9/15/2016
New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
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State Sen. Gustavo Rivera speaks to reporters during a news conference at NYPD
headquarters. | AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
By BILL MAHONEY | 09/15/16 05:25 AM EDT
ALBANY — While it’s likely more money from independent expenditure
groups was spent on Tuesday’s races than on any primary in state
history, there’s not much evidence it produced any victories.
http://www.politico.com/states/new­york/albany/story/2016/09/new­independent­spending­efforts­fall­short­in­primary­105479
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9/15/2016
New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
In the three months preceding the 2014 primaries, super PACs spent $1.2
million on state races. Since mid-June of this year, they’ve spent $3.1
million, with one — the pro-education tax credit group New Yorkers
for Independent Action — accounting for $2.1 million.
As of Aug. 29, the last date for which fully detailed campaign finance
information is available, 89 percent of the group’s money had gone to
benefit four challengers: Senate candidate Fernando Cabrera and
Assembly candidates Giovanni Mata, Kate Cucco and Darlene Mealy.
Each lost in a landslide.
Cabrera, a member of the New York City Council, ran against Sen.
Gustavo Rivera in 2014 and received 41 percent of the vote. New Yorkers
for Independent Action spent around $500,000 on Cabrera's behalf this
time around, but he received just 37 percent of the vote.
The other three candidates backed by New Yorkers for Independent
Action fared even worse.
Cucco received 36 percent of the vote against Assemblywoman Pamela
Harris; Mata got 27 percent in his challenge to Assemblyman Phil
Ramos; and Mealy received 25 percent of the vote against
Assemblywoman Latrice Walker.
To be fair, defeating an incumbent is extremely difficult in New York,
even with massive amounts of money. Excluding members facing
criminal charges and Republicans who supported gay marriage, only
three incumbent senators have lost in the past six primaries.
Bob Bellafiore, a spokesman for New Yorkers for Independent Action,
said the group accomplished something even in defeat.
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9/15/2016
New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
“There are two ways to measure impact,” he said. “One is: Do you win?
The other is: Do you force the other guy to work? And in 35 years of
covering politics and being around politics, I have never known a
legislative candidate who actually said ‘I would love to have a primary.’
So that in itself sends a message that you’re not going to get a free ride
and you’re going to have to work for your victory, even if you end up
winning two or three to one.”
Several incumbents backed by the committee did win.
So did Democrat Marisol Alcantara, the sole beneficiary (at least as of
late August) of the Independent Democratic Conference’s new party
committee. Her victory in a state Senate primary and pledge to join the
conference was a big win for the IDC’s spending operation; its past
iterations have dedicated resources to candidates who were either
unsuccessful or declined to join its ranks.
Bellafiore said it’s also a win for New Yorkers for Independent Action,
since one of its major supporters, Connecticut investor Thomas
McInerney, gave $100,000 to the IDC four days before the election, thus
helping to fund Alcantara’s campaign.
New York State United Teachers, the tax credit’s principal opponent in
Albany, wasn't as fortunate in the race. Its preferred candidate, former
City Councilman Robert Jackson, finished third.
NYSUT’s super PAC has spent $434,994 over the past three months.
While most of its candidates were successful, it mostly focused on
incumbents with high reelection rates who were opposed by New
Yorkers for Independent Action (the only exceptions were Jackson and
Western New York Assembly candidate Monica Wallace, who won).
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9/15/2016
New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
The union wasn’t responsible for any major upheavals like in 2014,
when it spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the primary to create
a scenario in which three Republicans were on the November ballot in a
Buffalo Senate seat, enabling the Democrat to win with just 32 percent of
the vote.
The Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee’s new willingness to
back candidates in primaries appears to have had little impact.
When Speaker Carl Heastie decided to help defend his colleagues a year
ago, the New York Post said “it’s going to be almost impossible to
unseat a Democratic legislator in the state Assembly.” It turns out as
many Assembly Democrats — three — were unseated Tuesday as in the
past three primary elections combined.
None of these, however, signaled weaknesses in either the conference or
Heastie’s leadership.
Guillermo Linares lost in a result that appears to have been mostly
driven by issues of northern Manhattan politics. Alice Cancel was
defeated after five months in office, but the fact that she was an
incumbent at all was mostly the result of the last fumes of Heastie
predecessor Sheldon Silver’s machine. And in the night’s biggest
surprise, Margaret Markey was defeated, but her loss was driven at
least partially by local issues and her support of specific legislation.
“I actually thought we had a very successful night last night,” Heastie
lieutenant Joe Morelle said. “Each of the ones we were involved in were
successful. We’re happy, and it demonstrated we as a political
organization can be helpful to members.”
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New independent spending efforts fell short in primary
The Senate Republican Campaign Committee, meanwhile, was three
for three Tuesday, as each of the candidates it backed won their races.
--additional reporting by Jimmy Vielkind
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