Who messed up Espaillat's campaign against Rangel?
Briefing: Espaillat. Marisol Diaz via Riverdale Press
8:40 am Jul. 3, 2012
State Senator Adriano Espaillat has taken his congressional campaign to court, with Rep. Charlie Rangel's lead down to 802 votes from what election officials originally estimated to be a considerably larger margin on primary night.
Espaillat has blamed poll workers and the Board of Elections for the uncertainty, and his campaign is filing a challenge that could hypothetically allow them to demand a new primary vote, if the court determines that there was fraud or sufficient irregularities in the original one.
Michael Aronson, a member of the Daily News editorial board, writes that the Board of Elections has fumbled the vote-counting process since the introduction of electronic scanners, and that the board is ducking responsibility for its role in the Rangel-Espaillat mess.
Grace Rauh catches an interesting moment in which Michael Bloomberg, a Rangel supporter, also dumps on the Board of Elections, seeming at least to bolster Espaillat's public case that the vote-count was botched.
Some of Espaillat's supporters see in the situation something more sinister than mere incompetence.
Haile Rivera, an Espaillat campaign volunteer who was featured in one of the campaign's early videos, said on Twitter that Rangel "& co would do ANYTHING to win" and had deilberately prevented likely Espaillat backers from voting, which he wrote was "Despicable." He also said it's "becoming clearer" that Rangel "& c were trying to pull a Gore vs Bush (w/o the courts)".
But the official argument, so far, suggests bungling rather than manipulation.
The Espaillat campaign files a new complaint in state supreme court today.
In Other News:
City Councilman Eric Ulrich's new chief of staff is Rudy S. Giuliani, who once considered running for State Senate. He worked as a field coordinator for Bloomberg's 2009 campaign and was an aide to City Councilman Jimmy Oddo.
He's the former mayor's second cousin.
AND: City Councilman Jumaane Williams endorsed Josue Pierre for District Leader.
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Events
Andrew Cuomo is in the New York City area and has no public schedule.
1 p.m. Bloomberg speaks at the weigh-in ceremony for Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest participants, at City Hall Park.
2012
Republican senate candidate Wendy Long repeatedly said soldiers killed in combat didn't give their lives for issues like expanded access to contraception. The comments were "flagged for the Huffington Post by New York Democrats, who think the remarks will hurt her." [Michael McAuliff]
Meet the 72-year-old Green Party senate candidate Colia Clark. [Teri Weaver]
Three New York congress members are among the 10 House Republicans the DCCC is targeting after the Obamacare ruling: Reps. Nan Hayworth, Anne Marie Buerkle and Chris Gibson. [Gerry Shields]
2013
"John Liu should man up" and pay his $527,000 fine for illegal posturing in 2009. [New York Post]
Liu is considering whether to appeal the fine. [Erin Dunkin]
Liu could raise the $527,400 needed to pay the fine separately from his campaign account. [David Seifman]
NY-13
Even if Rangel wins, he's wounded. [Kate Taylor]
Espaillat's two strategies: Push for a recount, argue for a do-over election. [Andrew Grossman]
When's the last time anyone got a do-over election? [@DKelections]
Bloomberg's "attacks seemed to bolster Espaillat's case." [Grace Rauh]
The city Board of Elections transferred bilingual poll workers out of the district. [Michael Powell]
"The poll workers get a lot of things wrong — and that’s what happened in the Rangel-Espaillat contest." [Michael Aronson]
"The idea that poll workers are told to ignore the computers and do the arithmetic by hand is chillingly absurd. New York City has a state primary on Sept. 13 and the general election on Nov. 6. It’s time to stop the cut-and-add routine and let the computers do their job." [New York Times]
"But to be honest, the real-world battle was almost entirely ethnic." [Dan Collins]
NY-08
Hakeem Jeffries hasn't spoken with Ed Towns or Charles Barron. [Inside City Hall]
Obamacare
Chief Justice John Roberts' argument for upholding A.C.A. "is not a persuasive one." [Jeff Toobin]
Controlling Ground Zero
Bloomberg said nobody wants "to turn over the plaza and the museum, the memorial and museum, to political process." Cuomo's spokesman said "the mayor is a political official." [Michael Howard Saul and Jennifer Maloney]
Congress
Rep. Darrel Issa wants to investigate Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), which is a labor-backed group that often protests outside restaurants in New York City. [Carl Campanile]
City Hall
Maybe Chris Christie and Bloomberg got testy with reporters because of the heat. [Michael Grynbaum]
Councilwoman Gale Brewer and Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden disagree with Steve Cuozzo's column about new rules on the Upper West Side. [New York Post]
Farmers Markets will now accept food-stamp-backed Health Bucks, Bloomberg announced. [Erin Durkin]
Albany
It's unclear if Cuomo will support a bill that could potentially make it easier for parents to send their children to religious schools at taxpayer expense. [Al Baker]
Cuomo's administration didn't give a reason for not reappointing a Spitzer holdover who was the only black male on the state's Parole Board. Some legislators said the board's current lack of diversity "defies belief." [Ken Lovett]
"It's certainly possible he was just lazy," NYPIRG's Bill Mahoney said of Brooklyn assemblyman William Boyland Jr. missing 280 votes last year. He also failed to introduce a single bill. [Erik Kriss]
The most pieces of legislation passed? Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli of Syracuse. [Teri Weaver]
Con Ed
8,000 workers locked out. [Patrick McGeehan]
Con Ed unionized workers have a defined benefits plan and Con Ed management wants to change that. [Daily News]
"Jason Ayala, 35, who has worked for Con Ed for eight years, said he expects the same benefits his father received over his 30 years with the utility." [Chelsia Rose Marcius]
Federal mediators have stepped in to help both sides resume talks Thursday. [Anjali Athavaley]
On Air
Aaron Sorkin: "This isn't a screed of any kind." [Charlie Rose]
Marco Rubio: "The radical left believes in universal health insurance for everybody, you know, Medicare for everyone…" [John Gambling]
NY-18 Democratic candidate Sean Patrick Maloney said whenever you see Chief Justice John Roberts agree with Obama on health care, everything else "is a bunch of politics." [RNN]
More on an Apple employee refusing to sell goods to an American citizen who spoke Farsi. [CNN]
From Capital
Scenes from the courtroom, where Adriano Espaillat is leaving his option open to call for a do-over election. [Reid Pillifant]
Assemblyman Joseph Lentol recalls the rough-housing at McCarren Park when he was young. [Jesse Sposato]
Some voters who said they were denied their chance to vote in Tuesday's primaries were actually not eligible to vote. [Azi Paybarah]
"Wendy Long, legal adviser to Romney, stomps on a Romney talking point" [Reid Pillifant]
The NYPD should arrest the guys harassing actress Katie Holmes, a councilman says. [Azi Paybarah]
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