Results tagged “election2006”

If you were wondering how former mayor Rudy Giuliani feels after the thumpin' the Republicans took last week, wonder no more, because he's been facing it with the same, stubborn Rudy-vision that we all remember from his NYC mayoral years. The NY Times was on the scenefor a speech Giuliani made:

In his first public comments about last week’s Democratic sweep of Congress, Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York City, who is a possible 2008 presidential candidate, said on Sunday that he did not view the election as a major rebuke to his party. But he said that Republicans “have to go back to your principles in figuring out how you react to something like this.”

Continue reading "Rudy, Denial is a River in Egypt"

There's news about Governor-elect Eliot Spitzer's transition team (which includes El Diario publisher Rosanna Rosado and Time Warner Chairman and CEO Richard Parsons), but you can also visit the spiffy transition website. TransitionNY.org has some bios for Spitzer, Lieutenant Governor David Paterson, the transition team, and links to the state's various agencies. Okay, it's sort of thin on information now, as it's most notably an open call for people to apply for state jobs, but it's a nice idea - let's hope it's a usable resource.

On Election Day, Alan Hevesi won re-election for State Comptroller, in spite of news that he used a state driver to chauffeur his wife for many years. This tidbit, offered by Republican challenger Christopher Callaghan, prompted: 1) A State Ethics Commission report that found Hevesi did violate state law; 2) For many Democrats, including Eliot Spitzer, to drop their endorsements; and 3) Governor Pataki to request an investigation on whether Hevesi should be removed. But now Hevesi says he plans to serve his full four-year term because he was voted by such a large margin of voters. Now what?

Thanks to the Democrats' victories and their new control of the House of Representatives, Congressman Charles Rangel of Harlem will be the next chairman of the Ways & Means Committee in January. And he's already eying the real estate:

"Mr. Cheney enjoys an office on the second floor of the House of Representatives that [has] historically been designated for the Ways & Means Committee chairman. I talked with Nancy Pelosi this morning and I¹m trying to find some way, kind and gentle, to restore the dignity of that office to the chair."

Last week, Rangel ruffled some feathers when he called Vice President Cheney a son of a bitch. The Post devotes an editorial to that, saying "For shame," but Rangel said, "I take back saying that publicly. I should have reserved that for him when we were together privately. Believe me, he would have understood." Yeah, it's not like Rangel shot someone in the face or anything. Cheney did say that if Rangel became head of Ways & Means, the economy could tank.

...Al Pirro, who did not appear during wife Jeanine Pirro's concession speech for the NY State Attorney General race. Pirro, who had 40% of the vote to Andrew Cuomo's 57%, gave her speech to a crowd of 100 supporters in Manhattan. The Empire Zone says that her spokesman did not ask her why Al was not there. Huh, we guess even her staff knows some topics are off limits.

To no one's surprise, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was elected the next Governor, Senator Hillary Clinton was re-elected, and Andrew Cuomo was elected Attorney General. (Democrat Alan Hevesi was re-elected Comptroller, but more on that later.) But the dynamics are interesting: Spitzer won in a "historic landslide" and Clinton managed to take votes of 20-25% of Republican voters. After a victory speech that included a reference to Ali G, Spitzer will have to make good on his mandate for sweeping change - and he'll need to figure out how to work with Mayor Bloomberg on a number of issues, from development to school financing.

Since many of New York State's elections were runaways, the real election action was seeing how the House and Senate would turn - with the Democrats taking control of the house, which makes Nancy Pelosi possibly the first female Speaker of the House. The control of the Senate is still in question - votes are being counted and re-counted in the Virginia and Montana races (Democratic challenger John Tester has a narrow lead over incumbent Conrad Burns in Montana; Senator George Allen trails Democrat Jim Webb by just 6,000 votes). In one of last night's too-close-too-call elections, with incumbent Jim Talent conceding to Democrat Claire McCaskill.

The polls in New York close in a half hour, so the media won't be reporting returns until then. But it's still exciting and heartbreaking to watch the other states' elections returns. For starters, Bob Casey ousting Rick Santorum for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania? That's exciting. Heartbreaking would be reports of bugs and intimidation at the polls.

Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be able to participate in the democratic process. The Daily Politics found out that some Manhattan voters got old 2005 affidavit ballots - one for last year's Mayoral race. There's nothing like voting day in NYC! But at least potential voters aren't being threatened with arrest.

The polls are open and it's time for you to cast your votes for the various races. Find your voting place here or call 311; report concerns about voting fraud to 1-866-VOTE NYC. Here's the Guide for the Last Minute Voter from Gotham Gazette.

Tomorrow is Election Day! There are many big elections this year, so if you haven't thought about how you're voting, we highly recommend Gotham Gazette's Guide For The Last Minute Voter, 2006 General Election to understand the candidates and issues. Many races seem like runaways (Governor, Senate), but the State Comptroller race is in play, as are some Congressional races; you may also be able to vote for State Assembly races. And there are also civil and supreme court judge elections - the guide links to the state Bar Association's voter's guide.

Yesterday, Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer spent the day at a rally in Harlem with Attorney General candidate Andrew Cuomo, Manhattan Beep Scott Stringer, Fernando Ferrer and other politicians. But the presumptive future Governor had to answer questions about his campaign manager's DWI incident from a few weeks ago in upstate. Apparently Spitzer's 31 year old campaign manager (and Manhattan resident) Ryan Toohey was speeding and rear-ended another car. His car "rolled over several times" and he was charged with DWI and other violations.

Governor Pataki's office released a report saying there's enough evidence to recommend the removal of State Comptroller Alan Hevesi. Lawyer David Kelley wrote, "I do not feel that I am now in a position to advise you to proceed with a recommendation to the senate for the comptroller's removal...Considering the record as a whole, I believe there is a preponderance of evidence that the comptroller knowingly and intentionally violated New York's public officers law."