“He’s been a friend to N.O.W., a friend to women, and a friend to the women’s movement and has a long record of supporting women’s issues,” N.Y.C. N.O.W. president and Hillary Clinton backer Sonia Ossorio told me just now. “I think Ted Kennedy has been a tremendous friend to women.”

That's a far cry from what Pappas said about Kennedy, in part:

“Women have forgiven Kennedy, stuck up for him, stood by him, hushed the fact that he was late in his support of Title IX, the ERA, the Family Leave and Medical Act to name a few.”

When reached in her Albany office, Pappas said she was “inundated” with calls from reporters and would get back to me.

The rift over Kennedy isn’t the first time Pappas and Ossorio have put out conflicting messages (see Greg Camp versus Micah Kellner for Assembly). The national organization of N.O.W. has yet to weigh in (when reached by phone an employee said they would have a statement out shortly), but Pappas has a record of over-the-top rhetoric.

For example, the January 11th press release she wrote, headlined “Psychological Gang Bang of Hillary is Proof We Need a Woman President.”

UPDATE: Here’s the statement from N.O.W. national president Kim Gandy, which will go on the group‘s website shortly. “The National Organization for Women has enormous respect and admiration for Sen. Edward Kennedy (D- Mass.). For decades Sen. Kennedy has been a friend of NOW, and a leader and fighter for women's civil and reproductive rights, and his record shows that.

“Though the National Organization for Women Political Action Committee has proudly endorsed Sen. Hillary Clinton for president, we respect Sen. Kennedy's endorsement. We continue to encourage women everywhere to express their opinions and exercise their right to vote.”

A new report shows that Kellner spent $43,951.68 in the last days of the election and immediately afterward, and more than $90,000 in all in the race. As important as the numbers themselves is the list of people that helped put Kellner into office. Chief among them were Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who gave $2,000 from his own campaign committee, and LAWPAC of New York, which contributed $3,000.

I can’t compare Kellner’s campaign expenses with Camps’ because his final numbers haven’t been posted yet. And Camps’ first filing said he spent only $18.09.

(Camp people told me at the time said that filing reflected a rushed campaign cycle and that the post-election filing would obviously be more detailed.)

Notable expenses for Kellner include $18,146 for his consultants at The Parkside Group, contributions of $500 for the Lenox Hill Democratic Club and $150 for the Ansonia Independent Democrats.

3,988 (64.36 percent)--Kellner

2208 (35.64 percent)--Camp

Below is a script of the call that voters on the East Side have been receiving all week, according to Camp’s campaign.

Camp’s endorsement from Bloomberg, like his endorsement from the New York Times, will certainly help him in this district.

Speaking of which, note that there’s no mention of the words “Republican” or “Pataki” anywhere in Bloomberg’s message.

In a public statement, president Marcia Pappas of the group’s state PAC said, “We were very happy that Micah Kellner chose to ask for our endorsement and we are proud to give it to him today.”

But neither Kellner nor his opponent, the pro-choice Republican Greg Camp, is being endorsed by the organization's city chapter.

That’s because the president of the group, Sonia Ossario, is Camp's longtime girlfriend.

A spokesman for Camp said they opted not to seek the endorsement of any NOW chapter because of Camp’s relationship with Ossario.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Sonia Ossario, who said the
state chapter of NOW should not have made an endorsement in the race.

"They should have stayed out of it for the same reason that we did.
When there is a personal connection between a NOW leader -- they
should stay out of it. I can't speak exactly to what they were
thinking, the people who made this decision don't live in the city;
they don't live in the area.

When asked if Sonia or her chapter will get involved in the race now
that the state chapter did, Ossario said, "That's really a decision
for my board."

The proposed debate was organized at the last minute by the weekly paper Our Town, and was to include several reporters (including me) on a panel.

Camp agreed to appear. Kellner did not, citing a schedule conflict.

Anyway, below is an open letter from Camp challenging Kellner to debate and highlighting what he presents as a substantive difference between the two on education policy.

Dear Mr. Kellner:

I was saddened to learn that you are declining to participate in a debate with me that was planned for Monday evening, June 4th , at the Lenox Hill Neighborhood House—the night before the special election for State Assembly on the East Side of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island in which we are the candidates.

As you know, this was the one chance that voters would have had before Tuesday’s election to watch us exchange views in an open forum about important community and state issues.

It would have been the perfect opportunity for us to inform voters, in person, about our differing visions for this office. For example, I would have explained why I would be a strong advocate for continued mayoral control of the New York City school system (accountability is important to me) while you could have explained why you want mayoral control abolished in favor of City Council oversight of the schools (Can you really be suggesting that the 51-member City Council be in charge of city schools?)

As someone who believes in accountability, transparent government, and a free and open exchange of ideas, I agreed to this debate without a moment’s hesitation. I was hoping that you would do the same.

With six days left before the June 5th election, surely there is still time for us to meet in an open debate forum somewhere. What do you say? Wouldn’t voters of the 65th Assembly be well served by at least one public forum before the election?
If you are willing to change your mind and debate, please let me know. I can be reached at 917-###-###.

Sincerely,

Greg Camp

P. S. If you’d like to debate mayoral control of the schools as a stand-alone topic, I’d be more than willing to do that. We have profoundly different views on this matter, and this clearly is something well worth debating.

"Expenditures were approved but we were not billed yet," Del Percio said of the campaign. Camp's pre-election filing was complete enough to show where their contributions were coming from. The filing after the election on June 5 for the seat on Manhattan's East Side should answer questions about how much Camp's literature and consultants are costing him.

But in the meantime, the campaign of Camp's Democratic opponent Micah Kellner is making the most of the delay.

"Clearly, after years of working for George Pataki and witnessing campaign finance shenanigans fist hand, it seems like Greg Camp hasn’t learned that New Yorkers are crying out for campaign finance reform.”said Kellner campaign strategist Evan Stavisky.

Which is one way to look at it.

Republican Greg Camp raised $42,760 and spent only $18.09 (“food for campaign staff”). $3,000 of Camp’s money came from the Committee for Roy Goodman, the former state Senator and patriarch of that once formidable GOP establishment.

Democrat Micah Kellner raised $78,137 and spent $47,453.32. Kellner’s first expense was a $100 donation to the campaign committee of Councilman Dan Garodnick. Other expenses went to his election lawyer, state Senator Martin Connor, his consultants, and to paying for campaign literature.

Which is an expense Camp should be reporting soon.

UPDATE: More on the financial reporting here.