NY-Sen: Meet Jon Cooper: Still Pondering Run Against Gillibrand

Jon Cooper said it was an eye-opening moment for him. He was watching the press conference announcing Governor David Paterson’s selection of Kirsten Gillibrand to serve as New York’s junior U.S. senator. His spouse Rob inquired out loud if that was former Senator Alfonse D’Amato standing on the platform with her.

Last week, I spoke with Cooper about his possible candidacy, his career and why he is interested in running for a seat that was once held by Hillary Clinton, Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Robert F. Kennedy.

At first, Cooper dismissed the notion that a former Republican U.S. senator from New York – the same man Senator Chuck Schumer beat in 1998 – would be at a ceremony for Republicans. But, much to his dismay, there D’Amato stood mere feet away from Gillibrand as she was introduced as New York’s newest senator.

Cooper makes it clear that he has ideas. He isn’t just going to run an anti-Gillibrand campaign, but he can’t help but point out her record. He mentions her past ties to Big Tobacco, the 100 percent rating she received from the National Rifle Association and her evolution on numerous issues that could be perceived as politically convenient.

“Her past position (on gun control) was of concern,” he said. “There are some people are distrustful of her evolution on this and other issues and are concerned about what they see as flip-flopping and see this as insincere or they question her character. I’m not saying I do. But there are those who do.”

For Cooper, however, it is different. He is not yet a declared candidate but he is touting his own record and why, if he were to run, he should be considered a serious contender to Gillibrand.

“I have, many times over the years, took stances that might not have been politically popular with my constituents but I believed it was the right thing to do,” he said.

As an openly gay and happily married man, Cooper is the father of five children he and his spouse Rob have adopted. He has served 10 years on the Suffolk County Legislature and currently is the majority leader for the legislature’s Democrats. He lists two key pieces of legislation as highlights of his career. He wrote the first law banning the use of hand-held cell phones while driving in the country. Since then, a number of states (including New York) have adopted such laws. In addition to that, Cooper also authored legislation that banned the sale of ephedra. That effort led to the federal government imposing a ban on the dietary supplement.

Jobs and the economy is an area that Cooper knows all too well. Cooper is running the family business, Spectronics Corporation, in Westbury. He said that while he is on the corporate side of things, he also is very much pro-labor and supports workers.

In the 2008 presidential primaries, Cooper backed an underdog named Barack Obama. Cooper was the first elected official from New York to endorse Obama and went on to be the Long Island chair of the Obama campaign. He said that, at the time, people asked him if he realized the political risk he was taking. Cooper said he had supported Hillary Clinton in the past but once he met Obama, he was sold. It was through the Obama campaign that Cooper met many grassroots organizers, some of whom are now aiding him in his exploratory efforts and organizing meet and greets throughout the state for people to meet him. Cooper was in upstate New York this weekend meeting voters in Buffalo and Rochester and will be back in upstate New York again, especially if he decides to run.

Cooper knows that he has a long way to go. He realizes that Gillibrand has millions in her bankroll. He realizes that she has received nearly every county chair’s endorsement to date. But one thing he references to is that Obama was counted out too. No one thought Hillary Clinton could be beaten. But with the greatest grassroots campaign ever, Obama pulled it out in the primary and won the general election.

A vast majority of Obama organizers and activists that Cooper worked with in 2008 are urging him to run and are supporting him. Democratic clubs have urged him to run. Progressives are supporting him. And while he says he isn’t comparing himself to Obama, the comparisons are glaring.

“The party establishment, for the most part, quite understandably is falling in line behind our Democratic incumbent senator regardless of how she got to that office,” he said. “But she’s the incumbent Democrat now and I expect most of the political establishment to back her. But a lot of the grassroots leaders that had been early supporters of Obama seem to be lining up behind me or at the very least, urging me to run so that we will have a choice, which is what this is all about: Offering Democrats in New York State a choice.”

While Cooper doesn’t have a full slate of issues on his platform yet (understandable at this stage), his platform stresses the importance of economic development, pushes for progressive values and support of the environment and the fight for health care, consumer protection, gun safety and middle class tax cuts.

So when will we know whether or not Cooper is running? He says by the end of the year he will have a decision. He is testing the waters right now to see just how much support he has and what the response is statewide. I spoke with him over the weekend and he seemed to be very pleased and excited by the response in Buffalo and Rochester. So we’ll see just how far he is willing to go and if he is going to make an upset bid for the U.S. Senate.

29 thoughts on “NY-Sen: Meet Jon Cooper: Still Pondering Run Against Gillibrand”

  1. Your friend Cooper needs to run for something lower level than U.S. Senate if he’s interested in higher office.  He’s not going to be any threat to Gillibrand, especially since Gillibrand has performed well and has tacked left as a Senator.  She’s on our side, and that’s that.

  2. …but at this point, Gillibrand’s all but locked up the nomination. Her ACORN vote probably actually helps in getting through a Primary. Plus, keep in mind – Carolyn Maloney wanted to attack Gillibrand from the LEFT; the latter has moved dramatically out of the center over the past few months. In theory, it would now make more sense for a centrist Dem to challenge her.

  3. Sorry, but I trust Gillibrand as far as I can throw her (which isn’t very far!).  Since she was appointed to the Senate by Paterson, she’s flip-flopped on gun control, immigration reform and same-sex marriage. She worked for nearly 10 years as a lawyer representing Big Tobacco, which I think is inexcusable.

    BTW, Gillibrand has also done nothing to help the lousy economy upstate or in WNY.

    I want to vote for a real progressive candidate who hasn’t come to the game late.  Cooper’s got a great legislative record as a proud liberal — just check out his website to see what he’s accomplished over the past 10 years. Plus he has a strong business background with 30 years spent running a successful manufacturing company — with a union shop.  

    I want to hear what Cooper has to say and I definitely think NY Democrats deserve a choice. Gillibrand shouldn’t be rammed down our throats by a governor with a 20% approval rating.

  4. “While Cooper doesn’t have a full slate of issues on his platform yet (understandable at this stage), …”

    No, it’s NOT understandable.

    Cooper has been playing at this “So You Want to be a Senator” game since at least the beginning of April.    The fact that after all this time, he still has not put up a platform speaks poorly for his energy and political skills.

    It suggests that since Cooper still has not managed to decide what his issues are,  that perhaps he hasn’t got any.   I agree with the poster who suggested that he first run for a more senior political job than the entry-level one he now holds.

    As long as you’re scraping the barrel, why don’t you write a diary on Scott Noren?  Noren is the dentist from Ithaca who also thinks the United States Senate might be a nice career move for himself.

  5. I disagree with you, Jean. Cooper has already laid out a pretty detailed platform:

    http://www.cooperfornewyork.co

    He’s also been speaking extensively about his business background and his ability to grow jobs at his manufacturing company – in a tough part of the state to do so. Did you know that his company has never laid off an employee in the 30+ years that Cooper has been running it?  

    I like the fact that Cooper walks the walk. He’s clearly progressive, but also knows how to get things done.  Look at his record of legislative accomplishments over the past decade.

    Anyway, this is about giving voters in NY a choice.  That’s what primaries are all about, right?

  6. I disagree with the earlier poster, who asserted that Gillibrand shouldn’t have to be “primaried.” The fact is Gillibrand is an appointee, put in her position by another appointee. It’s odd to see Democrats running from the idea of choice, but that was also something that rose its ugly head during the presidential primary (remember how the “unelectable” Obama was supposed to get out of the way for Hillary?) Honestly, I have to wonder about an incumbent who is so nervous about actually having to participate in a primary that she would prefer that it all just go away.

    Cooper brings a lot to the table; he combines a commonsense business savvy with a passionate determination to serve his constituents. He’s already taken on both the cell phone companies and the makers of a harmful drug, and accomplished what the naysayers said couldn’t be done. Seems like this guy just doesn’t back down from a good fight.

    So Democrats should get ready! It’s my belief that we’re going to see a rousing, rip-roaring debate on the issues,  with more than enough time and money going into the general election to kick the Republicans’ butt…

  7. i can’t actually find one in this.  and if there ever was a debate, i think that question would come up.

    it’s an interesting historical point that NY, one of the most liberal states, has almost never had one of the most liberal senators.  gillibrand, clinton, schumer, moynihan, damato, javits were all frustrating to nyc liberals for being too moderate, business-friendly or conservative.  i’m not sure why this is the pattern.  probably money has to do with it, and the sense that a senator from NY is a senator from the US, not just the state.

  8. She flees to the left/right/center whenever it best serves her. She ran as a conservative Upstate, she’s tacked herself pretty far to the left in her statewide primary bid, and after she earns a victory next year, she’ll swing back to the center.

    Now, of course, that’s still better than what Peter King or George Pataki bring to the table.

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