Year of the Donkey: Mayoral Race 2013, Adolfo Carrion, the NYC Independence Party, and Political Snobbery and Dysfunction

Statement by the Independence Party of New York City on the results of the 2013 Mayoral race

Congratulations to Bill de Blasio and the Working Families Party on their win.

The political coalition taking over City Hall says it will take on the problem of economic inequality and poverty in our city.  We support that 100 percent!

We hope that the new Mayor's agenda will also include taking on political dysfunction.  With voter turnout at a 96-year low and a million independents locked out of primary voting, New York's electoral process clearly needs some drastic reform.  Fairness happens when a process is fair.  We urge Mayor-elect de Blasio to make political inclusion and participation key goals of his administration.


Below are notes by IPNYC Press Secretary Sarah Lyons from interviews after the election between Jackie Salit and the press:

Where is the NYC Independence Party headed post-election? 

The NYC Independence Party is part of a national movement concerned about the state of our political process and about political dysfunction -- a movement seeking nonpartisan reform.  We'll continue to pursue those reforms as we always have.

How we approach that with Bill de Blasio as Mayor is an open question.  After all, unlike Bloomberg, neither de Blasio nor the Working Families Party supports nonpartisan reform.  Quite the contrary.  But when you have a system that produces the lowest voter turnout in 96 years and a million independents locked out of the primaries, there is something very wrong with that system.

Adolfo Carrion received some 8,200 votes. How do you account for the low number of votes? 

First of all, this was the Year of the Donkey, meaning that after 20 years' exile from City Hall, the Democratic Party was going to win the mayoralty under virtually any circumstances.  Consequently, the mayoral election really took place in the Democratic primary, which the city's one million independents were banned from voting in.  To break through for an independent in the Year of the Donkey was nearly Mission Impossible.

That said, the Independence Party took a shot.  We chose not to run a fusion campaign.  We supported Adolfo Carrion, a political leader who is a man of color who had held public office, and served in the Obama administration, but who left the Democratic Party to become an independent.  He is a reformer who came up against huge resistance from all corners of the political marketplace.  The systemic change of nonpartisan elections that we sought during the Bloomberg years would have leveled the playing field in this election.  But, that hasn't been achieved yet.  So the election was tilted from the outset in favor of the major party candidates.

Independence Party members protest exclusion of Carrion from ABC debate

Carrion was excluded from the debates, marginalized by much of the media, and didn't have the financial wealth that Bloomberg had to overcome the differential of being an independent in a town in which the Democratic Party runs the show.  Many of his donors were afraid to support him as an independent, afraid of retribution from the Democrats. 





The fact that de Blasio refused to debate Carrion meant that the Democrats wanted to give the public no opportunity to consider another progressive option.  All of that meant the odds were severely stacked against Adolfo.  We knew that going in.  But we felt it was important to support a Latino independent looking to shake up the system and to carve out a new option.  Don't make the mistake of underestimating the 8,200 people who voted for Carrion this year.  Those who did made a very forward-looking statement about resisting the Democratic Party monopoly on progressive politics.  They are the nucleus or the core of a bottom-up independent movement.  All the independent votes we got for Mike Bloomberg were hugely important, they gave him a mandate for nonpartisan leadership, but they were votes for a winner. Everyone who voted for Carrion knew he couldn't win, but they voted for him to build something.

Won't the low vote total make people look askance at the Independence Party?

People have always looked askance at the IP, whether we got 150,000 votes, as we did for Bloomberg in 2009, or under 10,000 votes, so that isn't an issue for me.  I'm used to the political class looking askance at us.  Actually, I like it when they do.  

Does this vote total mean that the Independence Party's message is invalid? 

No. First of all, most New Yorkers didn't know Adolfo Carrion was running, they never got the message. But more than that, the main way that voters displayed their dislike with the system and their major party options this year was by staying home.  This year's voter turnout was the lowest it's been in 97 years.  That's shocking!  Everybody should look askance at that!  

IP is part of a very young movement that is in its infancy.  The Working Families Party, now being touted as having eclipsed the IP as the major minor party in New York City, is not an independent party.  It's an arm of the Democratic Party.  The Democratic Party has had a 200-year head start over the independents.  We are playing a long game, and this campaign was one moment in that long game.

We shouldn't forget that New York isn't even a bipartisan town, it's a one-party town.  The Republican Party did poorly because it has no message and no soul.  The Independence Party has both, but it's young, it's under-funded, it's considered illegitimate and it's operating in a city that is run by one party.

###

 

A note from The Hankster:

In a one-party town, what do you do? You organize, and build build build. It was a pleasure working with all of you on the campaign. Onward!

NH

NYC Mayor Race Count Down: Day 6 - Jackie Salit Independence Party Rally for Adolfo Carrion - What's Lou Reed Got to Do With It?

[UPDATED due to uploading 'glitches'....] In this video, from the October Adolfo Carrion Independence Party Rally, Jackie Salit, President of IndependentVoting.org, the national center for independent nonpartisan political reform, notes that rock n roll legend, American music innovator, Lou Reed's seminal Velvet Underground album sold 30,000 copies (puny by today's standards, no doubt), but that everyone who bought a copy formed a band.

We're forming bands. It's 1776 in New York City. Take a walk on the wild side!
Get your band together!

NH

[Video by Coco Cheung]

Pride. Power. Independence.

NYC Independence Party video shown at last night's rally for Adolfo Carrion's reform campaign for mayor -- shakin' it up!



[video producer: Sarah Lyons]

Media, Media, On the Wall, Who Is the Most Independent of Them All?

Adolfo Carrion, the Independence Party candidate for NYC Mayor, was a guest last weekend on PIX11 (one of my favorite channels for news). See this sharp and intelligent roundtable interview below.

Next up: 

Tune in to NY1 The Call at 9:00pm tonight! Get Adolfo's take on the most recent debate as he answers questions from New Yorkers. Drop them a line at thecall@ny1.com or call in 212-ny1-talk if you have a question for Adolfo.

What: Adolfo on NY1 The Call
When: 9:00pm-10:00pm Tonight
Where: Tune in on NY1, Channel 1 or watch online here.

Contact NY1 The Call through email, thecall@ny1.com,  tweet to @NY1thecall or call in 212-ny1-talk. 


Most media covering this mayoral race are connecting phrases in like "Carrion has 2% support in the polls" and "is not permitted to join the three official mayoral debates"

Ex. "Independent mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion Jr. was left out of the recent mayoral debates for not meeting the polling requirement. He only received two percent in the polls."

PIX11 says: "For many years Adolfo Carrion was viewed as the Latino community's best hope for winning city office. Running as the nominee of the Independence Party, Carrion has 2% support in the polls and is not permitted to join the three official mayoral debates."

Translation: "Adolfo Carrion should have stayed a Democrat and helped the Democratic Party corral the Latino vote to put the Democratic candidate in office. Since he became an independent, he is excommunicated from NYC politics!"

And yet, as David Chen so eloquently put it in his prescient February New York Times article Adolfo Carrion is not deterred.

Vamos a insistir en que el Candidato independiente porción alcalde de NYC ESTA incluido en el "debate" el 15 de octubre!

Let's insist that el candidato independiente por alcalde de NYC esta included in the "debate" on Oct. 15!

Vamos a insistir en que el Candidato independiente porción alcalde de NYC ESTA incluido en el "debate" el 15 de octubre!

Fulani: The Real Progressive in the NYC Mayoral Race is Adolfo Carrion

In case you missed the Black Star News today, read here:

The Democratic Party's de Blasio will ask you to celebrate the return of progressivism to City Hall.  Don't be fooled.  Progressivism is something born in the streets, not in the centers of power.

There is a new progressivism being built in New York today.  It is visionary, it is nonpartisan, it is inclusionary, it is multi-racial, it is Independent.  Its mayoral candidate is Adolfo Carrion.

Give him your vote on November 5th.

Fulani: If New Yorkers Want True Progressive, Vote Adolfo Carrion 

Now that the mayoral race has taken shape, it's time to take a harder look at the candidates, the choices, and the politics built into this race.

I am a supporter of Adolfo Carrion, the Independence Party's mayoral candidate.  He is neither a Democrat nor a Republican, he's something else altogether and that is a good thing.  Unless we can create a new way of doing things politically, we will not be able to touch the problems that New Yorkers face, let alone solve them.

The Democratic Party and its nominee, Bill de Blasio, have put themselves forward as that new and "beautiful" thing. At the unity rally on Tuesday where Bill Thompson folded his campaign even though the votes had not been fully counted, de Blasio said, "There is nothing more beautiful than Democratic unity."

I have to admit, I was taken aback by this pronouncement.  There are so many things on this earth more beautiful than that.  When poor Black kids who have been struggling to achieve in the classroom and in life manage to get the support they need to learn to read, that is a beautiful thing.  When a life is saved by a first responder, that is a beautiful thing. When a child is born, or people fall in love, these are beautiful things.  When violence is averted because people in the neighborhood had the skills needed to step back from the edge, that is a beautiful thing.  (By the way, I include President Obama's recent moves in Syria as an example.)

You get my point here.  I have met Bill de Blasio.  We've seen each other in the streets for years.  He has visited my youth programs, the All Stars Project, and we've discussed the importance of afterschool and youth development.  He cares about these things and I respect that.  But my problem with Bill de Blasio's mayoral campaign is that it is based on the idea that what we should care about most of all is the Democratic Party.  This is something that every New Yorker, but particularly the communities of color, need to be very concerned about.

Putting your political party above all else is no way to run a city.  It leads to bad decisions.  It invariably leads to the poor being left behind.  The Democrats always take care of their organized constituencies at the expense of the poor and unrepresented.

I was struck by several other things at the unity press conference.  Bill Thompson expressed his outrage at the failure of the Board of Elections to have counted all the votes, one week after the election.  He said, "This electoral process has to be improved, there has to be fundamental reform."  Of course, he's right, there does have to be fundamental election reform.  I've fought for that for decades, prompting bitter opposition from Democrats, including Bill de Blasio and Bill Thompson.

When you think about it, the results of the Democratic primary were deeply influenced by flaws, faults, even fixes by election bureaucrats.  When the CFB withheld matching funds from John Liu, they substituted themselves for the voters and destroyed Liu's campaign.  When the Board of Elections couldn't manage to count the votes on Primary Day, the door was left open to party bigwigs muscling Thompson out of the race, which they promptly did.  In neither case did the voters get to decide.

Rev. Al Sharpton played a part in the Democratic Muscle Machine, tamping down any potential anger or frustration in the Black community at Thompson being sidelined.  He made an appeal to moving beyond "identity politics" by pointing out that half of Black voters had cast ballots for de Blasio rather than Thompson.  Of course, I completely support Sharpton's call to move beyond identity politics.  I've been telling the Black community that for years.  However, let's not forget that when I organized 47 percent of Black voters to abandon the Democratic Party in 2005 and vote for the independent Mike Bloomberg, no Democrat gave any grand speech about moving beyond identity politics; no Democrat called me up and said, "Dr. Fulani, thank you for moving us to a new place!"

It was Governor Cuomo, though, who provided the grand finale to the Democratic unity rally.  Having spent close to two terms repressing any semblance of Black and Latino empowerment in the state legislature, Cuomo arrived on the scene to tell New Yorkers that the suffering is over because we can now put a progressive in City Hall.  What is Cuomo's progressive agenda?  Improving public education, passing sensible gun laws, having an open immigration policy, and making the city the capital of commerce and diversity.

For the record, that was Mike Bloomberg's agenda.  However, because the Democrats are poised to retake City Hall, the past must be rewritten to fit their script.   The main thing that distinguishes Mike Bloomberg's agenda from Cuomo's "progressive agenda" is that Bloomberg fought alongside me (not always comfortably!) for the electoral reform that Bill Thompson, in his farewell address, finally said we desperately need.  Bloomberg wasn't a perfect mayor.  But he sure as hell was an independent one.

At the risk of being branded a radical (actually there is no risk because it's already happened and it's true) let me remind us of the cautionary words of Malcolm X.  He said to us, "You put the Democrats first and the Democrats put you last."  In this election, more than any other in my lifetime, we need to take those words to heart.

Adolfo Carrion, a former public school teacher, from humble beginnings, rose through the ranks of the Democratic Party to serve on the City Council, as Bronx Borough President and in the Obama White House.  For his entire career, poverty, the lack of opportunity and the need to create economic and social development that benefits everyone have been his life's mission.

He was considered a model Democrat, a pro-growth, anti-poverty activist, a man of color, the son of a man of the cloth.  Everyone believed he would go far.  Last year the Democrats offered him the comptroller position in this year's election, having heard rumblings he might want to run for mayor.  It wasn't his turn, they said.  (Sound familiar?)  He turned it down.

Adolfo Carrion didn't want to wait.  He believed, based on his experience, that far from being the embodiment of progressivism, the Democratic Party had become its greatest obstacle.  And so, he became an independent.  He came to the Independence Party, to me, to ask for our support.  He said to us that we must have a new progressive coalition in New York City and I want to help lead it.  We said yes.

For the next seven weeks, you will hear a lot from the Republican Joe Lhota.  Many say that Lhota is a capable person.  But the New York City Republican Party is dead as a doornail.  Its vision is non-existent.  It barely exists.  It is no threat.

The Democratic Party's de Blasio will ask you to celebrate the return of progressivism to City Hall.  Don't be fooled.  Progressivism is something born in the streets, not in the centers of power.

There is a new progressivism being built in New York today.  It is visionary, it is nonpartisan, it is inclusionary, it is multi-racial, it is Independent.  Its mayoral candidate is Adolfo Carrion.

Give him your vote on November 5th.

Entrevista con candidato a la alcaldía de Nueva York, Adolfo Carrion

Esta entrevista la obtuvo Bronx 12.....(leer mas)

Desfile Antillano En Brooklyn

"Cada político debe venir con una agenda para el desarrollo, educación e independencia política… Yo transformaría las escuelas y resolvería el costo de vida de esta ciudad", dijo Adolfo Carrión, candidato a la alcaldía. (leer mas) 

Go Biking in the Neighborhood With Adolfo Carrion, Independent Candidate for Mayor of New York City!

By the way, candidate Carrion will be out and about tomorrow in Corona Queens (111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue) and then at the Festival de la Calle and the Community Outreach Fair on the Lower East Side -- Adolfo's childhood home! Check in here to volunteer!
 

Adolfo Carrion: Triple Threat in (an otherwise despondent) NYC Mayoral Race 2013

Adolfo Carrion, the independent candidate for Mayor of New York City, is a triple threat:

1. He's independent
2. He cooks
3. He sings

I do think that Christine Quinn made a great effort on the Star Spangled Banner, but hey, good luck against Adolfo in November!

Let's get ready to rumble, rock, and rap...  have fun, and get your game on!!

See more about Adolfo Carrion's campaign here and here

Independent Mayoral Candidate Adolfo Carrion at Ecuadorian Pride Parade: Queens NY

Very enthusiastic proud crowd today at the Ecuadorian Parade in Jackson Heights Queens NY!

Among the notables:

Adolfo Carrión, a rising Democratic Party star who quit the party in October 2012 to become an independent and run for Mayor of NY...

• Former member of the New York City Council
• Spent 44 days in Federal Prison for protesting the bombing on the island of Vieques, PR
• Elected twice as Bronx Borough President (2002-2009)
• Served two terms as President of the National Association of Latino Elected Officials
• Appointed by President Obama as the nation’s first Director of Urban Affairs
• Small business owner in the real estate development sector

The Daily News reports:

Queens counts more than 100,000 residents who hail from Ecuador, making it the largest community of people who hail from the South American country of any county in the U.S.
Corona happens to be home to Queens’ “Little Ecuador,” but it’s neighboring Jackson Heights that plays host to the community’s annual Ecuadorian Pride Parade. (Read more)

The Independent Option for Mayor of NYC in Sunnyside Queens

Queens Independence Party Executive Member Jo Coskie, Chair Nancy Hanks, independent Mayoral candidate Adolfo Carrion, and Queens IP Vice Chair Bryan Puertas in Sunnyside Queens July 19, 2013 -- we were hot as hell!

Owner of UPS Store in Sunnyside Tony Tang with Adolfo Carrion, Nancy Hanks, and Bryan Puertas

I don't usually go this granular, but I have to say it was a pleasure to spend time with the independent option for NYC Mayor, Adolfo Carrion, in my home town Sunnyside Queens!

See you on the trail!

NH

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY: Adolfo Carrion and Randy Miller - The Power of the People's Politics Grows and Develops!

Hi Hanskteristas! Happy Independence Day!

This July Fourth, as usual, I will be joining my many NYC Independence Party Organizations activists for our annual Adolfo Carrion. We are close to our goal of 5,000 sigs and --  we ALWAYS get our guy - on the ballot!

Nancy Hanks and Jo Coskie about to kick ass in Maspeth

Independence Day festivities of combing the boroughs for signatures for our candidates -- in this case, our NYC Mayoral candidate,

Adolfo is a particularly good candidate for NYC independents this year, I think, because he's a new independent with a mission. Mr. Carrion, served as the Bronx Borough President for 2 terms,
1 term as a City Council Member, and he initiated the Office of Urban Affairs for President Obama during his first term. Adolfo left the Democratic Party last fall to become an independent because he wanted to make a difference in NYC and discovered that the ways the parties operate are contrary to his principals.

Kudos, Mr. Carrion! You are in good company! We are happy to have you!

********

Grassroots independent activist and Hankster contributor Randy Miller reports to us regularly on Utah politics via Utah League of Independent Voters. 

Randy, an Iraq vet, a wonderful husband and father, and a passionate political independent -- and a surveyor by trade -- has run for office, written letters to the editor, dogged partisan candidates, and has been on the front lines of the independent movement for years.

Randy is also a political cartoonist.

This week he posted The Power of Editorial Cartoons highlighting the work of Daryl Cagle, Bill Day, Howard Tayler, Steve Benson, and Pat Bagley. In his post, Randy said: "If any non-fictional character has the power to push the Earth off its axis, it had to be some of the talented artists at the American Association of Editorial Cartoonists' convention in Salt Lake City this week."

I admire and support Randy Miller as an American patriot and a fighter for democracy, and I love his political cartoons (many of them have been posted here on The Hankster.)

I would point out that there is another non-fictional character that is indeed exercising the power to 'push the Earth off its axis' -- and Randy has been center stage in creating this character -- the characters of the independent movement, the ordinary people who are fed up every day by the partisan destruction of democracy in our country and push relentlessly against all odds for a different, more independent direction.

Adolfo Carrion and Randy Miller are just two of us living this 'character' and power.

They inspire me every day.

Let's get out there and sign up a few more independent Americans!

Happy 4th of July!!

The Hankster

Viva la Independencia! Viva Desarrollo!

Lenora Fulani and Adolfo Carrion at the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade, Sunday June 2, 2013

Adolfo Carrion, independent candidate for Mayor of New York City, former Bronx Boro President, marched in the Bronx Puerto Rican Day Parade on Sunday, June 2, accompanied by Dr. Lenora Fulani, the first woman and first African American to ever get on the ballot in all 50 states as a candidate for President of the United States.

Viva nonpartisan elections!!

Let's, well  -- Carry on!

NH

Hankster News of the Day for Independents - May 31

Top picks for today.

The title of the article contains the link to the original, followed by the author and publication, and then a snipit from the article. You can subscribe to this briefing by email at FeedBlitz or choose your favorite newsreader... 

• Independent Voters of America Launches, Dumping on Both Parties (BY Micah L. Sifry, techPresident) Wait a second, isn't that what the just-failed Americans Elect said it was going to do? Actually, no. Says Hillsman, "We are building the largest online community of self-identified independent voters, with the goals of bringing fresh voices and more choices into our politics, acting as a counterweight to the two major political parties, and to reduce gridlock, force progress and bring a new accountability to Washington." Americans Elect sought to create a ballot line for an artificially-engineered "centrist" presidential ticket. The plan with IVA, he says, is "to give self-identified independent voters a gathering place" and then "see where people want to take this."
• The “2nd largest Party” in Arizona, and Russell Pearce and Joe Arpaio supporters don’t want Independents to have an “open primary” (by Dee Dee Garcia Blase, Tucson Citizen/Hispanic Politico) As an independent voter …. I DO SUPPORT THE OPEN PRIMARIES! 
• As We See It: Not-so-open primary election (Santa Cruz Sentinel) Now it appears the only way party organizations can even have a voice is by making an endorsement early, which is what happened in the U.S. Senate race.
• Linda Parks, Open Primary, Stand in Democrats' Path in California (By Scott Bland,National Journal/Hotline) Despite that, Parks has national Democrats scared that she could cost the party a much-needed seat in Congress. As a moderate independent in a crowded race, Parks is positioned perfectly to take advantage of California's new all-party, top-two primary.
• Despite Pres. Nomination SD Has Plenty On Ballot (By Ben Dunsmoor,KELO-land TV) For the first time, registered Independent voters will be able to make their voices heard in a statewide primary. "We're the only party in the state that allows, not just allows but welcomes, Independents into our party to participate in our primary to vote and take an active role in deciding who the Democrat nominee is going to be in the general election," Nesselhuf said.
• Proposal aims to let voters pick their politicians (The Advertiser-Tribune, Tiffin OH) Among eight potential statewide ballot issues this November is a constitutional amendment that would create a non-partisan, independent citizens commission which would be responsible for drawing legislative and congressional boundaries in Ohio.
• CEO In Chief? A Business Background Is Rare For Presidents (By Jim Zarroli, WBUR Boston - NPR) Former Republican Rep. Mickey Edwards says many successful CEOs are good at big-picture thinking — understanding all the component parts of a problem. But Edwards also says that business and politics are very different endeavors, and that someone who succeeds in one won't necessarily do well in another. "To run around saying we must run government like a business is really a silly idea," Edwards says. "It shows a total lack of understanding of the purposes of government."
• Koch Prefers Kelly for Mayor, But Quinn 'Capable' (By Colby Hamilton, WNYC/The Empire) “The basic problem for most people who aren't committed to the existing candidates is a fear that they're all more left than what I think the city is or should be, and the fear that we might go back to the days of [former mayors John] Lindsay and [Abe] Beame and their predecessors with the city seeking to provide benefits that it's not capable of providing financially,” Koch said. “We're fearful--people like myself--that municipal unions will come back into power.”…. Koch said he believes next year’s election will come down to a runoff between Quinn and former city comptroller Bill Thompson.
• Staten Island Sen. Savino endorsed by state Independence Party (Tom Wrobleski/Staten Island Advance) Also endorsed by the party were Ms. Savino's fellow members of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference (IDC): Sens. Jeff Klein (D-Bronx), David Valesky (D-Oneida) and David Carlucci (D-Rockland/Orange).
• IDC loves gets Indies, loves Morse, mocks Dems (by Jimmy Vielkind, Capitol bureau, Albany Times Union/Capitol Confidential) And both Klein and Savino reacted with some schadenfreude at news of a leadership struggle in the Democratic conference, which they left behind.
• Queens GOP endorsement sets the stage for rare Republican primary - Forest Hills lawyer Juan Reyes and Councilman Eric Ulrich set to face off (By Lisa L. Colangelo / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) But the Queens Republican Party helped set that in motion last week when it announced the endorsement of Forest Hills lawyer Juan Reyes for the 15th District seat in the state Senate. Republican City Councilman Eric Ulrich, who has been at odds with the county GOP leadership, announced last month he was running to capture the seat currently held by Democratic state Sen. Joseph Addabbo Jr. Queens GOP leaders had been eyeing Reyes for some time, while Ulrich decided whether or not to run.

Hankster News of the Day for Independent Voters May 17

CA TOP TWO

• Previous CA Election Rules Stacked Against Independent Voters (By Chad Peace, IVN) In California, the Democratic Party initially resisted but eventually chose to allow independents to participate in its primaries. The Republican Party refused to allow independent voters to participate in its primaries. Interestingly, in that time, the Republican Party shrunk precipitously, the Democrats held steady, and the percentage of voters choosing to join no party increased by approximately 30%.
• San Diego group pushes independent politics statewide - Architects of “top-two” primary system seek to organize unaffiliated voters (By Christopher Cadelago, UT San Diego) Co-chaired by former state lawmakers Steve Peace, a Democrat, and Jeff Marston, a Republican, the group has launched a $1.5 million campaign to increase turnout among voters declaring no party preference — about 3.6 million people accounting for a record 21.3 percent of the statewide electorate.

AMERICANS ELECT
Americans Elect Failure to Find Candidate Threatens Third-Party Dreams (by John Avlon, Daily Beast) Perhaps the biggest obstacle was the basic fact of this particular election cycle—when a president is running for reelection, it tends to be a referendum. Third-party candidacies do best when there is not an incumbent on the ballot or after an extended period of one-party rule with weak opposition.

NYC 2013 MAYORAL

• Kelly 2013 goes cold, but Catsimatidis isn't warming up (By Dana Rubinstein, Capital New York)
• Ray Kelly won't run for mayor, ex-Staten Island BP Guy Molinari says (Judy L. Randall, SI Advance) If Kelly's decision to absent himself from the run proves true, it will be good news for the Democrats poised to make the race, including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former mayoral candidate William Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.
• So Many X Factors in Next Year's Race for NYC Mayor (Dominic Carter, Huffington Post) DeBlasio is someone who should not be underestimated. It is commendable how DeBlasio went from Hillary Clinton 2000 Senate campaign manager, to the City Council a year later, and now a citywide position from a crowded field of candidates, literally first in line to succeed the mayor should it be necessary.
• Ray Kelly’s Mayoral Dance Steps Back Toward ‘No’ (NY Mag/Daily Intel) Staten Island Borough President Ray Molinari, one of the biggest proponents of a Kelly run, came out of a lunch with the commissioner less than glowing yesterday.
• Quinn Confronts Banks in Bid to Become NYC’s First Gay Mayor (By Henry Goldman, Bloomberg) “She’s a throwback to the Irish-American political bosses in the history books,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac Polling Institute in Hamden, Connecticut. Its May 10 survey found that she led a five-candidate Democratic field with 26 percent approval, twice as much as her nearest rival. “She’s always thinking, ‘What do we need to win?’”

PEDRO ESPADA
Espada Guilty of Stealing Clinic's Funds (By TAMER EL-GHOBASHY, Wall Street Journal) It marked an ignominious turn for the elder Mr. Espada, who in 2009 became the state Senate president when he and three other senators defected from the majority Democrats and helped Republicans take over the chamber. The chaotic period helped solidify Albany's reputation for dysfunction.

EDUCATION REFORM
Suit seeks to overturn 'outdated' teacher job protections (LA Times) The founder of Students Matter is Silicon Valley entrepreneur David F. Welch, a research scientist who went on to co-found Infinera, a manufacturer of optical telecommunications systems based in Sunnyvale. “We are challenging a system that was fashioned by special interests and has burdened our schools with an inflexible environment for hiring and retaining the best teachers," said Welch.

Hankster News of the Day for Independents May 15

If you're independent, you won't be voting today in Idaho... Poor poor Michael Russnow, can't find Dianne Feinstein's name in the "clutter"! ... WI Gov Walker failing with indies... Americans Elect failing... Christine Quinn plays it safe to get the 2013 NYC Mayoral...

CA TOP TWO

• California Primary Ballot Hodgepodge: We Need a Return to Voting By Party Members Only (Michael Russnow, Screenwriter, former Member WGAW Board of Directors, former U.S. Senate aide, Huffington Post) Remembering that this was the year long-time incumbent Dianne Feinstein was running for re-election, I was hard pressed to find her in the ensuing clutter. Nor was it easier to find her opponents, none of whom I had ever heard of.
• “No Party Preference” Voters To Sway Senate District 15 (by Jane Susskind, IVN) Almost 28% of voters in Senate District 15 have opted out of the two-party system and are registered as “No Party Preference,” placing this district on our radar of races to watch.
• California focus - Feinstein strength exposes primary weakness (By THOMAS D. ELIAS, Ukiah Daily Journal) The top-two, or "jungle primary" system voters adopted for themselves and will use for the first time next month, will put the two leading finishers in every legislative and congressional race into November runoffs, regardless of their party affiliation. But U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein appears about to expose one wasteful difference between the new primary system and the way special elections have long operated: In special elections, if one candidate gets more than 50 percent of the first-round vote, there's no runoff. That candidate simply wins. Not so with the new primary setup. No one running for Congress will win outright next month.

IDAHO CLOSED PRIMARY

• 8 Things You Need To Know To Vote In Idaho’s Primary (Samantha Wright / Boise State Public Radio) Closed Primary:  This year, Idaho made the switch to a closed primary system.  The Idaho Republican Party sued the state to make this happen, as Party Executive Director Jonathan Parker explains. “We do believe that it is our right to essentially let Republicans chose Republican candidates, Democrats choose Democrat candidates, as these are the candidates who will be our standard bearers, carrying the torch for the Republican Party in November.
• Idaho Primary: Why The GOP Closed Its Ballot (By Samantha Wright, Boise State Public Radio) Grant says there was never a Democratic mandate to cross over and vote for someone in the GOP primary.  But he does say, in local races, a tiny fraction of Democrats have done this.  “And in many areas those races are decided in the Republican Primary.  So there are folks, I’m sure there are folks now, folks that are good Democrats that have registered as Republicans so they can vote in those local races.”… That could be a challenge for the 37 percent of Idahoans who label themselves Independent, according to a 2011 Public Policy Survey by Boise State University.

WISCONSIN RECALL
Poll: Wis. Gov. Walker leads Dem opponent by 9 points in recall (By Justin Sink, The Hill/ Blog Briefing Room) But Walker's lead shrinks among independent voters, among whom the incumbent governor holds just a three-point advantage. That's an encouraging sign for Barrett, who must make inroads among swing voters as well as rally his Democratic base.

AMERICANS ELECT
Americans Elect vote deadline hours away (Jonathan Tilove, The Times-Picayune) "Yes, the deadline is 11:59:59 tonight," Americans Elect spokesman Ileana Wachtel said in an email this morning, referring to the requirement that, in order to compete in the Americans Elect voting a candidate must first gain 1,000 clicks from supporters in each of 10 states. The leading declared candidate, by a mile, is former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, but as of today he had only 5,618 clicks, and the most from any single state is 583 from California.

NYC 2013 MAYORAL

• Speaker Christine Quinn primary sponsor of just two of 827 bills submitted to City Council since 2010 - Exclusive: Council sources say she avoids lending name to legislation so it won't hurt mayoral run (By Reuven Blau / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) The News’ review found that the most active Council member in terms of introducing legislation was Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan), who submitted 62 bills. They ranged from a measure requiring the city to post more statistical data online to one to force the city to purchase locally grown vegetables. Most of Brewer’s bills stalled in committee, but the mayor signed seven into law, including the measure to disclose city data. Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) was second, with 49 bills, followed by Councilman Daniel Garodnick (D-Manhattan), with 44.
• New York Voters Support Minimum Wage Increase, Poll Says (By THOMAS KAPLAN, NY Times/ City Room) Democrats and independent voters were strongly supportive of raising the minimum wage, the poll found, with 88 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents in support.

NYC 2013: The Search for a Post-Bloomberg Mayor

2013 NYC MAYORAL

• Union Contract Battle May Be On Horizon For Next Mayor (By: Courtney Gross, NY1) "It is not likely that there is going to be extra money to do that and I think most of the unions understand that," Bloomberg said. "No adminstration is going to have the money to give pay in the past."
• Irish Americans Christine Quinn and Ray Kelly lead race for mayor of New York (By HILDA HIGGINS, Irish Central) Kelly, a registered independent, showed a lot of support from GOP voters with 82 to 84 percent support in the survey but trails with Democrats by margins of 51 to 55 points.
• May 10, 2012 - Dems Top Kelly Big Time In New York City Mayoral Race, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; Voters Like Kelly As Top Cop, Not As Mayor (Quinnipiac) City Council Speaker Christine Quinn tops Kelly 48 - 33 percent; Former City Comptroller and 2009 Democratic candidate William Thompson leads Kelly 46 - 34 percent; Public Advocate Bill de Blasio beats Kelly 46 - 34 percent.   

• Republican chairs: Kelly hasn't started yet, and the Democrats aren't exactly running away with it (Briefing: Ray Kelly. Azi Paybarah, By Azi Paybarah, Capital New York) "To be polling under 50 percent," Isaacs said of the Democrats, "I think that sends red flags out and I think it firmly supports our contention that this will be a competitive race."
• G.O.P. chairs shift, bluntly, from Ray Kelly to John Catsimatidis (By Dana Rubinstein, Capital New York) "John Catsimatidis is again very high on everyone’s radar, as he has himself has said, he’s in the bullpen," said Isaacs. "And he’s indicated that if Commissioner Kelly does not run, then he’s inclined to do so, and we will be blessed as a party and as citizens of this city to have someone like John Catsimatidis as our mayor." Ragusa said Catsimatidis is "the type of person that I think we need at City Hall." Savino described former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion approvingly as "a conservative Democrat, and he, much like many other people, do not or cannot see the city of New York taking a step back to what it was pre-Rudy Giuliani,” said Savino.
• Dems betray the NYPD (By MICHAEL GOODWIN, NY Post) To hear the mob, you’d never know the NYPD has driven crime to historic lows and kept the city safe from another terrorist attack. Instead, its accusers — all Democrats — paint it as an army of jackbooted thugs trampling civil rights. They have no facts, only prejudices. And maybe the goal of preventing Kelly from running for mayor.

Mike Bloomberg at a June 2009 Independence Party Spring Chair Reception

Hankster News of the Day May 10

INDEPENDENT VOTERS

• Millions of Voters Leaving Political Parties, the Silent Revolution (by Chad Peace, IVN) I am not suggesting that political parties should not and do not serve an important roll in organizing, promoting, unifying political sentiment.  Rather, my position is that control over the electoral process should derive from the wills of individual voters, not party central committees.  In other words, I am suggesting that parties should be able to influence outcomes through advocacy rather than manipulation…. But, as the American voters become increasingly dissatisfied with their partisan representatives, non-partisan electoral reforms passed in states like California have the potential to revolutionize the way we elect our representatives and broadened the voters to whom they are accountable.
• President Obama’s independent problem is nothing new. (Posted by Chris Cillizza, Washington Post/The Fix)
• Battleground Poll: Dead heat (By: James Hohmann, Politico) The former Massachusetts governor has opened up a 10-point lead, 48 percent to 38 percent, among independents in a poll conducted Sunday, April 29 through Thursday, May 3 and a 6-point lead among those who describe themselves as “extremely likely” to vote in November. Obama led Romney by 9 points overall in POLITICO’s February’s poll.
• Beltway Blog — Study: Colorado grows independent voters, Democrats, GOP struggle to keep up (By Allison Sherry, The Denver Post/The Spot) Since 2008, Colorado has added voters in all groups becauses the state’s population is growing. But Democrats have added the fewest voters at 13,497, according to the study. Republicans have added 36,896 voters since 2008. There are more than 130,000 more independent voters now in Colorado compared to 2008, according to the study.

AZ TOP TWO

• Push is on for open primary in Arizona (by Dan Nowicki, Arizona Republic/TUCSON CITIZEN) The pros and cons of the “top two” primary idea, which is in use in Louisiana and Washington and will go into effect in California this year, will be debated today during a panel discussion organized by the O’Connor House. The organization, named after retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s former home, advocates for centrist and nonpartisan policy solutions and civil discourse.
• Open primaries worth a look (OPINION Arizona Republic) The discussion includes film producer and California politician Steve Peace, the architect of that state's top-two primary system. Also on the panel will be Richard Winger of the Coalition on Free and Open Elections, Grady Gammage, Jr., one of the authors of the Arizona initiative, and Alan Maguire of the Maguire political consulting firm. A new paper, "The Nonpartisan Primary: Is it a Game Changer?" by Morrison Institute Senior Fellow David R. Berman, will be distributed.

CA TOP TWO

• Commentary: ‘Top-two’ system makes primary a whole new ballgame (By Casey Gudel, AgAlert - Weekly Newspaper for Calif Agriculture) A number of candidates, who would have been receptive to issues important to family farmers and ranchers, lost by just a few votes in the last primary election. Had the top-two primary system been in place, Farm Bureau and allied organizations could have worked on behalf of those business-friendly candidates in the general election. When you combine the new top-two primary system with changes to legislative districts as drawn by the Citizen's Redistricting Commission, you find no shortage of candidates this year. Redistricting caused a number of retirements in Congress, which opened up a game of musical chairs that also involves seats in the state Assembly and Senate.
• Everybody in the Pool! (By Loretta Redd, PhD, Santa Barbara View) Anyone who doesn’t think we’ve legalized dope in this State has only to read the helpful voter guide from Secretary of State, Debra Bowen: “California law requires that the term ‘party preference’ now be used in place of the term ‘party affiliation.’  On the voter registration form, a voter may choose whether or not to indicate a preference for a political party.  A voter with no party preference (NPP) is anyone who chose to not indicate a political party preference when he or she registered to vote.  Voters who were previously known as decline-to-state voters (because they did not have a party affiliation) are now known as having no party preference.”

2012
Obama leads Romney, helped by independents (Deborah Charles - Reuters, Chicago Tribune) Independents swung behind Obama. Forty eight percent approved and 40 percent disapproved of his performance in May compared to 37 percent who approved and 57 percent who disapproved in April…. The poll, conducted from May 3-7, showed voters from the two parties are falling in behind their candidates, which makes the independent vote more important, Clark said.

INDIANA CONGRESSIONAL RACE

• Tea party set to topple Sen. Richard Lugar. Could he try third-party run? (By Mark Trumbull, Christian Science Monitor) "I don't think that Lugar would want to split the party," says Brian Vargus, a political scientist at Indiana University in Indianapolis. "The coalition between social and economic Lugar makes last-ditch Election Day plea for votes, rules out third-party run (By Justin Sink, WITH VIDEO, The Hill) Indiana has an open primary, meaning anyone registered to vote can cast a ballot in Tuesday's Republican contest. And while Lugar remains popular statewide, the 80-year-old senator acknowledged that the money and enthusiasm had tended to favor his opponent… But Lugar deferred when asked if centrists no longer had a home in the Republican Party.
• Lugar unloads on 'unrelenting' partisanship (By MIKE ZAPLER, Politico) Too often bipartisanship is equated with centrism or deal cutting. Bipartisanship is not the opposite of principle. One can be very conservative or very liberal and still have a bipartisan mindset. Such a mindset acknowledges that the other party is also patriotic and may have some good ideas. It acknowledges that national unity is important, and that aggressive partisanship deepens cynicism, sharpens political vendettas, and depletes the national reserve of good will that is critical to our survival in hard times.

THIRD PARTY POLITICS

• Out of the Margins, Into the Fray: Vermont Progressive Party Wields Outsized Influence on State Politics (by Steve Early‚ Beyond Chron) In many other states, most labor activists like David-Friedman have shied away from "pure" third party activity because they don't want to back political "spoilers" or, short of that, just mount losing campaigns with no impact on major party behavior or election results. Elsewhere in the northeast, labor-financed Working Families Parties (WFP) were launched instead so "fusion voting" could be used, where permitted under state law, to reward the friends of union causes by giving cross-endorsed candidates an additional ballot line. Banned in most of the nation a century ago (as part of the corporate counter-attack against Populism), fusion allows major party candidates, in states like New York, to garner additional votes on each endorsing minor party's separate ballot line.
• ROSE NOLEN: Electoral process, political parties have left voters confused (BY Rose Nolen, Columbia Missourian) The efforts by some political parties to pass voter registration laws, which will require some people to provide various forms of personal identification in order to vote, is troublesome and will undoubtedly cause some to avoid going to the polls. It has occurred to many that the political parties no longer want individual citizens to vote, unless they are willing to vote their way. Until we have an independent authority to interpret law, we are without recourse. The political parties are completely out of hand. It seems to be impossible to establish a third party, although Ron Paul seems to be on a good road toward accomplishing that goal.

NYC MAYORAL 2013

• NY1 Online: City Republican Chairmen Call For Candidates In 2013 (NY1 By: Inside City Hall)
• Don’t run for mayor, Ray - A plea to the top cop to stay out of politics (By George Marlin / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS) You have moral authority…  Running for mayor means stepping down from this well-earned perch. It means making public pronouncements on every conceivable issue from trans fats to transgender rights to the Department of Transportation’s bike lanes.
• Quinn Says Next Mayor Would Be ‘Lucky’ To Have Kelly Stay As Commish - Ray Kelly Continues To Maintain That He's 'Not Running For Anything' (CBS LOCAL) For his part, a clearly irritated Kelly was asked if he was running for mayor and if he could work for Quinn.

EDUCATION REFORM
Education reform bill heads to Malloy (Linda Conner Lambeck, CTPost) The reform bill went through several rewrites over the past three months and set the Democratic governor at odds with teachers across the state because of its efforts to reform teacher tenure. In the end, however, teachers say they got a lot of what they want in the compromise package and Commissioner of Education Stefan Pryor said he got a reform package that will improve education for children and strengthen the state's bid to win a federal waiver of the No Child Left Behind law.

LAST WORD
Americans Elect Sputters in Effort to Field Nominee (By Alexis Simendinger, RealClearPolitics) The struggles of Americans Elect have not come as a huge surprise to the media or the political cognoscenti, even among those rooting for anything that might detox traditional party politics. In March, New York Times columnist Gail Collins described the group’s concept as “delusional, in a deeply flattering way: We the people are good and pure, and if only we were allowed to just pick the best person, everything else would fall into place. And, of course, the best person cannot be the choice of one of the parties, since the parties are … the problem.”