New York City Unaffected by "Anti-Incumbent Year"

Although the New York State legislature has 48 new faces, New York City has not been affected by this "anti-incumbent year", as few legislatures have left their offices.

NEW YORK:

• In an Anti-Incumbent Year, City Legislators Kept Their Seats (by Rachael Fauss, Gotham Gazette) Overall, 17 legislators left office under a cloud of ethical misconduct or criminal issues from 1999 to 2010 -- one out of every 11 legislators who left office. A shocking 12 of these legislators were from New York City.
• Judge Criticizes Independence Party on Monitoring Money (By COLIN MOYNIHAN, NY Times) Frank MacKay, the state chairman of the Independence Party, said during a telephone call after the hearing that he believed that $800,000 had gone to ballot security measures, something he said he had no reason to doubt after candidates endorsed by the party won several close elections. Mr. MacKay said the money from the mayor belonged to the Independence Party and should be the party’s to spend how it pleased.
• Judge Restricts Party's Spending (By Michael Howard Saul, Wall Street Journal/Market Watch) Mr. MacKay said he's looking forward to a full hearing before the judge. "If there's a victim in this very strange case, we're the victim," he said.
• Independence Party in hot water over aide's use of $1.2M Mayor Bloomberg donation to buy house (BY ADAM LISBERG, DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU CHIEF) "I'm more interested in knowing why you believe you get a pass in the context of your chairman and your vice chairman not having a clue where the $1.1 million went," the judge said. "Shouldn't someone have been out there saying, 'Where was the operation that day?'"