When Carolyn Maloney Didn’t Like Primaries

As Carolyn Maloney prepares to announce that she's running a primary campaign against Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Maloney has left no doubt that she regards multi-candidate primary fields as an inherent good, and maybe even a right.

“People around the world watched and were inspired as people in Iran risked their lives to vote,” she Read More

Padavan Hanging On by 502

After an official canvassing of voting machines in Queens, Republican State Senator Frank Padavan leads his Democratic challenger, City Councilman Jim Gennaro, by 502 votes, according to a spokeswoman at the city’s Board of Elections.

Yet to be counted are 8,063 votes cast by paper (absentee ballots, emergency ballots, etc.).

Veteran political consultant Jerry Read More

Sheinkopf, Skurnik: Let’s All Take a Deep Breath About Political Fallout From Cuts

Michael Bloomberg is already coming under criticism from City Council members over the budget cutbacks he proposed.

And according to Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, that criticism will only make Bloomberg…stronger.

“If they attack him, they strengthen his hand,” said Sheinkopf.  The presumption among Bloomberg’s critics “is that New Yorkers don’t know the world is Read More

Spot the Liberal Reformer!

On the surface, the story is a familiar one.

A young insurgent, Dan Squadron, decides to challenge an entrenched incumbent, Marty Connor, in a State Senate race, in a year when public antipathy towards the ossified ways of Albany is greater than it has been in recent memory. The line between underdog liberal reformer and Read More

Why the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court Judge Matters

Here’s how longtime political consultant Jerry Skurnik explained why anyone cares who wins the ongoing race for one of two positions on Manhattan Surrogate’s Court: “Because a lot of lawyers make a lot of money at the courts."

In particular, he went on, trust and real estate lawyers, "many of whom are politically connected, get Read More

Prime New York Holiday Party Poetry

Here’s the invitation to the holiday party hosted by Jerry Skurnik and Stuart Osnow of Prime New York, the warehouse for lots and lots of voter information in New York.

As always, the invitation was accompanied by some political poetry:

2007 was a very slow year
We waited for 2008 to appearRead More