Tom Manton

Democrats in Queens this morning picked district leader Michael Den Dekker to replace Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette on the ballot in September.

“I am honored to be asked to replace such an esteemed member of the assembly,” Den Dekker told me in a brief interview. “I was amazed that this process even happened, and I was lucky enough to even be asked.”

“No one thought he would step down,” he went on, adding, “We just follow the rules on how to fill a vacancy.”

The vacancy was created when Lafayette submitted petitions to get on the ballot for reelection this fall and then declined the nomination to instead take a job with the governor.  read more »

Rep. Joseph Crowley was unanamously elected the new Democratic county leader of Queens at 8:30 this morning, even securing a vote from City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, Crowley called to say.

As I noted before, the real story here isn't the continuation of the city's most effective political machine, which was built under Crowley's predecessor and mentor Tom Manton. It's the fact that the position went to Crowley, a federal official who has to operate under strict federal fundraising guidelines known as the McCain-Feingold law.

The law prohibits federal office holders from raising and spending soft money, which comes from sources not regulated by federal guidelines. Money from local clubs, which are a major source of county fundraising, is soft. Meaning that Queens is going to have to draw its influence in future from patronage, not money.

Also worth noting are the political deals and problems Crowley inherrited from his mentor. Nearly the entire Queens City Council delegation is term-limited in 2009, leaving many of them to run for a handful of offices. Who the county backs or gets kicked off the ballot could determine which officials in Queens has under the new Queens regime.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tom Manton came to political prominence representing a conservative white Congressional district in  read more »

Also in the Observer, Niall Stanage has an interview with Lebanon's highly depressed UN representative, who describes a confrontation with his Israeli counterpart and a seeming inability to communicate with John Bolton.

And John Koblin writes about the legacy of Tom Manton.

-- Josh Benson

Can there be another Tom Manton?

He brought his county organization back from the wreckage of the Manes era, managing to impose something resembling unity on a wounded organization. And he did it in the face of massive change, staying ahead of Queens' radically changing demographics by supporting candidates from emerging ethnic communities.

Speculation has already begun about who the next long-term leader of the party will be. (Azi has something on that here.)

But another question to think about is whether that new leader, no matter who it is, will be able to produce the relative cohesiveness that Manton managed to maintain as a source of the party's strength.

John Sabini, who briefly ran the organization before Manton took over, says that it's possible, under one condition:

"If someone were to come along and be the inclusive fellow that Tom Manton was, then yes. Most political leaders -- and I started out as an insurgent under Donald Manes -- most political leaders have to have interest groups and minority groups beat their organization before they're dragged into the new world. He brought the party into the new world himself."

-- Josh Benson

The Sun asks if the budget will strain the Mayor's relationship with the Speaker; and Tom Manton gives up his day job.

Over at the Daily News, Ben Smith writes about the Clinton-Murdoch relationship.

The Post writes that Peter Kalikow may endorse Hillary Clinton.

And the Times looks at the Sweeney-Gillibrand match up in the 20th congressional district.

—Nicole Brydson

Tom Manton, the Queens Democratic leader, offered a rare defense of political machines at City Hall today: "The bosses are always there to be kicked around. If you haven't gotten any better lines beat up on the bosses. The bosses -- you've got two assemblymen here and one former member of congress for whatever that's worth -- and we think that we have some wisdom that we can impart to particularly the newer members, and that we can help."  read more »

County Democratic leaders have begun making calls on behalf of Christine Quinn's bid for City Council Speaker, people close to the race tell The Politicker.

"It's pretty much signed, sealed, and delivered," said Leroy Comrie of Queens, who confirmed that his county leader, Tom Manton, is backing Christine Quinn of Manhattan. Meanwhile, Brooklyn leader Vito Lopez has been calling his members to rally around Chris, another Council Member said.

This means a couple of things. For one, Bloomberg's new foil New York is an out lesbian from the Village. (And she's the one City Hall apparently preferred.)

Second, the role of old-style county political organizations remains robust. The bottom line, one close observer told The Politicker, was that "two major players didn't trust de Blasio at all: Manton and Lopez." So, like Gifford Miller, Chris starts off in debt to the machines.

Here's a quick outline of the deals, according to one smart insider: "Queens keeps chairmanships. Katz gets support for Queens BP. [The only deal in relation to Brooklyn so far is] to take care of Vito's 5 votes."

"This is an extension of Millerism," griped Charles Barron, the Brooklyn radical who supported de Blasio (and who added that he still holds out hope for his candidate). "Alliances with the real estate industry and allegiance to Queens. Quinn will not be independent from Queens just like Miller wasn't, and to me that's disgusting."  read more »

Finally, it's worthy of note how rapidly the new, old-school Brooklyn boss, Vito Lopez, has turned himself into a player and revived his borough's moribund organization. For better or for worse.

UPDATE: No sooner did this go up than two insiders with 718 phone numbers called to question the notion that Melinda Katz gets anything out of this. Apparently, she angered some in Queens County by trying to make her own deal with the Bronx. More deal details, meanwhile: Queens keeps its key committee chairs, as does the Bronx; while Brooklyn fills important open seats, notably education. DEPT. OF CREDIT: New York Press's Azi reported the Queens decision yesterday.

We hear Queens leader Tom Manton is backing Giff.

Queens is the strongest county party in town, and while Freddy has made some inroads there lately, this is a real win for Miller. The Queens move also blows out of the water a particularly tempting (to us!) conspiracy theory that had been circulating around Manton, Freddy, Bronx leader Jose Rivera, Joe Crowley, and Hiram Monserate.  read more »

Oh well.