A Republican retirement from the State Senate improves a challenger's odds; Klein's bases
Briefing: Montano. Legis.SuffolkCountyNY.gov
5:21 pm Jul. 13, 2012
2012
Mitt Romney used to say he was on a "leave of absence" from Bain Capital after 1999, but described it differently once he was running for president. [Hunter Walker]
NY-24
Freshman Republican congresswoman Ann Marie Buerkle is among the ten most vulnerable members and her race against Dan Maffei is a referendum on Obamacare. [Aaron Blake and Rachel Weiner]
Senior Senator
Schumer: "Our Olympians don’t train their entire lives to don Chinese uniforms." [schumer.senate.gov]
Schumer sent a letter to the U.S. Olympic Committee about the American uniforms being made in China. [Daniel Strauss]
"After a meeting with the Federal Aviation Administration's top official this week, Sen. Charles Schumer said Friday that a new air traffic radar facility will be built in New York State, eliminating New Jersey as location." [Keith Herbert]
SD-34
Independent Senate Democrat Jeff Klein will try running for re-election on four party lines: Democrat, Independence, Working Families and Republican. [Liz Benjamin]
SD-4
"The local Democratic Party can consolidate around [Ricardo] Montano" now that incumbent Republican Owen Johnson is not running. [Colin Campbell]
Montano said Johnson's retirement "consolidates the support that we didn't have prior to this announcement." [Glenn Blain]
Montano "had bucked Democratic Party leaders" by running. [Greg Sleter]
Backstory, from Newsday: "Montano had been running for the senate without the support of Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer, who is also Babylon Town supervisor. Schaffer had been supportive of Johnson ever since the lawmaker helped the town out of a serious fiscal problem with its town garbage district in the early 1990s with special state legislation." [Rick Brand]
Unnamed Democrats consider Montano "a serious challenger." [Nick Reisman]
A local Conservative is upset Johnson announced his plans after filing petitions to seek re-election. [LiPolitics.com]
Albany
"But the road to the White House is not lined with fracking rigs, and Cuomo's cozy relationship with the oil and gas industry does not bode well for his energy policies if ever elected president." [Wenonah Hauter]
"Cuomo is basically saying that the law -- again, intended on keeping people from texting while driving -- is a success because there are more people getting caught doing it." [James King]
Cuomo signed a "burn ban" which goes into effect until October 10. [WKTV]
Cuomo and Assemblyman Peter Lopez announced funding for flood victims in 127th Assembly District. [Saugerties Post Star]
NYPD
Tomorrow, Rev. Al Sharpton will call on Ray Kelly to meet with him and other critics to discuss gun violence and stop-and-frisk. [National Action Network]
Vibe picks up on Ray Kelly's comments about some people being "shockingly silent" in the face of increased violence. [Max Weinstein]
Headline: "Did the NYPD Invent Murder Ties to Smear Occupy Wall Street?" [Diane Sweet]
