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New York City comptroller candidate and Assembly Member David Weprin wants to get his fellow candidates to pledge they won’t use the office as a steppingstone to run for mayor – the way the position has been used for decades.
But not everyone is happy with Weprin’s ploy, given his track record of running for the next higher office himself.
In the office’s recent history, virtually all New York City comptrollers have tried to use the seat as a springboard to Gracie Mansion. Only former comptroller Abraham Beame was successful in becoming mayor. City Comptroller Scott Stringer is a leading contender in the Democratic mayoral primary. His predecessor, state Sen. John Liu, ran for mayor unsuccessfully in 2013. Liu’s predecessor, former Comptroller Bill Thompson, lost by 4 percentage points to Michael Bloomberg in 2009. Thompson’s predecessor, former Comptroller Alan Hevesi, also unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2001.
arrow Assemblymember Ron Kim speaks Wednesday at a press conference inside City Hall Park calling for a full investigation into Governor Cuomo s handling of nursing homes during COVID. Elizabeth Kim / Gothamist
For all of its political fervor, New York City is still a place where it is possible for state lawmakers to toil in relative obscurity for years. Such was the case with Ron Kim, a five-term Democratic Assemblymember from Queens whose clash with Governor Andrew Cuomo over the state s underreporting of nursing home deaths has catapulted him into national view.
Reports of what Kim described as a threatening phone call from the governor have given way to a broader (and long-simmering) discussion of Cuomo s aggressive political tactics, as well as brought added urgency to the effort to strip him of the emergency powers he has held during the pandemic. By all accounts, Cuomo, a three-term Democrat whose popularity had soared last year during his streak of daily cor
still sporadically shooting. i told the girls in the office to dive under the desk. bill: that s what they did. the police say the man was heavily armed, carrying three handguns, a rifle an extra am mission. one person injured expected to be okay. martha: could have been a lot worse. let s get back to these election news, very big news. a pivotal section of queens, new york home to more than of 50,000 people woke up today with a republican congressman for the first time since the roaring 20s. bob turner, who initially was thought to be, you know, very, very long shot in this case ended up defeating the democrat mark weprin in a special election to fill congressman weiner s empty seat. they say it s a preview of what is to come in next year s presidential election.
let s talk with hugh sessions, chairman of the national republican congressional committee, the committee that works to elect republican congressman. this would be a red letter day for you, sir. big day, two races, two victories, the nrcc is very happy and our republican colleagues in the house welcome two new members of congress. martha: this is a shocking change for this district in new york. as we said they have steadfasted lee elected democrats since the 1920s. it has a very large orthodox jewish population. mr. weprin is of that faith for them to not elect him in this district that its heavily democratic, i don t think we can under estimate what a change in this election is. are they fed up with anthony weiner and everything that happened. how good is your argument that there is a larger ramification and an indication for the