In Queens, Rory Lancman tells us that he has hired longtime consultant Hank Sheinkopf as a strategist for his race to replace the retiring Gary Ackerman.

Mr. Lancman had been working with the Parkside Group, but according to Parkside head Evan Stavisky, they stepped away when the district got redrawn in such a way that the Assemblyman was no longer in a race against Republican Bob Turner but found himself in a competitive three-way Democratic primary.

"Because all of the candidates are our friends, and several have been our clients, we declined to represent anyone in NY6 primary," Mr. Stavisky said.

One of Mr. Lancman's opponents, Elizabeth Crowley, has signed on Berlin Rosen; another, Grace Meng, has been closely working for a longtime with Michael Tobman and has recently signed on Red Horse Strategies.

Further north, Sean Patrick Maloney has hired Knickerbocker SKD to run his campaign in a Democratic primary for the seat now held by Republican Nan Hayworth.  Jennifer Cunningham, one of the partners at Knickerbocker, has extensive ties to labor--she was a former staffer for 1199--which should be a boon to Mr. Maloney. Ms Cunningham previously worked on Eric Schneiderman's attorney general race.