Kevin Powell gathered reporters at Junior’s Restaurant in Brooklyn this morning to respond to what he called unfair reminders of his admittedly violent past in recent columns by Daily News columnist Errol Louis.

Powell, who is running for Congress against Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn and has admitted to and apologized for past incidents of violence against women, said that he would never to do it again, and added that recent events related to Eliot Spitzer, David Paterson and others have made it clear that public officials all need to be transparent about their shortcomings.

He noted he has Gloria Steinem's support. (Along with others, she is helping to organize a "Women for Powell" event in September.  read more »

It's not an easy thing to do in electoral politics, but Kevin Powell, who would like to unseat Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn, is trying, once again, to make a break with his violent past, which includes numerous incidents of physical violence against women.

Tomorrow Powell is hosting a breakfast, billed as a "media meet-and-greet," at Junior's to respond to a recent column, by the Daily News' Errol Louis, titled "B'KLYN RACE NO PLACE FOR EX-ABUSERS." [UPDATE: It was pointed out to me that Louis has a more recent column on Powell as well]. The release, which just came out, notes that members of a group called Women for Kevin Powell will be in attendance.  read more »

During an interview with New York 1 News, Representative Ed Towns seized on his Democratic opponent Kevin Powell's admitted past problem with violence towards women. When asked about it, Towns, a 13-term incumbent, said it disqualifies Powell - who refers to himself as a "recovering misogynist" -- from serving in office, and said, "Congress is not a place to be rehabilitated."

Towns said he was eager to campaign, but balked at accepting an invitation to debate Powell on the show.

Here’s a clip from Matt Stoler’s interview of Democratic Congressional candidate Kevin Powell (who is trying to unseat Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn), where the two discuss the FISA bill that recently passed both houses on Congress, and which many on the left opposed. (Barack Obama faced criticism from progressives over the bill, which he voted for.)

About halfway through, Powell says, “We’ve lost our backbone.” He adds later, “A lot of us have become spineless Democrats.”

Towns voted against FISA.

In case you’re wondering, Democratic members of Congress from New York who supported FISA include Tim Bishop and Carolyn McCarthy of Long Island; Gary Ackerman, Greg Meeks and Joe Crowley of Queens; Eliot Engel of the Bronx; Nita Lowey of Westchester; Kirsten Gillibrand of Albany; and upstate's Mike Arcuri and Brian Higgins.  read more »

The Stonewall Democratic Club, one of the city's largest gay political clubs, held an endorsement meeting last night.

According to a club member, here is who the club is endorsing in a few key races:

-Challenger Kevin Powell over incumbent Representative Ed Towns

-Incumbent State Senator Marty Connor over insurgent Dan Squadron

-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver over his two challengers, Paul Newell and Luke Henry

-Incumbent State Senator Kevin Parker over challengers Kendall Stewart and Simcha Felder

-Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidate Nora Anderson

After challenger Kevin Powell attacked his Congressional record on Wednesday night, I called Representative Ed Towns to see if he wanted to respond, and he defended himself against both charges over the phone yesterday.

“I think that he might not understand how the Congress works,” Towns said of Powell. “It’s based on seniority.”

At a fund-raiser Wednesday night, Powell assailed Towns because Towns has been in office 25 years and holds no committee chairmanship. Powell also said Towns has missed about 1,000 votes.  read more »

Towns is a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, whose chairman, John Dingell, has been in office for 53 years--Towns has been ]]> http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/towns-says-powell-might-not-understand-how-the-congress-works#comments Politics Ed Towns John Dingell Kevin Powell Thu, 10 Jul 2008 17:15:42 -0400 Azi Paybarah 71704 at http://www.observer.com http://www.observer.com/2008/politics/what-tupac-told-powell

At his Wednesday night fund-raiser, Kevin Powell--who Gawker recently christened “(D-Pop Culture)--”explained that drawing celebrities into his campaign is not just about self-promotion. It's also his way of generating excitement about the race and driving voters, particularly young people, to the polls and into the political process.

Powell says he was inspired to reach young people by slain rapper Tupac Shakur.

Reclusive comedian Dave Chappelle missed two flights out of Ohio last night and failed to get to a Manhattan fund-raiser for Congressional candidate Kevin Powell of Brooklyn.

The clip above shows Powell earlier in the evening, before the announcement about Chappelle, continuing to criticize incumbent Representative Ed Towns for what Powell thinks is a lack of leadership.

“My opponent does not chair a single committee after 25 years," Powell said to the audience. "I want y’all to think about that for a second. Why doesn’t he? Because he’s missed about a thousand votes since 1993.”

Later, while comedian Chris Rock, rapper RZA of Wu-Tang Clan and drummer ?uestlove of the Roots mingled in the VIP section with big-dollar donors, Powell returned to the stage and told the crowd of several hundred they would be admitted free to a rescheduled event sometime later.  read more »

Representative Ed Towns of Brooklyn has notably decided to skip most of the events that could put him on the same stage as his younger, more celebrity-friendly challenger, Kevin Powell.

But that doesn’t mean Towns is completely M.I.A., as this YouTube clip shows.

“Welcome to News and Views. I’m delighted today because I have the opportunity to talk to some young folks, folks that are doing things in a positive way,” he says.

The guests on the show are four Congressional interns, two of whom work for him. It’s part of an ongoing series hosted by Towns, whose previous guests have included Representative Dennis Kucinich.

Congressional challenger Kevin Powell of central Brooklyn is hoping to get elected to office, in part, on the strength of his association with famous people: He likes Barack Obama, and celebrities like him.

“Chuck D e-mailed me today,” Powell told The Observer, referring to the outspoken rapper made famous in the late 1980s and early ’90s with songs like “Fight the Power” and “911 is a Joke.” “He was driving in Montreal, Canada, and he said, ‘Kevin, I’m with you. Anything I can do for you, let me know.’”

Powell is attempting this year to unseat a 13-term incumbent, Representative Ed Towns, a Baptist minister who supported Hillary Clinton in the primary and whose absence from the campaign trail in 2006 (and so far this year) can make it hard to notice there’s an election happening.  read more »