Connor's Filings
In an interview with the Politicker last week, Connor grew audibly upset at a mention of his apparent campaign debt, and said that it was the result of a different sort of filing error -- a software glitch at the State Board of Elections.
Connor -- who faces a potentially competitive primary against wealthy landlord Ken Diamondstone -- said that in actuality, he had between $40-50,000 in his campaign account.
We checked with the Board of Elections in hopes that they could help us make sense of the seeming discrepancy.
They couldn't.
"He filed in 1999, had an okay balance back then," a BOE spokesperson told The Politicker before a lengthy wait on hold. "I was told that we are trying to work it out."
But what does that mean?
"To see if it is possible that it could be the software, but, you know, they're not sure," she said. "Well, they're trying to work it out to see if there is."
So you don't know if there is a software problem?
"I have no idea, I don't."
Has it happened before?
"Umm, not to my knowledge...That's about all I can tell you."
—Nicole BrydsonUPDATE: A reader notes that on Saturday the New York Times endorsed Ken Diamondstone. You can read the endorsement here.
Didn't Diamondstone just pick up the NYTimes endorsement?
Yes. The Times endorsed Diamonstone over Marty Connor, the 28-year incumbent this Saturday.
in that district it's a big deal....
As a Republican, I have little sympathy when tax and spend liberals like Connor fall victim to the IRS, but has anyone out there ever tried to compute their alternate minimum tax? What a horrible bother, and easy to screw up.
The delicious irony is that this liberal invention has basically worked as a tax upon the blue states, putting a cap on their ability to deduct their high state and local taxes and mortgage interest. Of course, those of us who live in those states pay the penalty whether or not we share the liberal's ideology.
Of course, the Bush administration solution is no better. They'd eliminate the tax, or raise the level where it goes into effect, but only if we eliminate the deductablity for state and local taxes. Either way, New York gets screwed, we just get to choose the position and the angle of insertion.
Since Diamondstone, like Connor, operates a small business, I expect that he may have faced something similar in his lifetime, and probably, for once, feels some empathy for Connor. This probably won't stop him from using the issue, but maybe the thought that Connor's problem is probably shared by many others in the district might give him some second thoughts. Now, if either of them would only work to lower our state taxes, none of us would have this problem. Fat chance.
good riddance to connor.
and i have no sympathy for his tax problems. i pay someone to figure out my taxes including the amt; he makes significantly more than me from his lucrative election law practice, trying to keep others off the ballot (and working for golisano, too).
he has done nothing for the district in ages, and did less for his fellow dems when he was minority leader.
now, before the primary, i have received at least three official "senate" mailings on identity theft, etc, and a copy of a letter that he sent to esdc chair gargano on atlantic yards.
isnt there some prohibition on tax-payer funded mailings this close to a contested primary election?