinely progressive" NYS is - we havent passed a law protecting women from the forced-birth movement, legalized weed, ended cash bail, or (m)any other tangible policy hallmarks of the current progressive groundswell.

I DONT care for Cuomo's tone and manner, but im genuinely confused about what his supporters point to as his policy successes. The subways are an epic mess and education is as segregated and test-oriented as ever. He's outspoken against trump and favors strict(er) gun laws? Sure, but hardly a high bar. His signature economic development policy can, at best, be described as a totally ineffective bust, and that is only if you ignore the fact that a donor/aide literally got convicted of fraud and conspiracy.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:12 AM on July 30, 2018 [31 favorites]


she doesn't seem to know much, or have much to say, about the rest of the state

In the upstate city where I used to live, Nixon has shown up multiple times, has met with a bunch of ordinary people whom I know personally, and has discussed local challenges in her campaign materials. To my knowledge, Cuomo has never set foot there, and has been actively antagonistic to its interests.

Cuomo has literally campaigned for the Republican-caucusing IDC, as explained in the links on this very post. He has picked his side; he doesn't get to rewrite history now because it's become politically expedient for him to do so. He is and has always been a Republican in spirit and a friend and business associate of Trump.
posted by enn at 10:16 AM on July 30, 2018 [26 favorites]


And yes, as Exceptional_Hubris points out, to the extent that New York is a progressive state, it is despite, not because of, our elected officials, who have opposed each and every progressive reform every step of the way. In most ways, ours is a backwards state with regressive policies, and it's only New York exceptionalism that has people thinking otherwise.
posted by enn at 10:20 AM on July 30, 2018 [8 favorites]


He’s a republican-dem in that he caucuses with republicans.
posted by Artw at 10:20 AM on July 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


Coumo shoots down any and all Progressive legislation he can and the IDC he created blocks bills that have overwhelming support by the people of the state and he oversees an Albany that is just corrupt as hell and apparently loaded with harassers.
posted by The Whelk at 10:23 AM on July 30, 2018 [7 favorites]


everything good dies in Albany and its because Cuomo won't lead .
posted by JPD at 10:24 AM on July 30, 2018


Do people really want someone cutting their teeth on the governorship? Do Democrats really want to follow Republicans down this path and declare 2016 the year that standards died?
posted by Selena777 at 10:28 AM on July 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


Yes? I mean, what's the alternative? The status quo is pretty awful.
posted by ragtag at 10:35 AM on July 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


Do people really want someone cutting their teeth on the governorship? Do Democrats really want to follow Republicans down this path and declare 2016 the year that standards died?

No, this person doesnt want "someone" cutting their teeth in Albany. I want Cynthia Nixon to be governor. A specific someone, who has, to my extreme surprise, demonstrated pretty impressively her commitment and preparation for what is undoubtedly a very big job. I feel confident from meeting her and hearing her speak, and looking at who she is choosing to endorse, hire, and work with, that she is capable.

Cuomo fans should be very wary of going too hard on the qualifications issue - he was a lawyer for 6 years before running a housing nonprofit for 2, became a political appointee at the city, then federal level largely on the back of his work on his Father's campaign and went on to run for governor twice from there.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:37 AM on July 30, 2018 [11 favorites]


Lots of people have been elected governor as their first political job, it's hardly a practice that was born in 2016. I can think of another actor who was first elected governor of California in 1966, for example.
posted by Chrysostom at 10:37 AM on July 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


Yes? I mean, what's the alternative? The status quo is pretty awful.

If her campaign doesnt already sell "Status Cuomo: not working for you" stickers, they should.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 10:40 AM on July 30, 2018 [12 favorites]


>Do people really want someone cutting their teeth on the governorship? Do Democrats really want to follow Republicans down this path and declare 2016 the year that standards died?

NY democrats (and anyone to the left of that point) are forced to choose between experience and policy alignment. Do we want a governor whose expertise may make him a more effective negotiator, even though he won't actually use that power for the things we want to see? Or should we elect someone who will (or at least promises to) take up our issues and try to bring popular and long-awaited policies to life, but may possibly be out-maneuvered by more savvy veterans?

We've tried the former for years. It hasn't helped much for those who want to NY Health Act or anything else the IDC, with Cuomo's tacit or less-tacit support, has blocked or watered down to nothing. His stonewalling of DeBlasio whenever possible, whatever you think of ol' Bill, is another example. I think our many disappointments have proven how worthless the "centrists with experience" strategy is in a place that could be as progressive (or even socialist, given recent elections) as NY could be.
posted by Grimp0teuthis at 10:42 AM on July 30, 2018 [13 favorites]


"I can think of another actor who was first elected governor of California in 1966, for example."

That led to what we probably agree to be a regrettable period in American history and is hardly a ringing endorsement of the practice.

Also, Grimp0teuthis, is there an issue with the pipeline in NY that isn't generating qualified progressive contenders to challenge Cuomo?
posted by Selena777 at 10:50 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


...is there an issue with the pipeline in NY that isn't generating qualified progressive contenders to challenge Cuomo?

I recently started participating in NYC (internal) Dem politics and the answer is yes, the NYC machine has a vested interest in keeping any kind of progressive politics it can’t keep a reign on down and stuff like the IDC and Simcha Felder up. I had a dude in a position of local power in the party blatantly lie to my and my wife’s face about this stuff just last weekend.
posted by griphus at 10:55 AM on July 30, 2018 [17 favorites]


I feel confident from meeting her and hearing her speak, and looking at who she is choosing to endorse, hire, and work with, that she is capable.

Including hiring Jamilah Lemieux as her Communications and Engagement Advisor! I was SO pumped when I saw that.
posted by melissasaurus at 11:06 AM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


...is there an issue with the pipeline in NY that isn't generating qualified progressive contenders to challenge Cuomo?

is it the pipeline or is it our voting system? for an allegedly progressive state we have deeply fucked up election laws - there are TWO SETS of primaries in New York, one for federal offices and the other for state offices, held three months apart. So that if you want a say of who is on the ballot (and in reality, who wins, because so many NY districts are not competitive across parties) you have to show up twice. On a work day. And be registered a month in advance.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:08 AM on July 30, 2018 [5 favorites]




And be registered a month in advance.

If you're already a registered NY voter, though, you have to have been affiliated with the Democratic party as of last October in order to vote in the upcoming primary on Sept 13. When you submit a change of party affiliation, it doesn't take effect until after the next general election. Democracy!
posted by melissasaurus at 11:24 AM on July 30, 2018 [5 favorites]


The current governor of Pennsylvania, if you will cast your eyes south for a moment, had very scant political experience prior to running for Governor. He's a businessman so he was on various committees and boards, and then spent a year as Secretary of Revenue for PA (as a cabinet position, that's appointed, not elected), and that's it. He's been a good Governor and all indications point to reelection in November (excuse me while I go outside, turn around three times and spit, but he is +16 in the RCP spread).
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:47 AM on July 30, 2018 [8 favorites]


one of the handful of genuinely progressive states left in the country

one of the genuinely progressive states left in the country can do a lot better
posted by atoxyl at 12:42 PM on July 30, 2018 [6 favorites]


(reminder to check your voter registration status pretty much daily no matter what state you're in ok bye)
posted by poffin boffin at 12:57 PM on July 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


I would vote for a well meaning kindergartener over Andrew fucking Cuomo. Kindergartners seem to have a pretty refined sense of fair and unfair, and right and wrong, and they know an exploitive bully when they see one.

Also if you’re not a New Yorker, please do not lecture us about our terrible Governor. If you are...idek, maybe read up on state politics.
posted by schadenfrau at 1:06 PM on July 30, 2018 [11 favorites]


Re: Salazar: goddammit.

I don’t know anything about election residency requirements or related law, but I do know an accountant once laughed at me when I asked about theoretically establishing residency in another state. “How organized are you? If you forget about a library card, they will count that as residency.”

I bet it doesn’t work like that for elections, though.

Still, Dilan appears scared, no?
posted by schadenfrau at 1:09 PM on July 30, 2018


...is there an issue with the pipeline in NY that isn't generating qualified progressive contenders to challenge Cuomo?

Cuomo is indistinguishable for the NY Democratic Machine of which people said Joe Crowley was part. You've already heard the litany of using the IDC to block progressive legislation while disingenuously claiming that they're the reason that he can't pass anything progressive. You know about the NY election system.

The final part is that if you're an up and coming Dem, and you don't play by the rules and wait your turn and show deference to the machine, you will be crushed. Cuomo has pretty much every major union in the state support him in the primary by using every single threat and bribe to do so. A Nixon administration would be much better for unionization and wages, but they, like every other Democratic institutional constituency, has been sewn up by Cuomo. He has subverted the Democratic Party to his ambitious and made one of the most progressive electorates in the nation neutered in anything really helpful.

When people rail against establishment candidates that manipulate the system to entrench themselves, they're actually talking about Cuomo and his abettors in NY.

That being said, I'd rather Cuomo than an actual Republican, but until the primary is over, Nixon all the way.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:21 PM on July 30, 2018 [10 favorites]


By the way, I hope this explains why it takes a former actor and activist to run: because no one with a political future can risk running against him and having their entire career sabotaged. That's how you get this moment in NY political history.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:23 PM on July 30, 2018 [21 favorites]


It's both amazing and yet totally unsurprising how the entrenched Democratic Party establishment has prioritized keeping institutional political power within the Democratic Party over helping the Democratic Party gain actual political power in government.
posted by SansPoint at 1:26 PM on July 30, 2018 [9 favorites]


When people rail against establishment candidates that manipulate the system to entrench themselves, they're actually talking about Cuomo and his abettors in NY.

Except it's not just a matter of entrenchment. They don't get to rig the booths anymore (*cough*Tammany Hall*cough*) and instead they bring out the votes when it matters. This is something that anyone determined enough and with enough popular backing can do.
posted by Definitely Not Sean Spicer at 1:30 PM on July 30, 2018


Except it's not just a matter of entrenchment. They don't get to rig the booths anymore (*cough*Tammany Hall*cough*) and instead they bring out the votes when it matters. This is something that anyone determined enough and with enough popular backing can do.

But as said, if he's using gerrymandering, a split federal-state primary election date, and lack of automatic voter registration, yes, it is on him! He's actively trying to prevent votes that threaten him or his power base.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:34 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


NYS also flagrantly ignores federal law by throwing out valid voter registrations and address changes and by not allowing registration at the federally mandated state agencies. (I personally tried to register through state Department of Labor and Department of Social Services offices and was illegally turned away at both.)
posted by enn at 1:41 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


But as said, if he's using gerrymandering, a split federal-state primary election date, and lack of automatic voter registration, yes, it is on him! He's actively trying to prevent votes that threaten him or his power base.

Statewide races are a bit different but the statehouse can be cleaned top to bottom of the "establishment" and IDC with only a few thousand votes in most seats. The Left and DSA should be making every establishment seat an absolute shitfight in the primaries for the establishment candidates. As long as after the electorate makes its primary decision the Democrats still get the largest caucus at the end of the general.

If the left can't dethrone a centrist making it through primaries with less than ~10% of registered party members then obviously people like the establishment enough to not trash it or at least they don't care enough to want to trash it, oui?
posted by Definitely Not Sean Spicer at 1:42 PM on July 30, 2018


Or, you know, Cuomo's DMV just threw out their voter registrations for no reason.
posted by enn at 1:47 PM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


I actually thought the "republican dem" comment was made in the direction of previous Governor, also relative, Mario Cuomo, but then again I am old.
posted by chaz at 1:48 PM on July 30, 2018


Of course the DSA and other progressive groups are trying to dislodge Cuomo, but I was more trying to explain why it is so hard to do so. I don't want us to start blaming NY voters for our current predicament even as we work to oust him.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 1:51 PM on July 30, 2018


Just in general, incumbents rarely get primaried out.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:59 PM on July 30, 2018


Just in general, incumbents rarely get primaried out.

The only logical place to shitfight has gotta be the primary. If they start running DSA against D in the general we run the risk of 60-40 seats going to Republicans 40-30-30 and the legislatures turning red off a split left vote a'la Ontario.
posted by Definitely Not Sean Spicer at 2:08 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


There was a credible establishment figure in budding rivalry with Cuomo for Democratic leadership until only about three months ago. That person is now unexpectedly and permanently out of politics.

Andrew Coumo is the single greatest barrier to pushing NY in a progressive direction - Daily Kos

They misspelled "upstate."
posted by praemunire at 2:10 PM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I'm not arguing for third party runs. I'm just pointing out that you rarely see an incumbent lose in the primary. On the Congressional level, for example, there have been two this year.
posted by Chrysostom at 2:37 PM on July 30, 2018


Also if you’re not a New Yorker, please do not lecture us about our terrible Governor. If you are...idek, maybe read up on state politics.

Lol.
posted by The Bellman at 3:00 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


Cuomo is Farkie's poodle and I wouldn't elect him to empty chamber pots. I'm with the unqualified lesbian.
posted by brujita at 3:22 PM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


Cynthia Nixon was on Hot97 last Friday morning for a solid interview. I was definitely impressed; I enjoyed learning about her background with NYC schools.
posted by jilloftrades at 4:25 PM on July 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


As another enthusiastic member of Team Unqualified Lesbian, one of Nixon's strongest selling points for me (aside from the fact that I have never been so effectively pandered to by a candidate's platform on the issues; she's pushing my buttons like a sugar-high kid in an elevator) is her long history of activism on public education policy and funding—a cause she initially got involved in as an public school parent (and also, incidentally, how she met her wife). And that's all the more so because it's a record of local advocacy in defense of a crucial quotidian public good, as opposed to the sort of sexy media-driven high-profile causes I tend to associate with celebrity engagement in politics. I think it's a pretty common trajectory for non-famous outsider candidates, actually: you spend a long time caring about a thing and working to improve it and eventually find yourself running for office because you've realized that's what it's going to take to change the system.

Would I be happier if she'd held public office before? Sure. But 15+ years of solid activism on a key progressive issue is still a record, and a much stronger one than Schwarzenegger or Trump or the other celebrities-turned-candidates people keep comparing her to can claim. She's a long shot, and if she wins, I don't know if she'll manage to be effective in Albany. But I'd rather vote for someone who actually rides the subway and sends her kids to the local public schools than a dynastic machine politician who's clearly more dedicated to representing my landlord's interests than mine.
posted by karayel at 4:53 PM on July 30, 2018 [18 favorites]


Also she's already done us a massive service by a) causing Cuomo to frantically scramble leftward on issues like the IDC, voting rights, cannabis legalization, etc, and b) hopefully kneecapping his chances as a credible presidential candidate for 2020. Bless her.
posted by karayel at 4:59 PM on July 30, 2018 [24 favorites]


I went to high school with Cynthia and she stood out, in a very smart crowd, as an extraordinarily intelligent and diligent person. She was already acting professionally on Broadway to critical acclaim in serious plays by David Rabe and Tom Stoppard – at the same time! Political activism is her second avocation, and now politics her third, but there’s no reason to dismiss her as a generic celebrity just because she came to fame in a bit of TV fluff.
posted by nicwolff at 6:02 PM on July 30, 2018 [11 favorites]


Reagan started off modeling shirts by Van Heusen. Schwarzenegger started with Conan. Jesse Ventura was a fake wrestler.

I wonder why people are making a fuss about her entertainment pedigree... I wonder what the difference between those three and her is...
posted by Definitely Not Sean Spicer at 6:17 PM on July 30, 2018 [4 favorites]


There was a national conversation about the freak show atmosphere of the election that Schwarzenegger was involved in and the stupidity of the resulting choice.
posted by Selena777 at 6:44 PM on July 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


And people STILL talk about Reagan as an actor.
posted by Chrysostom at 6:47 PM on July 30, 2018 [2 favorites]


I've never heard the phrase "unqualified lesbian" used here in Australia. I suppose we have better sex education.
posted by Joe in Australia at 7:01 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


It's a reference to this incident. Nixon has made it a selling point.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:08 PM on July 30, 2018


I was out of the country when Ventura was elected, and I still remember hearing a lot of "Oh fucking please..." commentary about how unqualified he was, and that was after he was mayor of the sixth-largest city in Minnesota (for comparison, the sixth-largest city in New York is Albany).
posted by Etrigan at 7:13 PM on July 30, 2018


Just for future reference, here are the Senate district where Democrats caucus with the GOP (i.e., IDC + Felder). Incumbent listed first, challenger second.

SD-11: Avella | Liu
SD-13: Peralta | Ramos
SD-17: Felder | Morris
SD-20: Hamilton | Myrie
SD-23: Savino | Robinson
SD-31: Alcantrata | Jackson
SD-34: Klein | Biaggi
SD-38: Carlucci | Goldberg
SD-53: Valesky | May
posted by Chrysostom at 9:16 PM on July 30, 2018 [3 favorites]


If you're in NYC, here's a state senate map for the primaries Blue- Dems Red-Republicans Green - IDC.

(side note fucking 20! that;s not a district! the gerrymandering is insane)

same map but for the state

and you have district 18, with the democrat in name but votes republican being challenged but that's another bag of worms.

The Salazar vote is going to be very different from AOC - the demographics are different, Crowley was largely absent from his district while Dilan has been pretty involved if kind of coasting. But part of the Crowley upset was cause he didn't take the competition seriously. Everyone is going to take primary challenges seriously now, as seen by Coumo scrambling to try to say he was in fact ALWAYS in favor of whatever Nixon says.

which is a ...good thing?
posted by The Whelk at 9:40 PM on July 30, 2018


anyway please go vote against the IDC and Coumo they are the reason we can't have nice things.
posted by The Whelk at 9:42 PM on July 30, 2018 [1 favorite]


So I have a question that's really more of a thinly disguised rant: if the primary is so important, and only long-term registered Democrats can vote in the primary, is anyone working to make the actual election more inclusive and meaningful so it's not just a coronation of the Dem candidate? One of the things I worry about with the way primaries work is there doesn't seem to be any way for party officials to try and discreetly signal to the base that this candidate might look good in front of the voters but they're fucking poison to work with*, without it being interpreted as party insiders trying to subvert democracy. A relatively closed primary can do that; superdelegates can do that too.

Or is the infamous New York party machine so broken that this basically can't happen the way I'd like it to?

*Napoleon said that you can understand a man by understanding the world he lived in when he was 20 and guess what kind of politician was Prime Minister when I was 20
posted by Merus at 3:11 AM on July 31, 2018


There was a credible establishment figure in budding rivalry with Cuomo for Democratic leadership until only about three months ago. That person is now unexpectedly and permanently out of politics.

Who is this referring to?
posted by Mavri at 3:50 AM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


I'm guessing Schneiderman?

(Who, btw, previously repped SD-31; For anyone living in SD-31, vote Jackson; vote out the IDC!)
posted by melissasaurus at 3:59 AM on July 31, 2018 [4 favorites]


is anyone working to make the actual election more inclusive and meaningful so it's not just a coronation of the Dem candidate?

I don't understand what you think this would look like. There's a solid statewide majority of Democratic voters, which in a two-party system naturally results in reliable wins for Democratic candidates in statewide races. Breaking the D/R duopoly is a much bigger problem than the NY governor's race, and convincing Republicans to nominate less batshit candidates that would appeal to registered Dems is likewise kind of an issue at this point in history.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 5:18 AM on July 31, 2018 [2 favorites]


I thought the credible rival line was maybe about Crowley?

Saw the same cuomo ad on NY1 this morning touting his successes as marriage equality and being endorsed by planned parenthood. And yet hes polling 2:1 on Nixon.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 6:36 AM on July 31, 2018


New Siena poll:

Gov:
Cuomo 60
Nixon 29

AG:
James 25
Maloney 16
Teachout 13
Eve 4


[MOE: +/- 3.9%]
posted by Chrysostom at 7:28 AM on July 31, 2018


NYT piece today says that Nixon is polling strongest upstate. Cuomo is strongest in the burbs (unsurprising) and polling way ahead overall (but so was Crowley).
posted by enn at 7:38 AM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


If Nixon can get out the vote in NYC, she can put the fear of God into every shitty NY Democrat, including Schumer.

Hopefully the DSA endorsement + limited manpower will help.

My personal experience so far is that the DSA makes it way easier to volunteer and canvas than the Nixon campaign does, but that is...I mean. It’s unfortunate, but I’m also guessing a lot of experienced NY Dem operatives are afraid to even be caught looking at the Nixon campaign.
posted by schadenfrau at 7:45 AM on July 31, 2018


"(reminder to check your voter registration status pretty much daily no matter what state you're in ok bye)"

Thanks poffin boffin, I just checked for funsies, and it turns out my registering as a democrat specifically so I could vote in the primaries last year has not gone through (or has been somehow been tossed). AGJHSGRJHGSAHJRR!!!!!!
posted by Grither at 7:52 AM on July 31, 2018


Girther, if it’s any consolation, sometimes that online checker tool thing is wrong. (It’s got me right this year; didn’t in 2016.) I would go to your polling place anyway, and if you’re not on the list there, explain the deal and the lovely old ladies who always seem to be working polling places will help you.

Personally I am deeply annoyed that I’m not in an IDC district.
posted by schadenfrau at 8:02 AM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


I truly don't understand how "he's really experienced in effectively fighting for policies I don't support" is supposed to be a selling point.
posted by showbiz_liz at 8:09 AM on July 31, 2018 [6 favorites]


I truly don't understand how "he's really experienced in effectively fighting for policies I don't support" is supposed to be a selling point.

It’s generally easier to change someone’s mind on which views they should support and what they should push for than it is to give someone decades of experience effectively fighting for things. This may not apply specifically for Cuomo if folks feel he’s unmoveable, but in general, it’s often a more effective strategy to find someone with experience and convince them to your views than it is to find someone with your views and get them the experience.
posted by corb at 8:14 AM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


(for comparison, the sixth-largest city in New York is Albany).

I would suggest that Nixon is more qualified than our mayor Kathy Sheehan. Sheehan's "experience" is that she was legal counsel for a company that IPO'd really big, and won the lottery. Then she spent some time as City Treasurer.

I'm voting Nixon. ( I NEVER believed that sentence would come from my fingers! )
posted by mikelieman at 8:31 AM on July 31, 2018


It’s generally easier to change someone’s mind on which views they should support and what they should push for than it is to give someone decades of experience effectively fighting for things.

Interesting. I find the opposite to be true - that it's much easier to train someone to do a job well than it is to train someone to be a good person with good values who cares about other people. Experience in leadership means nothing if you don't have empathy. In this case, it's moot, because the only thing Cuomo has experience in is getting kickbacks from developers and breaking the subway. The guy couldn't even get an end child marriage bill passed in a blue state that should be a Democratic trifecta. Feckless AF.
posted by melissasaurus at 8:42 AM on July 31, 2018 [5 favorites]


I don't understand what you think this would look like. There's a solid statewide majority of Democratic voters, which in a two-party system naturally results in reliable wins for Democratic candidates in statewide races.

It seems like NY doesn't exactly have a two-party system, though, or at least the way I understand it. There's various groups who are able to nominate candidates that go through to the general election, including the winner of the Democratic primary. This is why Crowley's still on the ballot even though Ocasio-Cortez won the Democratic primary, because some other organisation nominated him.

In this case, making the general election ranked choice would allow people to put their primary vote towards some of these candidates without worry over splitting the vote and letting the Republican win.
posted by Merus at 8:45 AM on July 31, 2018


Well, New York has electoral fusion, which nominally allows minor parties to have some influence. But some flavor of ranked choice would be vastly preferable.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:57 AM on July 31, 2018


Since this post is titled Empire State Elections, here's a bit from Western New York:

When Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo notched his ninth Western New York appearance over six weeks in 2013, Buffalo Niagara Partnership President Dottie Gallagher-Cohen offered a telling observation about the area’s frequent visitor. “You’ve been here so often I almost think you should get a place here,” she quipped during an event that July. The governor appears to have no need for local housing in 2018. At a time when the words “Buffalo” and “Billion” are linked in negative headlines across the state, Cuomo’s westward forays are proving far less frequent – even in this election year. State records indicate the governor has made only one trip to the state’s second-largest city since November, and none since April. Cuomo has also found himself doing public events for as many days in the Caribbean as in Western New York the past 10 months. The Buffalo News: Cuomo Becomes Infrequent Visitor During Buffalo Billion Scandal

Nixon doesn't get to WNY that often either, really, but she isn't the current governor and doesn't have the same resources. Still disappointing, but you know. Difference in scale.
posted by everybody had matching towels at 1:19 PM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]






It was mentioned upthread that Nixon is polling better in upstate. It may be relevant that to a lot of us up here, NYS corruption has moved way up the list of concerns over the last 5-10 years, largely because of the endless “economic development” boondoggles that have done little but put money into the pockets of developers and a whole host of others with connections to NYS government, including many very close to Cuomo himself. I swore to myself after he eliminated the Moreland Commission I wouldn’t ever vote for him again, and I won’t. And many other democrats I know won’t either. So despite some reservations, Nixon it is for the primary.

But there's another candidate who's totally off the radar: Stephanie Miner, former mayor of Syracuse who's running on a new party ticket and realistically has 0 chance of winning. But I hope she'll up her game enough to at least be part of the conversation. Here’s a bit of a recent interview talking about the economic development issue. This is from the Campbell Conversation show on WRVO.

I think you have to completely eliminate all of the economic development programs and bureaucracies. They exist to choose winners and losers, and they are rife for the opportunity to exploit them for campaign contributions and donors and corruption, which we in central New York have lived through…Take the money that is there and invest it in infrastructure—traditional infrastructure, like roads, bridges [and] transit, [and] new infrastructure, like high-speed, affordable broadband.

Reeher: Would there be other ways, in terms of economic development, beyond the infrastructure projects you’re talking about, that you would change? Would you create a new program of economic development?

Miner: No. I’m saying eliminate the programs and take that money and invest it in infrastructure. Government doesn’t create jobs. What government can do is create environments where smart people, entrepreneurs in the free market, can take advantage of that. And for far too long in New York, it was Empire Zones, START-UP New York [and] nanotech. We have seen politicians take taxpayers’ money and invest it in boondoggle programs, stand up and say “This is going to be completely transformative,” and then, lo and behold, in a year or two years, you see empty factories [and] empty buildings. And now, what we’re seeing is even more so indictments follow on top of billions of dollars being spent. Enough.

posted by cilla at 7:07 PM on July 31, 2018 [1 favorite]


Government doesn’t create jobs.

Tell that to the 21,000 people who built the Hoover Dam.
posted by SansPoint at 7:13 PM on July 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


Well, I have to figure most of them are dead by now.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:18 PM on July 31, 2018


Yeah, sadly one of my friends from college who I think of as immensely bright and who I used to respect more is friendly with the leadership of the Save America Movement (SAM) and I just couldn’t disagree with their position or tactics more. They’re just republicans who can’t abide the open nastiness of trump, but their big idea is basically both sidesism with a healthy dose or the illogic behind the astroturfed #walkaway movement.

Miner’s candidacy is all for people who think the only thing wrong with the current regime is the open racism and if we could just get back to tax cuts and reducing regulation wouldn’t that be nice. I don’t see anything compelling there and the polling seems to agree.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:42 PM on July 31, 2018 [3 favorites]


Government doesn’t create jobs.

This always pisses me off because I work for the federal government as an educator. There is a "demand" for education and I "supply" it. Taxes are gathered, and a small fraction is used to pay me. If this was a private model, 1) there would be far more wasted in marketing and competition, and 2) people might not pay for a needed service.

So how on earth do people still believe that the government doesn't create jobs and that only the mystical private sector can?
posted by Lord Chancellor at 5:12 AM on August 1, 2018 [10 favorites]


DSA: Don’t Endorse Cynthia Nixon… or any Democrats. Ever.

Oh, I just loved this take, holding up the Worker's Left Front (FIT) in Argentina as a real alternative to working with capitalist parties. Not only do we not have the same election system as Argentina, but the FIT is an alliance among three Trotskyist parties that has very little national presence. The article even claims we shouldn't vote the the Green Party because they're capitalists.

Not to attack the FIT too harshly, but I would not raise them as a template of "doing it right." It also shows the lack of understanding DSA membership which does have Trotskyites . . . as well as democratic socialists, social democrats, anarchists, and a whole lot of people that don't have their ideologies pinned down.

The middle article has a better argument about not endorsing Nixon because it's from someone who was part of the NYC DSA process, but that Left Voice article is just silly.
posted by Lord Chancellor at 5:26 AM on August 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


SD-17: Felder | Morris

I’m minorly involved with Morris’ campaign so I’m a bit biased but for the love of god vote Morris.
posted by griphus at 7:09 AM on August 1, 2018 [6 favorites]


I live in Felder's district, and for the love of god vote Morris.
posted by karayel at 9:01 AM on August 1, 2018 [5 favorites]


I mean, an actual argument against electoralism is about a hundred years old and still worth reading : Danger Ahead, Eugene V. Debs
posted by The Whelk at 9:19 AM on August 1, 2018


More recent argument for electoralism : People In Charge
posted by The Whelk at 9:29 AM on August 1, 2018


From like the third paragraph of the whelk’s Debs link, which really does sound as though it’s written about our current era, but perhaps not always in ways that are...good:
The danger I see ahead is that the Socialist Party at this stage, and under existing conditions, is apt to attract elements which it cannot assimilate, and that it may be either weighted down, or torn asunder with internal strife, or that it may become permeated and corrupted with the spirit of bourgeois reform to an extent that will practically destroy its virility and efficiency as a revolutionary organization.
I mean, that does sound familiar, for sure. We’ve just heard that argument, for the most part, from racists.

To some extent this strikes me as just another form of conservatism: a desire and need to control a movement or culture, to continue to decide who is in and who is out, to resist change you cannot control at all costs. Call it enforcing ideological purity, call it whatever you want, but it appears that it is a fundamental part of the growth cycle of communities.

They get bigger, they change to adapt to their new size and circumstances, there are people who resist that inevitable change. So it goes.

I’m not really sure that resistance to inclusion and growth should be lionized, though.
posted by schadenfrau at 9:33 AM on August 1, 2018 [3 favorites]


One of my coms just shared this article about Cynthia Nixon attacking unions. Is there truth to this?
posted by AnhydrousLove at 12:16 AM on August 2, 2018


Well I don't doubt the Transport Worker's Union attacked her when announcing her candidacy; apparently they're aligned with Cuomo.

I found this article from Politico which seems to have some similar quotes.

The problem, though, is that in a state with an overactive political machine, anti-union doesn't necessarily mean anti-worker. For instance, a transport union content to enjoy fat government contracts and unwilling to do its part to tackle crumbling transport infrastructure is using its power to steal from other workers who need the trains to work.
posted by Merus at 1:00 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


IIRC she was getting a lot of shit from the Cuomo machine, then met with union activists who weren’t bullshit, and retracted everything while making sure her actual platform was the most pro-worker thing out there.

In other words she was actually responsive to constituent criticisms, met with people, and changed things.

Which all happened a WHILE ago.

So any time someone brings that up without noting that, I am...suspicious.
posted by schadenfrau at 3:00 AM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Y'all know the situation in NY a lot better than I do so I'll have to trust you on that. It's just that I'm used to seeing allegedly left candidates shred unions, particularly public sector unions, as soon as they get half a chance.
As far as the suspicious nature of the timing... maybe others find it easier, but it's harder to tell from over here who is pushing rhetoric and who is actually helping.
It sounds like she responded well though, and it's not like I exactly trust the AFL-CIO. Ta people.
posted by AnhydrousLove at 4:41 AM on August 2, 2018 [2 favorites]


Schadenfrau, I’d be interested in specifics of the pro-worker stuff, if you know it? A lot of times candidates say they support unions (possibly like Cuomo) but what they mean is they like the money the unions donate to their campaign, not the right of new workers to unionize.
posted by corb at 7:02 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]


Well I don't doubt the Transport Worker's Union attacked her when announcing her candidacy; apparently they're aligned with Cuomo.

And also the IDC - they endorsed Alcantara for SD-31. After some searching, I have not been able to find whether TWU endorsements are based on a vote of the membership or determined by leadership only.

From a Village Voice article last year on TWU president John Samuelsen:
Samuelsen homeschools his two teenage sons and makes sure to teach them, when he’s around during the day, how to be “good Irish republicans.” [...]

Samuelsen’s approach to Governor Andrew Cuomo, the man he must cut deals with, has been far more accommodationist. That yields the cynic’s explanation for his de Blasio beef. “He’s just an opportunist. He has no real trade union principles,” Toussaint, Samuelsen’s TWU predecessor, said. “That has led him into being not just too close to Cuomo, but being his lapdog.”

It’s a charge that infuriates Samuelsen but one repeated sotto voce among other labor leaders, who feel his browbeating of de Blasio — during one of the mayor’s spats with Cuomo over how much the city should fund the MTA, the TWU paid for subway ads that warned de Blasio wanted to take New York “back to the 1970s” — was primarily an effort to ingratiate himself with the governor in advance of contract talks.

Samuelsen insists that’s not true, and his spokesman, Pete Donohue, called Toussaint a “bitter, ostracized, and frankly irrelevant former union president.” But Samuelsen, not long after the TWU agreed to a contract, was noticeably quiet when Cuomo’s executive budget included a cut of $65 million to the MTA. [...]

“I view the IDC as an incredibly stabilizing, effective force against any negative tendencies that the Republicans might have in Albany,” he said. He hopes the caucus can roll back the pension cuts Cuomo — the IDC’s most prominent patron — drove home five years ago.

For the man who styles himself a Sanders-esque firebrand, there are always compromises to make — and concessions to give in the name of reality.

Defending the IDC is a “pragmatic decision,” Samuelsen said.
posted by melissasaurus at 8:04 AM on August 2, 2018 [1 favorite]




New Yorker: how the DSA got comfortable with electoral politics
posted by The Whelk at 2:27 PM on August 2, 2018


“Cuomo accepted the endorsement of the Independence Party of New York and will appear on their ballot line this November. The Independence Party has also endorsed upstate Republican Congress Members that Cuomo claims to oppose.“
posted by The Whelk at 8:51 AM on August 6, 2018


Dont worry TWU is still out there hacking for Cuomo:

New Yorkers are getting the message: We’re fixing the #subway system with @NYGovCuomo and his Subway Action Plan @NYCTSubway @NYSAFLCIO @CentralLaborNYC @nynurses


From the flyer, which is linked to that tweet, comes what transit advocate Ben Kabak called "next-level gaslighting" "No governor has been more focused on improving the subway than Andrew Cuomo"

i cant tell if there just left off the end of the sentence where they meant to include "since Cynthia Nixon started roasting his ass over it" or "in comparison to governors of other states where the subway doesnt run"

I am 100% pro-worker and usually 100% pro union but its clear that the political leadership of the union is happy as long as Cuomo keeps throwing money at projects ('creating jobs') - their inability to see all the ways in which required subway improvements would also create work for their membership is uninspiring to say the least.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 8:17 AM on August 7, 2018 [4 favorites]


Heh. I think there are probably people on Neptune who know Cuomo‘s rep as shit on subways.
posted by Artw at 8:31 AM on August 7, 2018 [2 favorites]




“Brooklyn judge rules against @SenatorDilan in his case challenging residency of his opponent @SalazarSenate18 Dilan says he will appeal.“
posted by The Whelk at 4:40 PM on August 9, 2018 [4 favorites]


Times of Israel just ran an evenhanded article on Felder/Morris if anyone is interested.
posted by griphus at 8:08 AM on August 10, 2018 [2 favorites]


I just finished my neighborhood canvas for Nixon (registered Democrats who voted within the last two years) and did you know it’s difficult to get past doormen in buildings on Central Park West?

On the upside I’ve run up and down so many apartment building staircases I think I can skip leg day.

On the upside more flyering events are coming up and I took a stack and plan on forming my own inatative and hit up the local greenmarkets tomorrow.
posted by The Whelk at 2:24 PM on August 11, 2018 [3 favorites]


Data comes out on the first round of Coumo’s Excelsior state college scholarship plan and it’s ....not ...good
posted by The Whelk at 12:34 PM on August 13, 2018


maybe she will ask him about it . . . since he just accepted a debate invitation to be hosted by CBS on August 29th, per NYS party chairman.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 2:19 PM on August 13, 2018


Who is Coumo’s biggest single donor? Venture capital slumlords.
posted by The Whelk at 3:30 PM on August 14, 2018 [1 favorite]


NYT endorses Teachout for AG.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:28 PM on August 19, 2018 [5 favorites]




I went to a panel discussion in Sunset Park, Brooklyn where Ms. Nixon spoke last night. Apparently Cuomo was invited to show up himself, or anyone from his team, and no one did.

I have a friend who's involved with the local Brooklyn Democrats, and he said that reps like Nydia Velazquez were invited to speak also, and everyone turned them down for this panel. So it ended up being an hour of 2 local reporters for Gotham Gazette and Politico New York asking her questions about her platform. Gotham Gazette's write-up is here.

I liked what she had to say, especially how (and I'm paraphrasing) that, for too many years, Democrats have been Republican Lite, and that has to end now.
posted by droplet at 8:25 AM on August 22, 2018


Queens Democratic Committee resorting to skulduggery to keep control out of the hands of reformers.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:00 PM on August 24, 2018


Queens Democratic Committee resorting to skulduggery to keep control out of the hands of reformers.

Holy fuck. That is an outrage. IMO it deserves its own post - I think I'll go make one now.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:16 PM on August 24, 2018


MUST CREDIT CHRYSOSTOM
posted by Chrysostom at 2:26 PM on August 24, 2018


I got u.
posted by showbiz_liz at 2:29 PM on August 24, 2018


(I was kidding - I think Drudge used to always say that, back in the Neolithic Era? But thank you!)

(the problem with getting old is I'm forgetting what I'm referencing)
posted by Chrysostom at 2:45 PM on August 24, 2018 [2 favorites]




Here for debate anguish. Currently too sober for this shit.
posted by schadenfrau at 1:29 PM on August 29, 2018


I bet Cuomo makes a clumsy Sex and the City reference.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:37 PM on August 29, 2018 [2 favorites]


I made a debate post, and now I'm wishing I'd made a bunch of Sex and The City jokes about Cuomo.

He is a toxic bachelor, surely
posted by schadenfrau at 1:41 PM on August 29, 2018


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