Endorsement List

CITYWIDE:

Mayor: Neutral between Thompson and Weiner (if he stop dithering and runs). Pluses and minuses for both.

Public Advocate: Norman Siegel wholeheartedly.

Comptroller: Best candidate is clearly John Liu. This is partly because he is a good, somewhat nerdy/technocrat kind of guy, but also partly because all other candidates are largely sellouts. David Weprin seems a distant second to Liu.


BROOKLYN:

33rd City Council District: Jo Anne Simon.

34th City Council District: Diana Reyna. The first woman of Dominican-American descent to be elected to NYC public office. Reyna is being heavily targeted by Brooklyn Boss Vito Lopez because she hasn't gone along with his corruption. Seems to me a certain Surrogate Judge had a similar experience and won when Vito tried to take his revenge. I think we can defeat Vito again. I don't consider Reyna my ideal candidate (she is one of the Bloomberg 29, for example), but I certainly won't support Vito's corruption candidate against her.

35th City Council District: Letitia James wholeheartedly. An amazing woman!

36th City Council District: Saquan Jones (partly based on Rock Hackshaw's endorsement of him)

38th City Council District: David Galarza wholeheartedly. I know him and he is a good guy. Smart, honest, progressive and reform minded.

39th City Council District: Josh Skaller. My favorite candidate this year. I know Josh well. Very smart, very honest, very progressive and reform minded. And he has been running one of the best grassroots campaigns I have seen. He is ahead in fundraising while refusing to take any corporate or developer money. THAT is an amazing accomplishment already.

40th City Council District: Rock Hackshaw. He is a fellow blogger and his knowledge of Brooklyn politics is amazing. I differ with this guy on some issues. He is too conservative to my mind. But I know him and his honesty and integrity are unquestioned. Since he is running against a guy who lies about being a doctor and is as strange and squirrely as you can get, Rock would be a very welcome change.

45th City Council District: Two candidates I like. First Terry Hinds. I have three people giving very good recommendations for this guy. But I also think Rod Daley is good and represents a chance to get another educator on the city council.


QUEENS:

19th City Council District: Steve Behar. I have met Steve at several Democracy for NYC events. Great guy who has worked tirelessly for progressives in NYC and throughout the state.

24th City Council District: Jim Gennaro. Excellent environmental advocate pushing for more biodiesel in NYC to reduce pollution, and a strong advocate for preserving the safety of our drinking water.

25th City Council District: Daniel Dromm. One of my favorite candidates this year. A teacher and gay rights advocate with excellent credentials.

26th City Council District: Two good candidates. I like Brent O'Leary. An active Dean Democrat! While spending time in Japan he helped organize Democrats Abroad Japan and in 2004 was elected to the Democratic National Committee. Strong advocate of Dean's 50 state strategy. This is the kind of guy I want to see more of in politics! I also like Jimmy Van Bramer, former Deputy Field Director for Clean Money, Clean Elections. Seems like two excellent candidates.

29th City Council District: Again, two good candidates from what I can tell. I also like Mel Gagarin. I like his experience with the National Foundation for Women Legislators and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Seems like a very interesting candidate worth supporting, but I don't know his record in detail. Lynn Schulman is also running and seems to be raising money very effectively. She has participated in disaster planning and had was one of New York City’s key spokespersons during the 1993 World Trade Center bombings.

31st City Council District: Marquez Claxton. Another one of my favorites. Very much in the Eric Adams mold, he combines police force experience with as strong civil rights focus. I have been following his run and like much of what he says.


BRONX:

12th City Council District: Jerome Rice. Former National Guardsman and corrections officer who is also a strong voice for Civil Rights. I like these people who bridge law enforcement and civil rights. It is a refreshing trend!


MANHATTAN:

1st City Council District: Top choice (IF HE RUNS!) is the progressive guy who almost won it before: Rocky Chin. His most recent efforts were with Asian Americans for Obama '08. If he doesn't run, my fall back candidate is Margaret Chin.

3rd City Council District: Top choice would be civil rights activist Yetta Kurland. Second choice would be Maria Passannante Derr.