.Clinton, Spitzer Favored to Rout New York Primary Opponents
Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton and gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer are each favored to rout primary opponents today and head into a general election in which New York Democrats may capture all major statewide offices for the first time since 1941.
The Democrats' most competitive race is for attorney general, in which former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo led former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green by 19 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll yesterday. Clinton held better than a 9-to-1 lead against anti-war candidate John Tasini. Spitzer, the current attorney general, had better than a 6-to-1 advantage over Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.
The Democratic frontrunners also enjoy sizeable leads in polls against Republican opponents. President George W. Bush's 29 percent approval rating in the state enhances the possibility of a Nov. 7 Democratic sweep, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Polling Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York.
``With no Republican big names, and popular candidates like Spitzer and Clinton at the top of Democratic ticket in an off- year election, you start to see a picture that doesn't look good for Republicans in New York,'' Miringoff said.
Democrats haven't held all major elective statewide offices in New York since 1941, when Franklin Roosevelt was U.S. president. The lone Republican now in state office, Governor George Pataki, isn't seeking a fourth term. In 1998, Republican Alfonse D'Amato lost his Senate seat to Democrat Charles Schumer and Spitzer defeated Republican Attorney General Dennis Vacco.
Pirro's Chance
Miringoff said the only Republican with a chance at this stage is Jeanine Pirro, 55, a former Westchester County district attorney running for attorney general.
Her candidacy would be stronger had she not tried first to run for Senate, said Douglas Muzzio, a professor of urban politics at Manhattan's Baruch College. Pirro dropped that bid after early missteps.
The Republican candidate will face questions about her husband, Albert Pirro, an attorney and Republican fundraiser who spent 11 months in jail for evading taxes on forms that also carried the candidate's signature, Muzzio said.
Pirro said in an interview last week that she and her husband now file separate tax returns and that she wants to be judged on her deeds, not her husband's.
Green, 61, and Cuomo, 48, each are seeking to rebound from political failures. Cuomo dropped out of a Democratic primary for governor in 2002, and Green blew a double-digit lead in the polls to lose the 2001 New York City mayoral election to Republican Michael Bloomberg. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
On Offensive
Green's lagging in the polls led him to go on the offensive, attacking Cuomo's record as housing secretary, Muzzio said. Green has also spent much of the $1.46 million he reported for the last 11 days of the race on television ads touting endorsements from the New York Times and Daily News.
``Clearly Green has been throwing a lot of punches of late and landing some, but it remains to be seen how influential the Times endorsement is,'' Muzzio said. ``It's Cuomo's election to lose rather than Green's to win, given Cuomo's lead in the polls, his money and endorsements, including the party organization.''
Cuomo has promised to use the office to fight Medicaid fraud, pursue racial justice and work to eliminate the influence of money on politics in Albany.
The third Democrat in the race is former Clinton White House aide Sean Maloney, 40.
Spitzer Leads
Spitzer, 47, who built his reputation on investigations of Wall Street and his campaign on Democratic organization support, has maintained a wide lead over Suozzi throughout their race. An Aug. 23 Quinnipiac poll showed Spitzer ahead of the Republican candidate, former state Assemblyman John Faso, 65 percent to 17 percent.
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, 66, who had no Democratic opponent, will face Republican Chris Callaghan, a little-known former treasurer of Saratoga County.
A Republican Senate primary pits former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, 59, against former Reagan administration Defense Department aide Kathleen McFarland, 55. Spencer already has the Conservative Party endorsement to oppose Clinton.
The Spencer-McFarland contest put the personal lives of both under scrutiny. McFarland attacked Spencer for fathering a child with his Yonkers chief of staff while married to another woman. McFarland feuded with relatives over her allegations of abuse during her childhood. She suspended her campaign after her teenaged daughter was arrested for shoplifting.
Not a Lamont
Clinton, 58, led each of the Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in a Quinnipiac Aug. 23 poll. She also had more than $22 million on hand for her races as of Aug. 23, while Spencer reported collecting $3.9 million with about $830,000 available, and McFarland raised $1.16 million with about $175,000 left.
Though antiwar Democrats have attacked Clinton as insufficiently critical of the war in Iraq, Tasini, with $213,000, had neither the money nor support for the kind of challenge that businessman Ned Lamont mounted successfully in neighboring Connecticut against Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman.
A strong Clinton showing in November may boost her standing as a potential presidential candidate in 2008.
Bloomberg
I think people are wrong, I think Spitzer is more likely to be the next big candidate for President. I think Hillary should be careful and keep her powder dry.
The Democrats' most competitive race is for attorney general, in which former U.S. Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo led former New York City Public Advocate Mark Green by 19 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll yesterday. Clinton held better than a 9-to-1 lead against anti-war candidate John Tasini. Spitzer, the current attorney general, had better than a 6-to-1 advantage over Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi.
The Democratic frontrunners also enjoy sizeable leads in polls against Republican opponents. President George W. Bush's 29 percent approval rating in the state enhances the possibility of a Nov. 7 Democratic sweep, said Lee Miringoff, director of the Marist College Polling Institute in Poughkeepsie, New York.
``With no Republican big names, and popular candidates like Spitzer and Clinton at the top of Democratic ticket in an off- year election, you start to see a picture that doesn't look good for Republicans in New York,'' Miringoff said.
Democrats haven't held all major elective statewide offices in New York since 1941, when Franklin Roosevelt was U.S. president. The lone Republican now in state office, Governor George Pataki, isn't seeking a fourth term. In 1998, Republican Alfonse D'Amato lost his Senate seat to Democrat Charles Schumer and Spitzer defeated Republican Attorney General Dennis Vacco.
Pirro's Chance
Miringoff said the only Republican with a chance at this stage is Jeanine Pirro, 55, a former Westchester County district attorney running for attorney general.
Her candidacy would be stronger had she not tried first to run for Senate, said Douglas Muzzio, a professor of urban politics at Manhattan's Baruch College. Pirro dropped that bid after early missteps.
The Republican candidate will face questions about her husband, Albert Pirro, an attorney and Republican fundraiser who spent 11 months in jail for evading taxes on forms that also carried the candidate's signature, Muzzio said.
Pirro said in an interview last week that she and her husband now file separate tax returns and that she wants to be judged on her deeds, not her husband's.
Green, 61, and Cuomo, 48, each are seeking to rebound from political failures. Cuomo dropped out of a Democratic primary for governor in 2002, and Green blew a double-digit lead in the polls to lose the 2001 New York City mayoral election to Republican Michael Bloomberg. The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
On Offensive
Green's lagging in the polls led him to go on the offensive, attacking Cuomo's record as housing secretary, Muzzio said. Green has also spent much of the $1.46 million he reported for the last 11 days of the race on television ads touting endorsements from the New York Times and Daily News.
``Clearly Green has been throwing a lot of punches of late and landing some, but it remains to be seen how influential the Times endorsement is,'' Muzzio said. ``It's Cuomo's election to lose rather than Green's to win, given Cuomo's lead in the polls, his money and endorsements, including the party organization.''
Cuomo has promised to use the office to fight Medicaid fraud, pursue racial justice and work to eliminate the influence of money on politics in Albany.
The third Democrat in the race is former Clinton White House aide Sean Maloney, 40.
Spitzer Leads
Spitzer, 47, who built his reputation on investigations of Wall Street and his campaign on Democratic organization support, has maintained a wide lead over Suozzi throughout their race. An Aug. 23 Quinnipiac poll showed Spitzer ahead of the Republican candidate, former state Assemblyman John Faso, 65 percent to 17 percent.
State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, 66, who had no Democratic opponent, will face Republican Chris Callaghan, a little-known former treasurer of Saratoga County.
A Republican Senate primary pits former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer, 59, against former Reagan administration Defense Department aide Kathleen McFarland, 55. Spencer already has the Conservative Party endorsement to oppose Clinton.
The Spencer-McFarland contest put the personal lives of both under scrutiny. McFarland attacked Spencer for fathering a child with his Yonkers chief of staff while married to another woman. McFarland feuded with relatives over her allegations of abuse during her childhood. She suspended her campaign after her teenaged daughter was arrested for shoplifting.
Not a Lamont
Clinton, 58, led each of the Republicans by more than 2-to-1 in a Quinnipiac Aug. 23 poll. She also had more than $22 million on hand for her races as of Aug. 23, while Spencer reported collecting $3.9 million with about $830,000 available, and McFarland raised $1.16 million with about $175,000 left.
Though antiwar Democrats have attacked Clinton as insufficiently critical of the war in Iraq, Tasini, with $213,000, had neither the money nor support for the kind of challenge that businessman Ned Lamont mounted successfully in neighboring Connecticut against Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman.
A strong Clinton showing in November may boost her standing as a potential presidential candidate in 2008.
Bloomberg
I think people are wrong, I think Spitzer is more likely to be the next big candidate for President. I think Hillary should be careful and keep her powder dry.
posted by madtom at 1:06 AM
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