Originally Published: August 30, 2012
Supports challengers to ethically challenged incumbents Shirley Huntley, Naomi Rivera, William Boyland, Jr., and Carmen Arroyo
Supports Barbara Jaffe for Manhattan surrogate
Issues preference for nine challengers, two incumbents; 19 Senate and 42 Assembly primaries in New York City are uncontested
Citizens Union Chair Peter Sherwin and Executive Director Dick Dadey today announced Citizens Union’s candidate preference for James Sanders Jr., Mark Gjonaj, Anthony Herbert, and Maximino Rivera for the upcoming Democratic primary contests, as well as candidates in 11 other primary races for the state legislature. They also announced that Citizens Union found both candidates running for Manhattan Surrogate to be extremely capable jurists, but in the end preferred Barbara Jaffe.
“A renewed and heightened public focus and interest towards ethics, good governance and reform mean that our standards for preferred candidates is higher than ever,” said Dick Dadey. “Two incumbents running for re-election have been indicted—Senator Shirley Huntley and Assemblymember William Boyland, Jr.—while questions of ethics have been raised about two other assemblymembers—Naomi Rivera and Carmen Arroyo—which are among the reasons why we are supporting their four challengers. Citizens Union believes that our preferences will help highlight the candidates in the September primaries who have pledged to support an agenda of good government and political reform and act on the verbal commitments they have made.”
Dadey further said, “With redistricting creating many new or newly aligned legislative districts, 61 incumbents are running unopposed in their September primary elections, which for many is a more important election than the November General Election. That nearly two-thirds of these offices are essentially going unchallenged leaves too many uncompetitive races for a state legislature that has huge responsibilities for leading this state with a $132 billion budget. It is a sad commentary on the strength of our democracy in New York City.”
Citizens Union will provide an online voter guide for the primary elections which will have detailed information about the candidates who have returned questionnaires and participated in interviews. The online version will be published after Labor Day on its website, citizensunion.org, in advance of the primary elections on Thursday, September 13th. The website currently contains questionnaires from candidates in contested primary races who have submitted responses, including candidates that Citizens Union did not ultimately interview.
Citizens Union chose to issue a “no preference” in two races involving incumbent state legislators. In Assembly District 60, Citizens Union chose not to prefer either incumbent Inez Barron or her opponent, Christopher Banks, due to Barron’s lack of commitment to redistricting reform and Bank’s lack of focus on reform issues. In Senate District 16, though it acknowledged that she has been an effective legislator, Citizens Union chose not to prefer Toby Ann Stavisky, the incumbent, due to her stated written opposition to second passage of the redistricting reform constitutional amendment and uncertainty of her ultimate position on this issue during the candidate interview. Citizens Union was unable to schedule her opponent, John Messer, for an interview. Citizens Union preferred Adriano Espaillat because he was unequivocal in his support for second passage of redistricting reform.
The candidates below are preferred by Citizens Union for the Primary Election, followed by descriptions of the candidates. These preferences do not extend to the General Election, as Citizens Union will evaluate all candidates for endorsement in the coming weeks.
Bronx
Assembly District 80 Mark Gjonaj (D), challenger
Assembly District 84 Maximino Rivera (D), challenger
Assembly District 87 Daniel Figueroa (D), challenger
Brooklyn
Senate District 18 Jason Otaño (D), challenger
Assembly District 42 Rodneyse Bichotte (D), challenger
Assembly District 55 Anthony L. Herbert (D), challenger
Assembly District 57 Olanike T. Alabi (D), challenger
Assembly District 60 No preference
Manhattan
Surrogate Judge Barbara Jaffe (D), challenger
Senate District 27 Brad Hoylman (D), challenger
Senate District 31 Adriano Espaillat (D), incumbent
Assembly District 72 Mayra Linares, open seat
Assembly District 74 Brian P. Kavanagh (D), incumbent
Queens
Senate District 10 James Sanders Jr. (D), challenger
Senate District 15 Eric A. Ulrich (R, I), open seat
Senate District 16 No preference
Assembly District 25 Nily D. Rozic (D), challenger
Assembly District 40 (Democratic) Ron Kim (D), challenger
Assembly District 40 (Republican) No preference
Senate District 10 (Democratic Primary): James Sanders Jr. currently serves as a New York City Councilmember. Concerning reform issues, Sanders is in support of a professional body that can address redistricting, and will vote in favor of second passage of the redistricting constitutional amendment passed by the state legislature earlier this year. Sanders also supports replicating at the state level the city’s campaign finance system with public matching funds, but believes the city’s appeals process needs to be improved. Sanders is more knowledgeable about community issues than reform of Albany, but Citizens Union nonetheless believes he will be a stronger proponent for reform than the incumbent, Shirley Huntley, who was indicted this week on several felony charges.
Assembly District 80 (Democratic Primary): Mark Gjonaj received Citizens Union’s support because he backs the majority of Citizens Union’s reform agenda. He plans to vote for the constitutional amendment to reform redistricting, noting his own testimony before the Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research and Reapportionment (LATFOR) to keep all of Morris Park together in one district in the Bronx. Regarding campaign finance reform, he supports lowering campaign contribution limits but opposes a campaign finance system with public matching funds. His opponent, Naomi Rivera, is being investigated by multiple governmental entities for providing a no-show job to her boyfriend in addition to using taxpayer money intended for a non-profit organization for lavish dates with a previous boyfriend.
Assembly District 55 (Democratic Primary): Anthony Herbert has been active in his community as an organizer, founding the Save Our Community Initiative and The Advocates Without Borders Network. He has also served as a special assistant to a New York City Councilmember and Congressman Ed Towns and as Chair of the NYCHA/NAACP City-Wide Civic Engagement Committee. Herbert supports most of CU’s reform agenda including a state campaign finance system with public matching funds. Citizens Union preferred Herbert because he presented concrete proposals for tackling the challenges facing his district. Given Assemblymember Boyland’s indictment on bribery charges, Citizens Union believes the district needs new leadership that will support reform of state government.
Assembly District 84 (Democratic Primary): Maximino Rivera has been active in his community as part of a tenant advocacy organization and as a school board member. A retired postal worker who served as shop steward for the union for 28 years, Rivera supports all of Citizens Union’s reform issues and believes that establishing a campaign finance system with public matching funds at the state level will help in creating more competitive elections. Rivera also supports lowering contribution limits, especially for corporations because he believes corporations do not represent people’s interests.
Assembly District 42 (Democratic Primary): Rodneyse Bichotte, the Democratic Leader in the Assembly District, has worked as a public school math teacher, an engineer, and an investment banker. She supports the city’s public matching model for campaign finance reform at the state level, and second passage of the redistricting reform constitutional amendment. Bichotte said that she could work with Citizens Union to reverse the low voter participation in her district. Citizens Union prefers her, believing that the district needs new leadership and that she will bring fresh, new energy to the legislature and new ideas for addressing the pressing needs in her district.
Manhattan Surrogate (Democratic Primary): Judge Barbara Jaffe has been an acting New York State Supreme Court Justice in the 1st Judicial District since 2010. In that time she has been specially assigned to matrimonial bench trials, which she believes provides her with relevant experience regarding the division of assets since the Surrogate handles the estates of decedents without wills or legal counsel. Prior to her current position, she spent eight years as an elected judge of the Civil Court of New York, having first run unopposed in 2001. Judge Jaffe is a reform-minded individual, pledging to push the state legislature to update procedures to improve the function of the Surrogate’s Court and to improve public access to the courts. Regarding judicial reforms supported by Citizens Union, Judge Jaffe supports a merit-based appointment system for judges, and believes that the independence and broad representation of judicial screeners is particularly important to ensure that there are qualified, impartial individuals serving as judges. Acknowledging the potential for conflicts of interest in the process of appointing public administrators and their counsel, Judge Jaffe pledges to create an intermediary committee to vet appointments which would mitigate the potential for abuse or patronage in the handling of estates.
Senate District 31 (Democratic Primary): Adriano Espaillat is running for reelection as state senator, having first been elected to the State Assembly in 1996, and then to the state senate in 2010. Espaillat has been a consistent supporter of Citizens Union’s reform agenda, in particular independent redistricting. He would vote in favor of second passage of the redistricting constitutional amendment, and supports a state campaign finance system with public matching funds modeled on the city’s program. Having personally experienced problems in election administration, he has put forth proposals to reform the boards of election.
Senate District 15 (Republican Primary): Eric Ulrich has served in the City Council for three and a half years following his election in a 2009 special election. Ulrich supports many of Citizens Union’s campaign finance reform proposals, most notably public matching funds at the state level, based on his positive experience with the city’s system. He believes he could work with his Republican colleagues to write a campaign finance reform bill. He supports second passage of a constitutional amendment creating an independent redistricting commission. Having worked at the Board of Elections in the City of New York, he questions the integrity of absentee ballots and believes that the Board is ineffective, partisan and should be abolished.
Senate District 18 (Democratic Primary): Jason Otaño previously served as the General Counsel for Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, working on constituent matters and other legal issues. In this capacity, he served as the Borough President’s representative on various pension boards. Otaño supports Citizens Union’s reform agenda, believing that state campaign finance reform and redistricting reform are top priorities. Having worked in New York City government, Otaño in particular thought that legislation to prevent mayoral charter revision commissions from “bumping” citizen initiated referenda was an important reform the state should enact.
Assembly District 74 (Democratic Primary): Brian Kavanagh is the current incumbent, having first been elected in 2006. Kavanagh is a leader who works to advance a reform agenda supported by Citizens Union, having drafted legislation on issues such as campaign finance reform, voter registration, and election day operations. He is Chair of the Assembly Subcommittee on Election Day Operations and Voter Disenfranchisement and will use that leadership position to aggressively push for passage of the Voter Empowerment Act, including a form of automatic registration, and of an act redesigning the ballot to be more voter-friendly. He supports a campaign finance system with public matching funds at the state level, and would vote for second passage of the redistricting constitutional amendment.
Assembly District 87 (Democratic Primary): Danny Figueroa III is running for State Assembly to continue serving the community where he has lived his entire life. Figueroa has a long history of community service, first as a criminal defense attorney and for the last twenty years, as the chief of staff for Assemblymember Peter Rivera. Figueroa supports most of Citizens Union’s reform goals, including a state campaign finance system with public matching funds. He is also passionate about increasing voter turnout. He wants to examine further the issues of election-day registration and simplifying the court system into a two-tiered system.
Assembly District 57 (Democratic Primary): Olanike Alabi is running for State Assembly because she is committed to public service, would like to increase representation of women in the legislature, and believes she could utilize government to make a difference in people’s lives. As a district leader, Alabi has interviewed poll workers to help ensure the efficiency of poll sites on Election Day. She has stated that she embraces CU’s reform issues and would like to see public financing of campaigns instituted and would vote in favor of the redistricting reform constitutional amendment. Seeing its operations first-hand, she is also in favor of reforming the boards of election so that employees are appointed based on merit.
Assembly District 25 (Democratic Primary): Nily Rozic is a member of Community Board 8 and of the Hillcrest Jewish Center. Rozic has significant political experience, advancing from being a scheduler to chief of staff in Assemblymember Brian Kavanagh’s office. She demonstrates a strong commitment to reform issues in that capacity. If elected, her top priority is establishing a state campaign finance system with public matching funds modeled on New York City’s. While disappointed an independent redistricting commission was not created for drawing 2012 lines, she would vote for second passage of the redistricting constitutional amendment. Rozic also emphasized the importance of making voter registration more open and accessible through government agencies.
Assembly District 40 (Democratic Primary): Ron Kim, a third-generation Flushing native, is running to represent the community he first served as a staffer to then-Councilmember John Liu and later in working for Assemblymembers and two different gubernatorial administrations. On reform issues, Kim strongly supports redistricting reform, and while lamenting the incremental progress in last year’s redistricting deal, he would vote for the constitutional amendment implementing an independent redistricting commission as a needed first step. He also supports campaign finance reform as a means to both increase voter engagement and create a more level playing field for candidates. He is supportive of reform issues and recognizes the need to serve all constituencies in this diverse district.
Senate District 27 (Democratic Primary): Brad Hoylman is the former General Counsel for the Partnership for New York City, and has served as chair of Community Board 2 in Manhattan. Hoylman supports all of Citizens Union’s reform agenda, in particular a campaign finance system with public matching funds at the state level, having qualified for public matching funds when he prepared to run for City Council. He would vote in favor of second passage of the redistricting constitutional amendment. Regarding budget reform, he supports a decentralized process that allows rank-and-file members of the legislature a more meaningful role. Hoylman demonstrates a deep and thorough knowledge of public policy and reform issues and has extensive experience in working with many parts of the community.
Assembly District 72 (Democratic Primary): Mayra Linares is running for the open seat for Assembly being vacated by her father, Guillermo Linares. Mayra Linares is a former small business owner and has served as a district leader, and was involved in the selection of civil court judges. She used her position to ensure the merit of the individuals selected. In her position at the New York Department of State, she served as a liaison for the Latino community. Linares supports the entirety of Citizens Union’s reform agenda, including state campaign finance and redistricting reform. Regarding judicial reform, having selected judges as a district leader, she supports merit-based appointment of judges.