Micah Kellner

So there may be a little less at stake now for the officials girding for the opportunity to succeed Upper East Side-based Representative Carolyn Maloney. That unofficial mini-contest, of course, was contingent on Hillary Clinton having a chance of becoming president, and on Maloney having a chance of taking Clinton's place in the Senate.  read more »

Earlier today the head of the New York State chapter of N.O.W. (the National Organization for Women), Marcia Pappas, sent out a statement describing Ted Kennedy's endorsement of Barack Obama as “the ultimate betrayal." But the head of the New York City chapter of N.O.W. has a completely different take.

“He’s been a friend to N.O.W., a friend to women, and a friend to the women’s movement and has a long record of supporting women’s issues,” N.Y.C. N.O.W. president and Hillary Clinton backer Sonia Ossorio told me just now. “I think Ted Kennedy has been a tremendous friend to women.”  read more »

Micah Kellner, a Democratic Assemblyman from Manhattan and a Mets fan, takes a whack at Rudy Giuliani for supporting the Red Sox.

"This is the biggest flip-flop ever for him," Kellner says.

Some of the final numbers are in for that special election on Manhattan’s East Side, where Democrat Micah Kellner trounced Republican Greg Camp, dispelling the notion that the old Silk Stocking District was still friendly territory for the GOP. Even with a powerful endorsement from the Mayor Michael Bloomberg--a Republican at the time--Camp still lost.

A new report shows that Kellner spent $43,951.68 in the last days of the election and immediately afterward, and more than $90,000 in all in the race. As important as the numbers themselves is the list of people that helped put Kellner into office. Chief among them were Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who gave $2,000 from his own campaign committee, and LAWPAC of New York, which contributed $3,000.

I can’t compare Kellner’s campaign expenses with Camps’ because his final numbers haven’t been posted yet. And Camps’ first filing said he spent only $18.09.

(Camp people told me at the time said that filing reflected a rushed campaign cycle and that the post-election filing would obviously be more detailed.)

Notable expenses for Kellner include $18,146 for his consultants at The Parkside Group, contributions of $500 for the Lenox Hill Democratic Club and $150 for the Ansonia Independent Democrats.

Here is a one-minute interview with Assemblyman-elect Micah Kellner circa 11 p.m. last night after giving his victory speech to supporters at a bar on Second Avenue. He says it’s great to be a 28-year-old heading into public office, hopes to vote for a gay marriage bill, and wants to block development of a waste transfer station on East 91st Street.

Among the people celebrating Kellner's victory last night were his old boss, Comptroller Bill Thompson, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, Council members Dan Gardonick, Jessica Lappin, and Vinny Gentile, to name a few. Not there was one of his key consultants, Evan Stavisky, who spent most of his day overseeing the election of several candidates in local New Jersey primaries.

Democrat Micah Kellner defeated Republican Greg Camp in the special election tonight for the Assembly seat on Manhattan's East Side. Here are the results, according to the city's Board of Elections:

3,988 (64.36 percent)--Kellner

2208 (35.64 percent)--Camp

Michael Bloomberg is doing robo-calls for Republican Assembly candidate Greg Camp, who is running in a special election tomorrow against Democrat Micah Kellner.

Below is a script of the call that voters on the East Side have been receiving all week, according to Camp’s campaign.

“Hi, this is Mayor Mike Bloomberg. There’s an important election in your community this Tuesday, June fifth. And I’m calling to tell you about my choice in the race, Greg Camp. Greg Camp has superb qualifications to represent you in the state Assembly. He’s been a banker, a long-time prosecutor in the Manhattan DA’s office and he was Deputy Director of Criminal Justice for New York State. But most of all, Greg Camp is independent, and that’s what I like best about him. I’m supporting Greg Camp this Tuesday, June 5th and I ask that you do too. Thank you.”

Camp’s endorsement from Bloomberg, like his endorsement from the New York Times, will certainly help him in this district.

Speaking of which, note that there’s no mention of the words “Republican” or “Pataki” anywhere in Bloomberg’s message.

Tennis great Billie Jean King really threw herself into an introduction for Hillary Clinton at this morning’s Women for Hillary event.

"Hillary can hit the ground running," she said, running in place on a stage in the middle of the Hilton ballroom. "I mean she lived there for eight years. I mean, come on!"

And later, during a “town hall” style question-and-answer portion of the event, Carolyn Maloney injected some local politics into the breakfast by asking Hillary if she’d campaign for Micah Kellner in an Upper East Side special election for the Assembly to be held tomorrow.

Hillary answered by telling Maloney (and the confused crowd) that she had already cut a robo-call for Kellner, who she then invited up to the platform to say hello.

In the June 5 special election for an Assembly seat on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the political action committee of the New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women is backing Democratic candidate Micah Kellner.

In a public statement, president Marcia Pappas of the group’s state PAC said, “We were very happy that Micah Kellner chose to ask for our endorsement and we are proud to give it to him today.”

But neither Kellner nor his opponent, the pro-choice Republican Greg Camp, is being endorsed by the organization's city chapter.

That’s because the president of the group, Sonia Ossario, is Camp's longtime girlfriend.

A spokesman for Camp said they opted not to seek the endorsement of any NOW chapter because of Camp’s relationship with Ossario.

UPDATE: I just got off the phone with Sonia Ossario, who said the
state chapter of NOW should not have made an endorsement in the race.

"They should have stayed out of it for the same reason that we did.
When there is a personal connection between a NOW leader -- they
should stay out of it. I can't speak exactly to what they were
thinking, the people who made this decision don't live in the city;
they don't live in the area.

When asked if Sonia or her chapter will get involved in the race now
that the state chapter did, Ossario said, "That's really a decision
for my board."  read more »

Efforts to schedule a debate between East Side Republican Assembly candidate Greg Camp and Democrat Micah Kellner on the day before their June 5 election have broken down. Which leaves us with the perennial alternative to actual debates: a debate over debates.

The proposed debate was organized at the last minute by the weekly paper Our Town, and was to have included several reporters (including me) on a panel.

Camp agreed to appear. Kellner did not, citing a schedule conflict.

Anyway, below is an open letter from Camp challenging Kellner to debate and highlighting what he presents as a substantive difference between the two on education policy.  read more »

Susan Del Percio, a spokesperson for Republican Assembly candidate Greg Camp called to say that the campaign has, in fact, spent more than the $18.09 listed on their filing.

"Expenditures were approved but we were not billed yet," Del Percio said of the campaign. Camp's pre-election filing was complete enough to show where their contributions were coming from. The filing after the election on June 5 for the seat on Manhattan's East Side should answer questions about how much Camp's literature and consultants are costing him.

But in the meantime, the campaign of Camp's Democratic opponent Micah Kellner is making the most of the delay.

"Clearly, after years of working for George Pataki and witnessing campaign finance shenanigans fist hand, it seems like Greg Camp hasn’t learned that New Yorkers are crying out for campaign finance reform.”said Kellner campaign strategist Evan Stavisky.

Which is one way to look at it.

A Democrat running for an open Assembly seat on Manhattan's East Side has spent more money than his Republican challenger has raised. Which is incredible if you consider how strong the East Side Republican establishment had once been.

Republican Greg Camp raised $42,760 and spent only $18.09 (“food for campaign staff”). $3,000 of Camp’s money came from the Committee for Roy Goodman, the former state Senator and patriarch of that once formidable GOP establishment.

Democrat Micah Kellner raised $78,137 and spent $47,453.32. Kellner’s first expense was a $100 donation to the campaign committee of Councilman Dan Garodnick. Other expenses went to his election lawyer, state Senator Martin Connor, his consultants, and to paying for campaign literature.

Which is an expense Camp should be reporting soon.

UPDATE: More on the financial reporting here.  read more »

A reader who took objection with my characterization of unopposed Assembly candidate Micah Kellner’s May 21 fund-raiser as superfluous thinks I should be eating my own words.

As a panelist at a forum in Manhattan on Sunday, I was asked whether Hillary Clinton can actually win the nomination. She can, of course. But in answering the question, I said that the best way for anybody to lose an election is to think they have it won before the votes are cast.

The key there is that Hillary, unlike Kellner, has opponents.

But, in discussing Kellner's situation, the reader also noted that candidates who win special elections are often considered "vulnerable” when they’re up in the next general election. (see Sylvia Friedman)

So... point taken.  read more »

Not that Assembly candidate Micah Kellner needs it, but he's having a fund-raiser later this month for that East Side Assembly race on June 21 5.

There was, at one point, a crowded field. Then, the Democrats cleared out. And the Republican challengers never really showed up.

So, you could consider it sort of like an early victory party, but one that guests have to pay a lot of money to get into.

The fund-raiser is taking place at the Princeton Club and the price of admission is $250. (Or $2000, if you want to be listed as a "co-chair.)

It's being hosted by newly shaven City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Council member Jessica Lappin and Steve Nislick.

More details are after the jump.  read more »

Susan Chamlin, the aide to Senator Liz Krueger who was running Assemblyman Pete Grannis's not-yet vacated seat, has sent out a letter to say she's dropping out.

From the letter:

Upon Pete Grannis' confirmation to head the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Governor Spitzer will call a special election to fill this vacancy. However, until Governor Spitzer calls a special election, there is no race. Yet it appears the race has already been decided.

The Democratic nomination now pretty much belongs to Micah Kellner, who most elected officials are backing.

If only the seat would open up.

-- Azi Paybarah

This is getting to be quite a regular thing:

Christine Quinn and Bill Thompson have just endorsed Micah Kellner in that soon-to-be race for the Assembly on Manhattan's East Side.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a campaign letter from Susan Chamlin, the aide to Liz Krueger who is running against Micah Kellner for a maybe-soon-to-be-vacated Assembly seat on Manhattan's East Side.

In the letter, Chamlin tries to set herself up as the reformer in contrast to Kellner, who is running with the support of most of the Manhattan Democratic establishment, by backing Eliot Spitzer in his death-struggle with the Assembly. She also touts a long and varied resume with a Forrest Gump-y "I was there" refrain about her participation through the decades in the causes of racial equality, abortion rights, AIDS awareness and, of course, Liz Krueger's election to the state Senate.

She also refers to herself as "the most progressive" candidate in the race, though without any specific comparison to her opponent. Which prompts the following question:

Are there any substantive differences between the candidates that might make this race about something other than endorsements and money for mailers?

-- Azi Paybarah

Maloney, Lappin, Garodnick, Bing... Stringer!

Another uptown Democrat endorses Micah Kellner for Assembly. The release is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Another development in the Assembly race that's not quite underway:

City Councilman Dan Garodnick and Assemblyman Jonathan Bing have endorsed Micah Kellner.

Kellner is running against Susan Chamlin, an aide to state Senator Liz Krueger.

-- Azi Paybarah

Okay, so maybe there is a real race on the East Side.

After a number of stalwart East Side Democrats have rallied around Micah Kellner for Assembly, Senator Liz Krueger is announcing an endorsement of her aide Susan Chamlin, who is running in the Democratic primary but hasn't ruled out running on a third party line if she loses the nomination.

"She was the first person my Cheif of Staff and I hired," Krueger wrote in a letter to supporters and forwarded to me. "Susan's long record of accomplishment makes her the ideal candidate to fil the very big shoes of Pete Grannis."

Krueger cast Chamlin as the reform-outsider in the race. "I need a colleague in the Assembly who will work with me to advance an agenda of real reform."

The full letter is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Council member Jessica Lappin today endorsed Micah Kellner, providing another indication that the race for Assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis on the East Side may not turn out to be much of a contest at all.

Kellner also has the backing of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, and a prospective Democratic opponent, Barry Klein, has already dropped out.

The biggest obstacle for Kellner right now seems to be that, officially, there is no race yet.

Grannis has not yet been confirmed as the Spitzer administration's Environmental Commissioner, thanks to the Republican-controlled Senate.

-- Azi Paybarah

U.S. Representative Carolyn Maloney will endorse Micah Kellner for that East Side Assembly seat, according to a knowledgeable Democrat.

Also running are two candidates currently on staff for other elected officials. Barry Klein is Assemblyman Jonathan Bing's chief of staff and Susan Chamlin is an aide to state Senator Liz Krueger. Kellner works for city Comptroller Bill Thompson.

The race, on some level, is a proxy fight for East Side supremacy. While the immediate prize is the Assembly seat, the race could also turn out to be a useful demonstration of strength for anyone looking to run for Maloney's congressional seat when she retires.

-- Azi Paybarah

The names swirling around for Pete Grannis' seat include his chief of staff Tony Morenzi, the neighboring Assemblyman's chief of staff Barry Klein and local state committee member Micah Kellner.

A simple (and simplistic) scouting report would go something like this: Klein is affable, and he knows the district well. Kellner is something of wonder boy who worked on several local races and works for the city comptroller now. Morenzi is apt to get the endorsement of his boss, which makes him, I suppose, the front-runner.

On the other hand, that last distinction might be of limited value here.

Remember when Manhattan Assemblyman Steve Sanders retired, and his chief of staff Steve Kauffman ran for the seat? He was considered the front-runner and the presumed beneficiary of whatever operation kept Sanders re-elected for more than two decades.

But because there had been no solid fund-raising or grassroots operation built up to keep Sanders in place, there was never much of an inheritance for Kaufman. He lost the county endorsement to outsider Sylvia Friedman (who was then defeated for re-election by Brian Kavanagh) and that was that.

There may be a similar hierarchical power vacuum in the Grannis district.

Of the roughly 200 county committee seats in the district, about 30 are filled. That means, essentially, that the Democratic nomination could be determined by as few as 16 people.

Which is to say that this thing is wide open.

-- Azi Paybarah