Kirsten Gillibrand | The New York Observer

Nadler Endorses Gillibrand

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:07:41 -0500

ALBANY—Representative Jerry Nadler, the "progressive champion" whose district spans the West Side and Brooklyn, endorsed Kirsten Gillibrand's election bid.

"From protecting a woman's right to choose and standing up for issues of pressing concern to the LGBT community, to fighting for a robust public health insurance option and protecting our environment by working to reduce harmful emissions, Kirsten Gillibrand has been a great partner on many progressive causes," Nadler said in a statement put...

Skelos 'Interested' That Giuliani Was Silent on Senate

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:27:49 -0500

ALBANY—Is this a shift toward Senator Giuliani?

Ed Cox, the Republican State Committee chairman, has suggested as much. He won the chairmanship over Henry Wojtaszek, who was backed by Giuliani and his surrogates Jake Menges and Tony Carbonetti. (Menges told Liz Benjamin that a Times report that Giuliani will not seek the governorship is "premature.") The door was left open to Giuliani as a senatorial candidate.

Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos, a Cox...

Poll: Paterson Job Approval Increases to 21

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:30:00 -0500

ALBANY—After a concerted political blitz including a television ad campaign, a new poll finds David Paterson's approval and favorability ratings inched up this month, but he now trails Andrew Cuomo in a gubernatorial primary by nearly 60 points.

The Siena Poll found that 75 percent of registered Democrats surveyed would prefer Cuomo to Paterson, who garnered the support of just 16 percent. Among African-Americans, Paterson now trails Cuomo by a 2:1 margin. Paterson is...

Biden For Owens, Again

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:00:06 -0400

ALBANY—The last minute push for Democratic Congressional candidate Bill Owens will include a visit by Vice President Joe Biden.

Biden will appear at a rally in Watertown at the Northside Improvement League. This is the second visit to the area by Biden, who during a trip to Syracuse held a fundraiser for Owens. A Democratic source familiar with campaign strategy said that a DCCC officials were also mulling a visit from Bill Clinton or...

All-In for Owens?

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 11:58:34 -0400

ALBANY—It's nearing the end of the race to replace John McHugh in Congress. A leading Democrat just told the party is "not going to leave anything on the table" to help Bill Owens.

My mind is returning to the special election in the 20th District this spring, where the final poll showed long-shot Scott Murphy slightly ahead and the DCCC went "all in." In that race, Democrats unleashed a radio ad featuring Vice President...

The Anti-Gun Schumer Returns

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 13:38:00 -0400

In the minutes before the Senate barely voted down an amendment that would have allowed gun owners to carry concealed weapons across state lines, Chuck Schumer delivered an impassioned speech on the Senate floor urging his colleagues not to back the measure. "This amendment will incite a dangerous race to the bottom in our nation's gun laws," he said. It was like watching the Ghost of Schumer Past. As a member of the House of...

The Swift, Brutal Primary Strategy of Kirsten Gillibrand

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Earlier this month, Kirsten Gillibrand stood in front of the steps of City Hall to accept the endorsements of two more members of Congress and repeated her standard response to all inquiries related to her facing a potential primary challenge. "For my part, I am very focused on being the best senator I can be," Gillibrand told The Observer. "And I really do leave the politics to themselves. I think they will take care of...

Gillibrand Vows to Sponsor Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:28:00 -0400

There's been no small amount of confusion and consternation among active liberals about why Kirsten Gillibrand, Charles Schumer, or some other Democratic senator wasn’t sponsoring legislation to repeal the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy that prevents gay Americans from serving in the military. This morning, Gillibrand went on the Huffington Post and said it’s “time to repeal DADT.” She wrote, “I am firmly committed to repealing Don't Ask Don't Tell. To that end, I am working...

Lots of Counties for Gillibrand, But Brooklyn Still Won't Take Her Calls

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 14:44:00 -0400

ALBANY—Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's campaign announced today she had been endorsed by the leaders of 52 of the 62 Democratic county leaders in New York. Among the holdouts: the chairmen of all five boroughs of New York City. I found Assemblyman Vito Lopez, also chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, on the floor of the chamber and asked him what he was waiting for. "I initially supported Caroline Kennedy, and then when Caroline withdrew and the governor...

The Year of the Senate Primary

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:57:00 -0400

Since 1980, there have been just eight serious primary campaigns mounted against incumbent U.S. senators (five of which succeeded and three of which didn’t). But next year alone, we could be looking at as many as six. The incumbents most vulnerable to serious intraparty competition in 2010 include four Democrats—Kirsten Gillibrand in New York, Chris Dodd in Connecticut, Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania and Roland Burris in Illinois—and two Republicans, Kentucky’s Jim Bunning and Arizona’s...

If Maloney Runs, Who Replaces Her?

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 13:20:00 -0400

Say what you want about her chances, but Carolyn Maloney is still acting like someone who actually means to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate next year. She'd have to give up her House seat to do so. (Which is actually quite a good reason to believe that, at the end of the day, she won't run for Senate, and that this will all have been more about David Paterson's decision to pass her over for...

Senator Working Mom Keeps Working

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:24:00 -0400

Earlier today, Kirsten Gillibrand announced yet another family-friendly legislative proposal, this time to reduce the costs of child care for New York families. "The bottom line is that day care and early childhood education is very expensive," she said. The call introduced a six-part plan, part of which has been introduced by some of her colleagues and part which is original, to make child care better, more affordable and closer to home. "I am co-sponsoring Senator Barbara...

Isay Supports Maloney, But Not in a Paid Way

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 15:36:00 -0400

Did Carolyn Maloney jump the gun in rolling Josh Isay out as a campaign consultant? Last week, when I called Maloney's office with a question about her possibly-maybe Senate campaign, I was referred to Isay, the influential consultant to Michael Bloomberg who, according to a report in City Hall News, Maloney had signed up to work on her prospective bid. At that point, a source with knowledge of the arrangement between Maloney and Isay said that...

Tasini, At Least, Isn't Dawdling

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:08:00 -0400

While some members continue to toy with the possibility of challenging Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination for Senate, Jonathan Tasini, the labor advocate, announced his candidacy on a conference call just now. Tasini, who took on Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination for Senate in 2006, said that he would not be intimidated by "party insiders clearing the field for a favored candidate" and called himself the "only progressive in the race." He also tried...

Obama Redefines the Debate for New York's Israel Boosters

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:59:00 -0400

Barack Obama is changing what it means to be a pro-Israel politician in America. That much is obvious from the unusually thoughtful, nuanced and varied reactions by officials in New York—the world capital of Israel-boosterism—to his criticisms of the Netanyahu government’s settlement policies. “I think Obama feels that this type of shock therapy will have an effect on Netanyahu and also cause some American Jews to rally to his side,” said Representative Pete King, a staunchly...

Trippi Confirms He's In Talks With Maloney

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:28:00 -0400

In a brief telephone interview this morning, Joe Trippi confirmed a report in yesterday's City Hall News that he is in talks with Representative Carolyn Maloney about potentially working for her possible challenge to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. "Yes we've talked," said Trippi. "And she hasn't decide to run yet. But if she does, I think she'll win and I'd want to be part of it." The talks with Trippi come as a poll taken by Doug...

Gillibrand Consolidates, Maloney Denies That Biden Asked Her to Desist

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 11:52:00 -0400

As part of her continuing effort to become primary-proof, Kirsten Gillibrand announced on the steps of City Hall today the support of two more Democratic members of Congress, Ed Towns and Nydia Velazquez. "I'm extremely grateful," said Gillibrand, as she stood flanked by the two representatives in front of four reporters and one television camera. She called Towns a leader in the House and said that Velazquez introduced her to Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia...

Why McHugh's District Is an Opportunity, and Possibly a Headache, for the Democrats

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:35:00 -0400

On the surface, John McHugh’s decision to abandon his 23rd District House seat to serve as Barack Obama’s Army secretary offers Democrats a promising opportunity to push the state’s Republican congressional one step closer to extinction. Less than three years ago, nine of New York’s 29 districts were represented by Republicans. That number was reduced to six by the 2006 elections, and then to three after last November’s vote—where it remains, thanks to Democrat...

Paterson Fares Badly on Power List

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:11:00 -0400

Nate Silver at FiveThirtyEight has some bad news for David Paterson: he’s the least powerful governor in the country. It was a complicated calculation: Silver took each governor’s approval rating, and adjusted it to compensate for each state’s population size and partisan makeup, and came up with a -44 score for Paterson, just below Nevada's troubled Jim Gibbons. It's another way to get at what we've been seeing and hearing. In other...

Paterson Blows a Whistle on the Stealth Candidacy of Andrew Cuomo

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 21:43:00 -0400

RYE, N.Y.—Andrew Cuomo was on his way out. It was 9:30 on the morning of a state Democratic Party gathering at the Rye Hilton on May 31, and Mr. Cuomo, whose official job is attorney general, had delivered another confident speech about his plan to overhaul state government. It was the latest and most ambitious component of his undeclared, unacknowledged campaign for governor of New York. As he left, a couple of reporters asked him about...

Unwitting Gillibrand Tells 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists She Backs a 'Fuller Hearing'

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 12:40:00 -0400

There's probably a lesson here for anyone new to their office, which is to steer well clear of 9/11 conspiracy theorists with cameras. Here's Gillibrand after a May 27 event in Midtown, being interviewed by We Are Change, the guys who’ve heckled Michael Bloomberg, Joe Biden, Ed Koch and Larry Silverstein, among others. In the interview--the interviewer identified himself as being from "GCN," and as someone who lost a family member in the attacks--she agrees to...

Gillibrand Keeps Selling Senator Mom

Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:30:00 -0400

In the latest installment of Kirsten Gillibrand's effort to rebrand herself as Senator Working Mom in the wake of a messy Senate selection process, she is today announcing a "three-point plan to address autism," according to a release from her Senate office. "With autism affecting more American children than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined and with insurance companies not covering necessary autism treatment, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand will announce her three-point plan to help improve the lives...

Dr. Ruth Likes Kirsten Gillibrand's Acumen

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:30:00 -0400

During the Israel Day Parade on Sunday, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand walked a good distance up Fifth Avenue hand-in-hand with Governor David Paterson (on her left) and Dr. Ruth Westheimer (on her right). When I called Dr. Ruth to ask her about the experience. "I was impressed with her because she did a whole fund-raising campaign during the walk of a couple of blocks," said Westheimer, 80, referring to the senator. "She talked to them about what...

Don't Hold Your Breath for That Paterson-Cuomo Primary

Thu, 28 May 2009 22:23:00 -0400

Politicians generally hate answering question about internal party politics, so it would be easy to read Kirsten Gillibrand’s response to a questions about a prospective David Paterson-Andrew Cuomo gubernatorial primary next year as an artful dodge. “I really think the politics will take care of themselves,” she said, adding that “because the budget is as difficult as it is, that all our delegation and our statewide leaders will be focused on solving those problems. I...