Upper East Side, Midtown East, Turtle Bay and Sutton Place

NO PREFERENCE

Cameron Koffman
Age: 23
Occupation: Full-time Candidate
Education: Yale University, B.A.
Candidate Website: https://www.cameronkoffman.com/

Cameron Koffman is a recent college graduate running on a platform of economic support for small businesses in his district, such as repealing the commercial rent tax, enforcing sales taxes for online transactions, and overhauling inspection systems. Koffman supports Citizens Union’s reform agenda and devotes a substantial portion of his platform to ethics and good government issues, including capping outside income for legislators at 15%, introducing term limits for State Senators and Assembly Members, and replacing JCOPE with an independent body. In response to the current pandemic, Koffman developed a plan for civic participation during the crises which details measures to ensure absentee ballots are mailed and counted effectively. Koffman also supports significant campaign finance reform despite having raised a record-breaking amount of money for an Assembly seat, in part through very large individual donations. He acknowledges that he would not have been able to compete in the election without the fundraising he had, but indicates that, if elected, he would strongly prefer to use more equitable fundraising mechanisms going forward. Citizens Union found Koffman to be passionate, knowledgeable, and invested in the issues of his campaign; we were impressed by his well-developed reform platform as well as his campaign’s consistent involvement with the local community. However, we are concerned about Koffman’s lack of political experience, and therefore Citizens Union takes a position of no preference in this race.

Dan Quart
Age: 47
Occupation: New York State Assembly Member
Education: SUNY Binghamton, B.A.; St. John’s University, J.D.
Candidate Website: https://danquart.com/

Dan Quart is the Assembly Member for District 73 on the Upper East Side, a position he has held since a 2011 special election, and he currently serves as Chair of the Commission on Administrative Regulations Review. Since taking office, Quart has sponsored successful legislation on a variety of issues, including the legalization of gravity knives, transparency and accessibility of tax and financial information, and increasing the online availability of government processes and data. One of his most prominent successes was the passage of a bill requiring state authorities to conduct open meetings and provide internet broadcasts of proceedings in 2015. He supports Citizens Union’s reform agenda and also supports an amendment to make the Legislature full-time and completely eliminate outside income. Quart is concurrently running for Manhattan District Attorney, and much of his campaign activity is dedicated to that race. If he wins this reelection, Quart would spend the first six to twelve months of his term campaigning for another office and, if elected to District Attorney, would vacate his seat mid-term. Though Citizens Union appreciates Quart’s efficacy in office and his support for reform issues, we are concerned about his capacity to serve his community with his focus on a separate race. Citizens Union was also disappointed by his lawsuit to remove his opponent from the ballot. For these reasons, Citizens Union takes a position of no preference in this race.