NY-SD7: New York Times Endorses Johnson for Open Senate Seat

Craig Johnson (D-WFP) has the momentum in the Feb 6 special election for an open New York State Senate seat in the Seventh Senate District in northwestern Nassau County.  Adding to his momentum, the New York Times has just endorsed Craig for State Senate:

The New York Times
Sunday, January 28, 2007
A State Senate Endorsement

The sudden vacancy in the 7th State Senate District has caused both parties to leap in with guns blazing.  When the Republican incumbent, Michael Balboni, quit to join the Spitzer administration as chief of homeland security, the race to succeed him became instantly negative and hugely expensive.

That’s because so much is at stake beyond just control of a single seat in northwest Nassau County – control of the Senate, for instance, where the Republican majority has been nearing the vanishing point, as well as the reform agenda of Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who broke with a tradition of gubernatorial nonaggression in such races to appear in an ad hailing the Democratic candidate, Craig Johnson, as an ally in the crusade to fix Albany.

Mr. Johnson, who was elected to the Nassau Legislature in 2000 after the death of the incumbent – his mother, Barbara – is challenging Maureen O’Connell, who became the Nassau County clerk a little over a year ago and now wants to return to Albany, where she served as an assemblywoman since 1998.  With very little time to campaign – the special election in Feb 6 – both sides are running at a frantic pace.

Their ads are studies in negativity, with Mr. Johnson’s campaign accusing Ms. O’Connell of being as anti-choice extremist on reproductive issues, and Ms. O’Connell running a preposterous spot showing a woman tied to railroad tracks about to mowed down by a train.  The train represents taxes, taxes, taxes, specifically the 19-percent increase that County Executive Thomas Suozzi pushed through the Legislature in his first term as part of his utterly sensible – and successful – effort to rescue Nassau’s finances from decades of Republican misrule.

Of the charges being burled back and forth over the airwaves, we find Mr. Johnson’s the more persuasive. Ms. O’Connell does have a troubling record on choice, having taken stands in Albany – like voting against as emergency contraception bill when it was in committee – that infringed on women’s reproductive rights.

Ms. O’Connell’s claims that Mr. Johnson’s taxing madman are, by contrast, unfounded.  The Suozzi tax plan he voted for was a prudent and responsible response to a fiscal mess. He has also assembled a credible record on other issues, including open space preservation.

The race is, though, about something larger – which is the reason the eyes of the whole state are on it.  Governor Spitzer will need the cooperation of the Republican-dominated State Senate if he is going to make progress on the ambitious reform agenda that he has laid out.  Mr. Johnson has vowed to be his ally in the coming battles, while Ms. O’Connell is likely to give reinforcement to the Albany status quo.

For voters who have hopes that Mr. Spitzer will succeed in fixing Albany, as we do, Mr. Johnson is the obvious choice.  We enthusiastically endorse him.

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The WFP is running the door-to-door and election day GOTV operation for the Johnson campaign.  Make a donation to help pay for the GOTV program.

Here’s the press release:

MOMENTUM BUILDS: NY TIMES ENDORSES CRAIG JOHNSON
Newspaper Challenges O’Connell’s Credibility on Taxes and Choice

Momentum is building for independent Democrat Craig Johnson’s campaign for State Senate as The New York Times endorsed Johnson over his right-wing Republican opponent, Maureen O’Connell.  An editorial in Sunday’s Timessays:

“Governor Spitzer will need the cooperation of the Republican-dominated State Senate if he is going to make progress on the ambitious reform agenda he has laid out. Mr. Johnson has vowed to be his ally in the coming battles, while Ms. O’Connell is likely to give reinforcement to the Albany status quo.

“For voters who have hopes that Mr. Spitzer will succeed in fixing Albany, as we do, Mr. Johnson is the obvious choice.  We enthusiastically endorse him.”

The Times editorial also debunks O’Connell’s campaign claims:

  • Ms. O’Connell negative spot on Craig Johnson’s record on taxes is called “preposterous”
  • “Ms. O’Connell claims that Mr. Johnson is a taxing madman are, bycontrast, unfounded”
  • Ms. O’Connell, who has tried to deny an anti-choice voting record in the legislature has a record on reproductive health services that the Times calls “troubling”

The 7th Senate District encompasses the entire town of North Hempstead.  It also includes the communities of Elmont, Floral Park, South Floral Park, Stewart Manor, Bellerose, Franklin Square, and part of Hicksville.  Craig Johnson, a member of the Nassau County Legislature, is currently running for the open Senate seat as the Democratic and Working Families Parties candidate.

Johnson has also been endorsed by Governor Eliot Spitzer, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer, U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Lt. Governor David A. Paterson, Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi, State Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli, People for the American Way, SEIU Local 32BJ, Communication Workers of America District 1, Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Union of Food and Commercial Workers, Local 1500.

10 days until Election Day!

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NY-SD7: Johnson Picks Up Steam

The Craig Johnson for State Senate campaign has gotten a slew of new endorsements in the last few days.  Adding to the efforts of groups like CWA are the Nassau County Police Benevolent Association, which has over 2,000 members and is the largest law enforcement union on Long Island, and SEIU Local 32BJ, which has 60,000 members in New York and is the largest private sector union in New York and the largest property service workers union in the United States.

Here’s why 32BJ endorsed Craig:

“By helping to pass a minimum wage bill in Nassau County, Craig Johnson has shown himself to be a strong supporter of Long Island’s working families” said Mike Fishman, Local 32BJ President. “We look forward to working with him in Albany to raise standards for all New York’s working families.”

Last year, the Nassau County Legislature passed a living wage law that will raise minimum wages for workers contracted by the county to $9.50 an hour beginning in 2007. The minimum hourly pay rate will increase to $10.50 an hour in 2008, and again in 2010 to $12.50 an hour.

A new TV ad and a way to help after the break.

NY Ed-PAC coupled their endorsement with a new commercial and a $250,000 ad buy.

Have I convinced you to come out on Saturday and knock on doors yet?  You can join other volunteers on Saturday at either the New Hyde Park LIRR Station at 10:45 AM or, if you’re coming from New York City, at Penn Station under the LIRR Schedule Board at 9:45 AM.

13 days until Election Day!

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NY-SD7: WFP Knocks on 23,427 Doors for Craig Johnson

The Working Families Party field operation is hitting the doors every day to elect Craig Johnson to the State Senate. In 12 days we’ve already knocked on 23,427 doors for Craig Johnson, including a one-night high of 2,501 doors this weekend.

You can join in too. This weekend kicked off with State Sen. Liz Krueger meeting volunteers at the Mineola LIRR Train Station and sending them out canvassing for Craig Johnson. Sign up now and find out about more volunteer opportunities.

If it’s to cold or wet for you to canvass outside then you can still help.  A massive field operation like this is an expensive undertaking.  Make a donation to support the field operation.

Pictures after the jump.

15 days until Election Day!

Here are some pictures of the people working hard out there from a recent briefing.  I’ve been tagging these on flickr as NY-SD7, so if you’ve got pictures please add them to the stream.  Careful watchers will be able to pick out Aaron Hecht, the Johnson campaign Field Director, who came in to talk to the canvass before they went out into the field.

JohnsonStateSenate_canvass_10 JohnsonStateSenate_canvass_11
JohnsonStateSenate_canvass_8 JohnsonStateSenate_canvass_9

15 days until Election Day!

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NY-SD7: Joe Mondello Can’t Count

Joe Mondello, Chair of the New York state GOP and of the Nassau County GOP, has a lot riding on the Feb 6 special election for an open New York State Senate seat in the Seventh Senate District.  It’s the first election under his watch as chair of the state GOP, it’s happening in his backyard, and it’s a test of how the state GOP will respond to their drubbing in the 2006 Governor’s race.

So maybe that’s why Joe chose to be a little, shall we say, extravagant with the truth.  From a New York Times article on the race:

The campaign is off to a quick start. “We had 500 people going door to door last weekend, and we hope to have 700 this weekend,” Mr. Mondello said. Democrats say they have an equally ambitious field operation. Their county chairman, Jay S. Jacobs, said that with an expected 10 to 15 percent voter turnout, “the ground game is the decider.”

Yeah right.

Details after the jump.

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Now it is right that the ground game is the decider.  And the Working Families Party is running an ambitious field operation, that’s right too.

But there’s no way the state Republicans have 100 people going door to door, much less 500 or 700.  The thing about canvassing is, if you’re out there canvassing for hours and the other side is out there canvassing for hours then each side’s canvassers are going to run into each other.  But I asked our 45 canvassers, who are knocking on thousands of doors every night, if they’ve seen a GOP door knocker.

The word from the Working Families Party canvass is that yesterday is the first day O’Connell had people on the doors, and it was only a handful of people.

And it’s not like we stick to the areas where turnout has historically been in our favor.  Our targeting is pretty advanced, so we can pick out the voters likely to go our way even in areas that don’t look promising overall.  So we’d be running into any GOP door knockers that are out there.  A couple of nights ago, we were in Maureen O’Connell’s home turf, near her house, and we didn’t see any GOP door knockers.  Not a one.

So I’m asking you. Campaign volunteers were deep in Republican turf in Mineola on Saturday, with not a single Republican walker spotted. If you were out there knocking on doors for Craig, did you see any of Joe Mondello’s imaginary friends?

16 days until Election Day!

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Craig Johnson for NY State Senate web site is live

The Craig Johnson for State Senate web site is live – check it out at http://www.craigjohnsonforsenate.com/

Craig Johnson (D-WFP) is running for an open State Senate seat in New York’s Seventh Senate District on February 6th.  The Working Families Party has launched a major field operation to elect Craig Johnson, follow the action at WFP Blog.

18 days until Election Day!

NY-SD7 Johnson Works, O’Connell Heads Home Early

I wanted to share an anecdote from the campaign trail with everyone.  In New York’s Seventh District, Craig Johnson (D-WFP) is running for an open State Senate seat in a special election set for February 6th.

Last night, while Craig Johnson was rallying supporters and the Working Families Party canvass was knocking on doors and talking to people, Craig’s Republican opponent Maureen O’Connell was sitting at home.

From Spin Cycle:

“One of Nassau Legis. Craig Johnson’s canvassers in the state Senate race ran into Johnson’s opponent, Republican County Clerk Maureen O’Connell, after the campaign worker got a little lost Monday evening.

O’Connell had just pulled into a driveway in the East Williston neighborhood when the canvasser, needing directions, approached her. As they talked, the canvasser recognized O’Connell and she realized she was talking to one of her opponent’s foot soldiers. They exchanged pleasantries and wished each other luck.”

Now, since the WFP is running the canvass, I can give you the inside story straight from the canvasser who talked to her:

“A little after 5:30, I was trying to find an address on my  turf and was looking from the sidewalk at a number on one of the houses from the  street to determine if it was on my walk list.  A woman saw me looking at her house and came out to ask if she could help me.

I recognized her as Maureen O’Connell as soon as she came out because she had an O’Connell lawn sign and I’m friends with one of her former Assembly opponents.  I decided to exchange pleasantries, and we each did some campaigning and talked about the situation in Albany.  Then she realized I was part of the WFP canvass campaigning for Craig Johnson, and we wished each other good luck and parted ways.  I kept canvassing for the rest of the night and she went back inside.”

Gonna have to work harder than that to win this race.

21 more days until Election Day!

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