Democracy For New York City

Democracy for New York City’s decision to endorse neither State Senator Marty Connor nor his challenger--former Chuck Schumer aide Dan Squadron--has sparked an interesting debate among some stalwarts of the progressive Democratic community.

(It should be noted how the decision came about: neither Connor nor Squadron got 60 percent of votes from DFNYC voting members.)

Michael Bouldin, who blogs regularly on Daily Gotham, says that Connor isn't all that bad, but takes a throw-the-bums-out view of the need to replace him:

“We need, as a state, to infuse fresh blood into both chambers of the legislature; Dan Squadron's campaign could be the first ripple of a wave of new fresh faces who are suddenly considering public service.  read more »

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A number of local Democratic clubs, including the Howard Dean-spawned DFNYC, are meeting tonight to decide which Democrat they will support in the race to unseat the only Republican Congressman in the city, Vito Fossella.

They are choosing between term-limited City Councilman Domenic Recchia and Steve Harrison, who lost to Fossella in 2006.

Fossella, a 10-year incumbent who represents Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn, is a frequent target of left-of-center groups in the city--his opponent's supporters have called him the "last conservative in the city." (The effort to unseat him has even given rise to a dedicated blog.)

In a similar vein, an email reminder for tonight's event says, “Fossella has been a rubber-stamp for the Bush-Cheney White House.”

Both Democratic contenders have been fund-raising this year, although Fossella has made a point of making it known that he has plenty of money to get reelected.

Hosting the event tonight are the Stonewall Democratic Club, Three Parks Independent Democratic Club, Village Reform Democratic Club and an organization called Truth 13.

Here's the email:  read more »