Results tagged “primary”

After the super low turnout at last week's primary runoff elections, State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo (D-Queens) has introduced legislation to get rid of runoffs. City Room reports that Addabbo, who will look at various avenues to eliminate them, said, "Spending $15 million to hold an election the voters do not wish to participate in is a waste of taxpayer dollars in a time of economic difficulty. That money could have instead been spent more wisely, like on our seniors or school children."

If you're like most of us, you so totally meant to vote in today's primary run-off (especially since you're paying through the nose for it). But you're definitely going to vote after work tonight, in between the million other friggin' errands on your list. Well, hopefully somebody finds the time, because it's lonely out there for a poll worker today. Coordinator Joseph Lawrence is trying to put on a brave face, telling City Room turnout was "better than I expected: maybe 4 percent instead of 2 percent." But at most poll sites "there’s nothing to do, the time just drifts by." Old man river... And at PS 163 on the Upper West Side, at least one poll worker had to be awakened when a voter shockingly appeared to participate in the democratic process.

While voter turnout for Tuesday's primary elections was really low—the NY Times suggests it could be the "lowest in modern New York City history"—one group did use their electoral muscle. In another article, the Times reports that aside from John Liu's 38% showing in the Comptroller race, "Asian-American candidates won Democratic primaries in three City Council districts on Tuesday... Of the 51 Council districts, 32 had primaries on Tuesday. Turnout in the three districts where Asian-Americans won was among the highest in the city: 17 to 18 percent, compared with a citywide average of 11 percent, according to the Board of Elections." Margaret Chin (pictured) defeated incumbent Alan Gerson for Council District 1; Yen Chou won the primary for Liu's old Council seat in Flushing; and Korean-American Kevin Kim won Tony Avella's old Council seat in northeast Queens. Hunter College sociologist Margaret Chin (no relation to the pol) said, "It’s significant for the whole population to see all these Asian-Americans taking political roles for the first in public. The West Coast broke this barrier close to two decades ago."

Yesterday's primary election had the lowest turnout in history. Overall, less than 400,000 registered voters headed to the polls. According to the AP, the mayoral matchup between Democrats City Comptroller William Thompson and City Councilman Tony Avella was really low: "About 10 percent of New York City's 3.1 million registered Democrats came out to vote in the contest, where just two candidates were competing."

Besides a run-off for Public Advocate, yesterday's primary election also resulted in a run-off for City Comptroller, with City Council member John Liu (D-Queens) getting 38% of the vote and fellow Council member David Yassky (D-Brooklyn) getting 30%. Two other Council members from Queens ran— Melinda Katz got 20% and David Weprin 11%.

Voters in certain City Council districts showed incumbents that they weren't happy with them, by voting out an unusually high number of Council members in yesterday's primary election. Why? A combination of voting for term limits plus other scandals. For instance, Alan Gerson (D-Manhattan), Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn), and Helen Sears (D- Queens) all supported the term limits extension—and all lost to challengers.

Last night, the four Democratic candidates for City Comptroller met for a debate to show why he or she should be in charge of ensuring the city's financial health. The Daily News explains, "With just days to go before Tuesday's primary, the race to become the city's top financial official is still a nail-biter, with three of the four candidates tied in the polls. Only two would be eligible for a runoff if no one takes at least 40% of the vote."

And then there were none left to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand in a Democratic primary. There must be some fierce, behind-the-scenes fangs hiding under that Tracy Flick smile of Gillibrand's because it seems like every Democrat poised to step in her way eventually bows out. Yesterday Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney became the last to wave the white flag, leaving Gilly the path of least resistance previously paved by Stringer, Israel, McCarthy and even Caroline Kennedy, whose initial withdrawal from consideration for the seat first opened the door for Gillibrand. Politicker says that Maloney recognized how much of a long-shot she was to beat the well-connected, upstate fundraising powerhouse and feared losing her entire political career, which could eventually see her as chair of the Financial Services Committee she currently sits on. Both Maloney and Gillibrand passed along praise of one another after the announcement and Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, "We've got a fabulous candidate now keeping her House seat and a fabulous candidate we hope keeping her Senate seat."

The Observer's Azi Paybarah took this great photograph of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver with today's instant classic "Count Shelly Dracula" NY Post cover.

According to various projections, Senator Barack Obama is the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The Associated Press said he clinched hours ago, while NBC News just (9 p.m.) has said their projection confirm that Obama will secure the nomination. Obama will be the first black presidential nominee ever.

With the South Dakota primary next week, Senator Hillary Clinton made a visit to Mount Rushmore. But her campaign was dealing with news that lawyers for the Democratic Party believe, according to party rules, that "Florida and Michigan [should] lose at least half their delegate strength," which damages Clinton's hopes of overtaking Senator Barack Obama.

After her poorly received use of Robert Kennedy's 1968 assassination as why she is staying in the hunt, Hillary Clinton has written an editorial for the Daily News to apologize and re-assert why she's sticking it out.

Senator Hillary Clinton won the Kentucky primary 2-to-1 over Senator Barack Obama, thanks to strong support from working class whites. According to Kentucky exit polls, seven in ten whites supported Clinton which, per the AP, included "about three quarters of those who have not completed college," resulting in her winning 65% to Obama's 30%.

This past Saturday, one of the Obama posters Shepard Fairey added to the cityscape was taken down by graffiti writer MARTY -- who Razor Apple reports "has been holding down that corner for years."

Hilary Clinton won tonight's West Virginia primary with about 66% of the vote, handily defeating Barack Obama (he had 27%) as expected. The NY Times reported "racial considerations emerged as an unusually salient factor as Mrs. Clinton drew strong support from white, working-class voters who have spurned Mr. Obama in recent contests." Interesting note: John Edwards, who exited the Democratic presidential race a while ago, got about 7% of the vote.

With yesterday's primaries giving Barack Obama decisive win in North Carolina and Hillary Clinton a much smaller-than-expected/ needed victory in Indiana, many are wondering if it's the beginning of the end for the Clinton campaign. Example: The video (above) of NBC's Tim Russert proclaiming last night that "we now know who the nominee will be."

Barack Obama is projected to win the North Carolina primary. With 57% of the vote in, Obama has 580,760 votes to Hillary Clinton's 427,773, about 56% to 41%--at stake is the state's 115 delegates. Politico calls Obama's win "resounding."

In her successful attempt to appeal to working class primary voters, Senator Hillary Clinton has been catching heat from Wall Street. The Sun notes that yesterday, her camp dawdled for 24 hours before correcting reports that she had asked an audience in Indiana: “Why don’t we hold these Wall Street money-grubbers responsible for their role in this recession?” The quote angered some in the financial industry; after all they're not money-grubbers, they're money-hoarders.

Hillary Clinton's campaign sent a letter to Barack Obama's campaign to suggest an unmoderated debate, but Obama's campaign said no, specifically pointing out, "We have participated in 21 nationally televised debates, the most in primary history, including four exclusively with Senator Clinton. Senator Clinton refused an earlier invitation that had been accepted to debate in North Carolina."

Hillary Clinton's campaign estimates donations have totaled $10 million since her Pennsylvania primary win last night. Campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe crowed, "Senator Clinton’s game-changing victory last night has turned the tide and resulted in an historic outpouring of grassroots support."

Brace yourself for more Democratic party infighting: Hillary Clinton is projected to win today's Pennsylvania primary. Now everyone, including the Clinton and rival Barack Obama campaigns, are waiting for what her margin of victory will be and how many of the state's 158 delegates she'll be able to pick up.

Senator Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama faced off for the 20th time last night in Cleveland, Ohio, as they head towards the big March 4 primaries next week. The rivals for the Democratic presidential nomination "traded insults," as they accused each other of negative attacks regarding their health care policies.

The Wisconsin, Washington and Hawaii primaries have been going on today, and while John McCain is expected to further solidify his presumptive nomination, the Democratic race is tight as ever, with a Gallup pole now showing Clinton closing the gap on Obama after his string of eight straight victories.

After the NY Times story revealed how NYC votes for Barack Obama appear to have been undercounted for the unofficial (yet official enough to be sent to the AP and other news outlets) results on primary night, State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem spoke out. Perkins, who supports Obama, told the Post

: "Every election has problems, but in this case, all the problems seem to have been his," said state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem). "He got all the zeroes and undercounting.

Continue reading "Pol: NYC's Unofficial Count of Primary Votes Contributed to Clinton's "False Momentum""

Hillary Clinton's February flop continued today as voters in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. turned out for Barack Obama by nearly two-to-one margins (in D.C. he won by 75% to 24%). According to exit polls, Obama not only did well with young voters, blacks and independents but, surprisingly, with certain demographics Clinton's been counting on: senior citizens, women and blue collar voters. Polls suggest 49% of those who voted for Obama were white and voters over sixty backed Obama by 52%.

The specter of a Mormon multimillionaire as president has been lifted; Mitt Romney announced his withdrawal from the Republican primary race this afternoon. Romney used his speech to the Conservative Political Action Committee to declare: “If I fight on in my campaign, all the way to the convention, I would forestall the launch of a national campaign and make it more likely that Senator Clinton or Obama would win.” Wonkette liveblogged the speech to great comic effect.

Tomorrow is the Presidential Primary, where registered Democrats and Republicans can select a presidential candidate. Polling places are open between 6AM and 9PM - you can find out where to go by checking with the Board of Elections.

Craig Wedren is the former front man for the sorely missed D.C. band Shudder to Think, a group that seemed to intuitively grasp all the overlooked possibilities of the late-80s/early 90s post-punk landscape and render them into a sound that was at once startling, bizarre and irresistibly catchy. Since the band’s end ten years ago, Wedren has made a career as composer of soundtracks for movies such as Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter, while still writing his own songs, which appeared on his 2005 solo record Lapland. But an impromptu reunion between Wedren and two other Shudder to Think band mates last September has fans clamoring for more; and those at Bowery Ballroom tonight will likely get it. The sold out "Barack Rock" show will be hosted by the comedy group Stella; the lineup consists of OK Go, Craig Wedren, Nathan Larson, Nina Persson, and Joan As Police Woman. As Wedren told us in the interview, the concert was scheduled tonight for the express purpose of reminding people to vote in the Super Tuesday primaries tomorrow.

It's pretty safe to say many New Yorkers are aligned with the Democratic party, but it's unclear who NYC's registered Democrats will vote for on primary day - Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. Though in the highly unscientific survey of sights around the city over the past week (and year), it seems the senator representing Illinois has an edge.