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. more ›

Siena College released poll numbers for various NY election races yesterday. In the wackiest race of all - the Attorney General race between Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Jeanine Pirro - it looks like the embattled Pirro is gaining slightly on Cuomo. Cuomo now leads by 13 points, 50 to Pirro's 37, but a month ago, Cuomo led by 17 points. But it's not like voters are suddenly switching sides - Cuomo's numbers went down as more people joined the undecided voters. So, it still doesn't seem like the scandal has hurt Pirro very much, but it's still unclear if it's helped her. We're curious about a post-debate poll, after Sunday's wild ride. Cuomo and Pirro are debating for the last time (awww) this morning in Rochester - we hope that Room Eight's LunchBox tackles that debate too, because yesterday's LunchBox on Sunday's debate was perfect. more ›

Today, the Campaign for Fiscal Equity will be making its argument in front of the State Court of Appeals on why NY State needs to fork over billions to the NYC public school system that lower courts said the state owes the city. Back in 2004, the NYC public schools were awarded $5.6 billion, though last year, the figure has been changed to almost $5 billion over four years for operating costs - plus a further $11.2 billion for construction. Since the state only put the construction costs in its budget for this year, the CFE filed its lawsuit (the CFE has been working towards getting NYC public schools money for 13 years). And the Court of Appeals will broadcast the oral arguments online at 2PM. more ›

With the primary settling who's running in November, candidates came out swinging. And the best cage match might be the Attorney General's race. The NY Times had this first line:

Kicking off their general-election battle for New York State attorney general yesterday, Andrew M. Cuomo and Jeanine F. Pirro could not have smiled more, sounded nicer, or done a poorer job of concealing their true feelings: they want to shred each other.

With just 55 days left, the dance cards are set for the general election. As expected, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Clinton won their respectives primaries for governor and Senate. The NY Times noted that Clinton's reosounding win showed that her support of the Iraq war did not affect voter sentiment:

“Clinton’s work ethic, her lack of enemies, and her fund-raising help for other Democrats have insulated her from party criticism, including on Iraq,” said Ken Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College. “I got a taped phone call from Susan Sarandon urging support for Tasini, but that’s all I really heard about him.”