Observer » Maureen O’Connell

A City Hall Staffer for Senate?

Azi Paybarah — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:00:34 -0400

According to two Republican sources, City Hall staffer Fred Kreizman is considering a run for state Senate on their line against Democrat Diane Savino, whose district includes parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Kreizman works in the Community Assistance Unit and has previously taken some time off from work to help Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell on Long Island, who lost her special election race earlier this year to Democrat Craig Johnson.

A message left at Kreizman's work number earlier this week was returned by an assistant who said he was out of the office. A message left on his work line was not returned.

One of the two Republican sources I spoke with said Kreizman is still contemplating whether to run, and that there are other Republican candidates who are looking to enter the race.

Log Cabin Blames Conservatives for O’Connell

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 14:28:55 -0400

The bloodletting has begun in the wake of the Maureen O'Connell loss in Nassau's special election earlier this week. The defeat was a result, according to the New York Log Cabin Republicans, of the Conservative Party's "agenda of division and hate."

In a letter to Conservative Party state chair Michael Long, David Verchere of Log Cabins wrote:

"On the last day of the campaign, the news cycle wasn't about Maureen O'Connell, a fair-minded fiscal conservative. It was completely overwhelmed by the Conservative Party's anti-gay attack."

[skip]

"Chairman Long, you may wish to divide and attack your way to extinction, but the Conservative Party's strategies are also killing the New York GOP by tarring fair-minded, fiscally conservative candidates as divisive and out of the mainstream."

The full letter is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Still in the Majority

Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:51:24 -0400

Joe Bruno's upbeat message this morning after losing a seat in Nassau:

"We still have the Majority in the Senate and our conference
will go forward, strong, united and committed to ensuring accountability,
providing checks and balances and delivering results for our constituents."

His full statement is after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

STATEMENT BY SENATE MAJORITY LEADER JOSEPH L. BRUNO

I want to congratulate Craig Johnson and Maureen O'Connell on a hard
fought campaign. Maureen was an outstanding candidate who ran a tireless
campaign, and she will continue to serve the people of Nassau County as
County Clerk.

There was tremendous interest in this race, as evidenced by the high
turnout for a special election. The issues that were raised during the
campaign: education, health care and especially the critical need for
property tax relief, are issues that we will continue to fight for.

We appreciate the support we received throughout the campaign from
those interested in ensuring accountability and balance in State
government. We still have the Majority in the Senate and our conference
will go forward, strong, united and committed to ensuring accountability,
providing checks and balances and delivering results for our constituents.
Our role is as vital today as it was in November when voters returned us to
the Majority.

The campaign is over and we have 21 months until election day 2008.
It's time to govern and to work together to address the many pressing
issues that face the people of this state.

Early Numbers From Nassau

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 22:13:42 -0400

A Democratic source called with some early numbers in the Nassau race:
52 percent for Democrat Craig Johnson and 48 percent for Republican Maureen O'Connell, with about 30 percent of the precincts reporting in [numbers updated].

This source also said that the districts which were expected to go heavily for the Republicans haven't reported in yet, meaning this lead will tighten, and possibly vanish.

If you've got more numbers, let me know.

Update: O'Connell is down by 2,000 votes with 13 election districts to go, according to a Republican source. My Democratic souce emailed me to say, "We won by 3." No concession speeches have been made.

-- Azi Paybarah

Gay Marriage Lit in Senate Race

Tue, 06 Feb 2007 16:09:24 -0400

New York Blade Reporter Kerry Eleveld just got a hold of this flier, which includes the following line:

"The only way to stop gay marriage is to stop Craig Johnson on election day. Staying home on election day is a vote for gay marriage."

UPDATE: The flier says it was paid for by the Nassau County Conservative Campaign Committee. Messages left at the office of the county Conservative Party, and at the home of the county chairman, were not returned. Neither was a message left with the Maureen O'Connell campaign.

-- Azi Paybarah

Events for Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:45:04 -0400

9 a.m. The New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants discusses taxes at 3 Park Ave.

9:30 a.m. Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell will vote at the Northside School in East Williston.

11:30 a.m. The Association of Real Estate Women discuss the pros and cons of eminent domain at Club 101.

1 p.m. Charles Barron and anti-war activists discuss legislation to cut funds for Iraq war on the City Hall Steps.

6 p.m. Former congressman John Brademas will discuss ethics in government with New School President and former senator Bob Kerrey at the New School.

6:30 p.m. The Nassau County Bar Association will disciss judicial selection at 15th and West streets in Mineola.

7 p.m. The elimination of the Samuel J. Tilden High School is discussed in the school's auditorium at 5800 Tilden Ave.

9 p.m. The Republican election night party for Maureen O'Connell is held at the Westbury Manor.

9 p.m. The Democratic election night party for Craig Johson is held at Leonard's of Great Neck.

-- Azi Paybarah

Robo-Calls During the Super Bowl?

Mon, 05 Feb 2007 09:11:51 -0400

Republican Maureen O'Connell's people say it wasn't them who were calling Republicans. Craig Johnson's people are saying the same thing.

Don't worry folks. All this ends tomorrow.

-- Azi Paybarah

Homeland Security Does Not Approve

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 16:33:46 -0400

Here's a statement from the state's Homeland Security Office on that Maureen O'Connell flier I posted earlier:

"It is completely inappropriate for a political candidate to use a falsified state seal in the context of a political campaign. Politicizing state security issues is inappropriate and trivializes the law enforcement efforts of New York's office of Homeland Security. We direct the campaign and candidate to the following passage from New York's penal law that identifies such actions as arguably illegal."

-- Azi Paybarah

Debating Spitzer’s Health Cuts in Nassau

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 11:55:00 -0400

This flier and new radio ad by 1199 SEIU and CSEA are ostensibly for Republican state Senate candidate Maureen O'Connell. But it's hard to ignore the swipe these health care unions are taking at Eliot Spitzer.

From the radio clip:

"Up in Albany, state leaders aren't listening. In fact, the proposed budget includes cuts in vital health care programs. That means millions of dollars less for hospitals and nursing homes in Nassau County. These are cuts that will hurt our families."

[skip]

"She's the leader we can count on to cut waste, not health care programs. She'll reform health care, but make sure we protect patients."

This race may indeed be the referendum on Eliot Spitzer that Democrats were hoping for, and health care unions seem now to want that too. It's also worth noting that Spitzer is on something of an I'm Not a Cold-Hearted Steamroller tour, visiting the Vernon Avenue Children's Center in Brooklyn at noon.

-- Azi Paybarah

O’Connell: Other Things to Do

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 09:30:00 -0400

Two media outlets trying to book the two candidates running in a Feb. 7 special election for state Senate in Nassau are going to have to make due with just one.

Brian Lehrer's show this morning will only feature Democrat Craig Johnson because Maureen O'Connell is too busy to participate, her campaign spokesman Mike Arens told me yesterday. That's the same reason she's also declined to participate in a joint televised appearance with Johnson at ABC this Friday. (A person working at ABC said they only reached out to both campaigns about that event yesterday.)

When I asked Arens whether there was any duck-y aspect to what O'Connell was doing, he denied it strongly.

"She and her opponent have been on two televised new debates and three different
newspaper editorial boards," he said.

He said that it was simply a matter of the campaign choosing to focus on getting O'Connell to meet or make personal contact with as many voters as possible in the district. So instead of doing debates, he said, O'Connell will be meeting with "senior citizens groups, walking door to door, [and joining] volunteers doing a train station in the morning."

-- Azi Paybarah