Bob Turner (Photo: Facebook)

Political candidates generally impound ballots in elections where there is suspected voter fraud, Congressman Bob Turner's campaign says they want the ballots in today's three-way Republican Senate primary impounded just to be on the safe side of things. Mr. Turner's campaign sent out a statement this evening announcing they have ordered the ballots impounded "to ensure the integrity of every vote in what may be shaping up as the lowest turnout in New York primary history."

"The Turner campaign is committed to ensuring the integrity of every vote and impounding the ballots is the best way to achieve that for the good of all the campaigns," campaign spokeswoman Jessica Proud said. "In the meantime, we are urging as many Republicans as possible to get to the polls before 9 p.m. to support the candidate of their choice."

Ms. Proud noted "reports statewide of extremely low voter turnout" due to this year's unusually early primary date. The Turner campaign's statement mentioned no potential issues of voter fraud and did not make it clear why a low number of votes would necessitate impounding ballots. Ms. Proud did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this story.

"There has never before been a June federal primary in New York, and many voters are away with their school age children who were just let out for summer vacation," the statement said.

Having the ballots impounded leaves an opening for the primary candidates to potentially challenge the initial results. Mr. Turner is running against attorney Wendy Long and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos for the chance to run against Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on the Republican ticket in November. Recent polls all showed Mr. Turner ahead of his rivals.

The three candidates last night.

The three candidates seeking the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand debated last night and several interesting moments came up when discussing the same sex marriage New York enacted last year.

Notably, when one of the candidates, Wendy Long, faced a question as to whether she would, on principle, refuse to attend a same-sex wedding, she answered with a firm "yes."

The line of questioning appeared to move on before George Maragos could answer the question, but for his part, Bob Turner said, "I would not refuse, no."

Ms. Long's position places her further to the right of many Republicans in New York City, several of whom attended Council Speaker Christine Quinn's marriage to her longtime partner, Kim Catullo, last month.

Ms. Long, however, placed some space between her candidacy and the gay marriage issue, which she has made controversial comments on in the past.

"I can't do anything to overturn the state law," she said when asked if her campaign could be linked to efforts to overturn New York's marriage law. "My position is that marriage should be between a man and a woman. ... [But] as a federal legislator there's nothing in practical terms that I can do about it. And from a Constitutional standpoint I do respect the right of states to decide these issues for themselves."

Ms. Long is backed by the state's Conservative Party, which heavily emphasizes opposition to gay marriage, and Mr. Maragos took a shot at her over what he felt was the inconsistency between her rhetoric and the Conservatives.

"According to the Conservative Party you cannot be a true conservative if you do not advocate a repeal of the New York State law," he declared.

"I assure you that I have their full support, in fact I was nominated unanimously to be their nominee," Ms. Long shot back.

"When your opponents are fighting it's better to sit back and watch," Mr. Turner mused on the back-and-forth between his rivals. “This ship has sailed in New York. I want to keep the focus on jobs and the economy."

"Let's get on to the other issues," he added.

Now, with New York’s federal elections only a few weeks away, we take a look at each of the competitive elections on June 26, take a guess at which way the paper will go and deduce what kind of an effect it will have.

Disagree? Make it known in the comments.

U.S. Senate Republican Primary—Bob Turner vs. Wendy Long vs. George Maragos

It is no by means a certainty that The Times will endorse in the GOP Senate primary, and if they do, expect it to be a hold-you-nose-and-vote-for-the-guy-who-is-marginally-better-than-the-rest kind of endorsement. Expect something along the lines of the paper’s endorsement of Mitt Romney in the presidential primary in April, in which they mocked Mr. Romney for abandoning his moderating tendencies and slammed GOP extremism before declaring the Massachusetts governor “the best choice of the field.” For this little noticed Senate race for the right to go up against Kirsten Gillibrand, the paper is likely to go with Bob Turner, a Queens businessman-turned-congressman, who is far less strident in his social views than Wendy Long and more dynamic than George Maragos. Mr. Turner is running very much as the candidate of New York City, and hometown pride may count for something here.

How Much Will It Matter?

On its face, probably not all that much, since to most of the GOP primary electorate the paper remains a liberal rag that frequently skirts the edge of treason, but with turnout expected to be low, there remain Republicans in wealthy parts of New York City suburbs who aren’t paying much attention to the race, and will only decide who to vote for at the last moment, so a nod from the paper of record could prove decisive.

NY08—Hakeem Jeffries vs. Charles Barron

Possibly the easiest choice for the board this election cycle. Hakeem Jeffries is everything The Times says they want in a candidate: he has a record on Rockefeller reform, prison reform, stop-and-frisk reform, redistricting reform. education reform. Did we mention he went to Georgetown and practiced law for Paul, Weiss? Charles Barron, meanwhile, a former Black Panther with a history of throwing rhetorical bombs, would have been wise to not show up for his endorsement interview.

How Much Will It Matter?

In the more affluent parts of the district, Times penetration is strong, but those votes were going to likely go to Mr. Jeffries anyway. If anything, look for Mr. Barron to use the paper’s endorsement of Mr. Jeffries as further proof that he is the insurgent running against the establishment.

NY07—Nydia Velazquez vs. Erik Dilan

Nydia Velazquez is by no means a perfect pol from The Times standpoint—too slavishly devoted to organized labor and a little wobbly on Israel, but far far better than Erik Dilan, who is closely allied with Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez—a no-no from the paper’s standpoint. Plus, Ms. Velazquez has made fighting poverty a priority, as has The Times, while Mr. Dilan has been right of center in the City Council and has been less than transparent about his campaign finance filings.

How Much Will It Matter?

As these things go, it could matter quite a bit. The newly redesigned NY07 skips through some affluent neighborhoods in brownstone Brooklyn and on the east side of Manhattan where Times readership is pretty high.

NY13: Charlie Rangel vs. Adriano Espaillat vs. Clyde Williams vs. Joyce Johnson

At last, a real choice for the board. In 2010, they endorsed Joyce Johnson, a Seagram’s exec with limited political experience, but they couldn’t then endorse Charlie Rangel, whose use of rent-stabilized apartments for campaign purposes—a story that the Times uncovered—led to the longtime pol’s censure in the House. But Ms. Johnson is by no means a lock this time around, since Mr. Rangel is facing far more credible opponents. Clyde Williams, a former aide in both the Clinton and Obama White Houses, represents a new face of African-American leadership and has run a substantive campaign. Adriano Espaillat is vying to become the first Dominican in Congress, and the paper likes for minority groups to be represented by their own. And don’t discount the possibility that the board decides that the threat of losing an institution like Mr. Rangel is too grave. Mr. Espaillat’s campaign hasn’t been as policy heavy as the paper would like, but expect ethnic considerations to win out over Mr. Williams by a nose, with Mr. Rangel remaining a dark horse contender.

How Much Will It Matter?

The newly reconfigured NY13 lost the Upper West Side—which probably has the highest concentration of Times readers on the planet—and so won’t count for all that much in a new district that covers Harlem and parts of the South Bronx.

NY6: Grace Meng vs. Rory Lancman vs. Elizabeth Crowley

This is a hard one to figure, and oddly, probably depends a lot on what the Times decides to do with the Rangel race. Like Mr. Espaillat, Ms. Meng is a pathbreaking candidate, vying to be the first Asian-American from New York to serve in Congress. And the newly reconfigured district is a majority Asian. Still Rory Lancman has run a specific, policy oriented campaign, and the hard-charging Asssemblyman fits the profile of the kind of pol that The Times likes. And Ms. Meng’s ties to the Queens County Democratic Party—who have fended off accusations of throwing surrogate candidates onto the ballot to weaken Mr. Lancman—will hurt her.  If the paper goes with Mr. Espaillat in a majority Hispanic district, it likely frees the board to go with Mr. Lancman here. If not, Ms. Meng has a better shot. Elizabeth Crowley has struggled on the stump, and isn’t likely to merit serious consideration.

How Much Will It Matter?
Quite a bit in some of the more affluent neighborhoods of Queens  around Forest Hills. Mr. Lancman is counting on those voters coming home to him, so it could be devastating if the paper goes with Ms. Meng.

(Photo: Wikimedia)

Attorney Wendy Long, campaigning for the Republican nomination to take on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, blasted City Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott for backing a switch up of the songs at a kindergarten graduation, and in doing so, slipped in an attack on one of her rivals, Rep. Bob Turner. Mr. Turner helped create the Jerry Springer Show and Ms. Long blasted the replacement of "God Bless the USA" for Justin Bieber's "Baby Love" as "replacing civic education with Jerry Springer-like popular culture."

"It seems that the New York City Schools Chancellor approves of replacing civic education with Jerry Springer-like popular culture," Ms. Long declared in the statement. "This is a big problem in a country whose survival depends upon the success of self-government, of citizens who love this country and understand and defend it."

"There was an opportunity for Chancellor Walcott to correct this unfortunate attempt to smother the patriotism of young students and their families," she continued. "But the Chancellor chose to endorse the actions of the teacher, who thinks that a patriotic popular song is not 'age-appropriate,' yet she thinks it is appropriate for five year-olds to sing a Justin Bieber song about teenage love."

Mr. Turner's name  was not mentioned in the statement, nor was that of the third candidate in the race, Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos. However, the release did contain links to YouTube videos for both Mr. Bieber's song and "God Bless The USA" by Lee Greenwood, which you can view and judge the appropriateness of below:

Steve Forbes (Photo: Wikimedia)

This morning, Wendy Long continued to roll out endorsements in her campaign for the Republican nomination to take on Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. First it was Grover Norquist, and now she added Steve Forbes to the list.

"Wendy would also support a stable dollar that doesn't swing wildly against gold," Mr. Forbes said in a somewhat wonky statement. "The last decade of dollar gyrations contributed to the bubbles of recent years and to our continued economic weakness. Wendy will push for a return to sound money and exchange rate stability."

"I urge all Republicans in New York to vote for Wendy in the June 26 primary," he added.

While neither Mr. Forbes nor Mr. Norquist is especially influential in the New York electorate, they both represent a certain nationalization of her endorsements as of late while she competes against Rep. Bob Turner and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos in the Republican primary.

Mr. Turner's most notable recent endorsement was former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

(Photo: Wikimedia)

A new Siena Research Institute poll of voters in New York State shows that, while still high, Governor Andrew Cuomo's favorability ratings are at their lowest since he took office in 2011. The poll also showed President Barack Obama up 20 points over Mitt Romney in the Empire State, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand way ahead of her three potential opponents, displeasure with Occupy Wall Street and the Tea Party, strong support for raising the minimum wage and high favorability ratings for the Legislature. 

According to the poll, Governor Cuomo is viewed favorably by 68 percent and unfavorably by 24 percent. His favorable rating was down five percent, tying his lowest rating ever on the poll, but still quite high.

“While 68 percent ties for the lowest favorable rating Cuomo has had since becoming governor, he continues to be viewed favorably by nearly three-quarters of Democrats and more than two-thirds of Republicans. He is viewed favorably by 73 percent of downstate voters and 61 percent of upstaters,” Siena's Steven Greenberg said. “And despite a small drop in his favorability rating this month, less than one-quarter of voters view Cuomo unfavorably.”

President Barack Obama also saw his favorable rating drop slightly with 60 percent of New York voters viewing him favorably compared to 58 percent in last months Siena poll. However, his unfavorability dropped to 38 percent from 39 and he still maintains a 20 point lead over the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. The poll shows Mr. Romney is viewed unfavorably by 57 percent of New Yorkers with just 33 percent having a favorable impression of him.

Senator Gillibrand beat her three rivals in the poll by more than a two-to-one margin. In a hypothetical matchup against Congressman Bob Turner, Ms. Gillibrand received 59 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Mr. Turner. George Maragos also polled at 25 percent against Ms. Gillibrand, though in a race against him she scored a slightly higher 60 percent. Attorney Wendy Long fared ever-so-slightly better with 26 percent compared to 60 for Ms. Gillibrand.

According to the poll, both the Tea Party and Occupy Wall Street are viewed unfavorably by the majority of New Yorkers. The Tea Party's numbers rose a bit this month with 30 percent of voters viewing the movement favorably compared to 28 percent in November and 58 percent viewing it unfavorably compared to 60 percent in November. Occupy Wall Street favorable rating dropped from 45 percent in November to 38 percent. The unfavorable rating for Occupy Wall Street climbed from 44 percent in November to 52 percent.

The poll also showed over three-quarters of New Yorkers support raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $8.50. Both houses of the State Legislature got their highest favorable ratings since Siena began polling on the Assembly and State Senate. The poll showed 42 percent of voters view the Assembly favorably and 46 percent have a favorable view of the State Senate. In spite of this, according to the poll, voters oppose giving State legislators a pay raise by a nearly three-to-one margin.

The comments brought a swift condemnation from George Maragos, Mr. Turner's opponent--along with lawyer Wendy Long--in the GOP primary for the right to take on U.S. Sen Kirsten Gillibrand.

'"Bob Turner's stunt today calling for Obama to 'call off the dogs' has done a grave disservice to Westchester residents by injecting potentially racially divisive language into a sensitive local issue," Mr. Maragos said.  "I support Westchester in its fight with HUD, however, I fear that Mr. Turner's ill-advised statement will set back any resolution to the issue, incite racial strife and may negatively impact Westchester residents. By inflaming the housing issue with crude and potentially racially insensitive language, Mr. Turner will give Obama reason to dig in his heals and reject any compromise with Westchester and consequently harm all Westchester residents."

Clearly, Mr. Maragos sees his path to the nomination as going through Mr. Turner. This marks the second time he has attacked the congressman, and both times were for the conduct of Mr. Turner's campaign. Back in March, Mr. Maragos accused Mr. Turner of behaving like Barack Obama for holding a campaign announcement at a gas station. Mr. Maragos has been in the race the longest and is the only candidate airing commercials, but he has lagged in polls.

Mr. Maragos also tried to hang Mr. Turner's brief tenure in Congress against him.

Bob Turner must also answer why as a member of Congress he has not previously spoken up in support of Westchester on this issue?  Obama-style political stunts during a campaign for publicity are a disservice to Westchester residents and all New Yorkers. It also exemplifies all that is wrong with Washington and politicians. They prefer to make accusatory and inflammatory statements in public rather than to find solutions through compromise.

Bob, please put an end to the political stunts! They are harming the residents of Westchester and the Republican Party. Let’s keep the campaign focused on creating jobs, achieving energy independence and improving education for our children.

UPDATE:

And the Turner campaign has answered in kind, calling Mr. Maragos' attacks "bizarre" and "ignorant" and warning him that the Obama administration will come for Long Island next.

Says Turner spox Jessica Proud:

George Maragos is either so ignorant that he doesn't understand the massive federal government overreach that is occurring in Westchester or he is defending the Obama Administration's attempts to trample over individual and property rights. If he read the newspapers, he'd realize the significance of the issue Congressman Turner raised today. Obama's HUD called this housing suit a "grand experiment" and if he can steamroll Westchester, he'll be coming for Nassau and Suffolk Counties next. Which is it, George?"

From the awesome file: Bill Clinton reviews Robert Caro’s latest bio of LBJ.

Nick Confessore goes long on the Obama administration’s efforts to woo Wall Street.

Mitt Romney’s budget plan would wallop New Yorkers by ending the state income tax deduction.

Transit advocates cheered Andrew Cuomo’s decision to waive a fee for the MTA’s bond issuance.

CKatz has an early look at George Maragos’ first TV spot.

Unlike Bob Turner, Wendy Long called for no compromise on taxes.

Pedro Espada said that Andrew Cuomo has been given “carte blanche”

The minority caucus wants Cuomo to get involved in the TWU negotiations.

City Hall said that John Liu legally can not reject their Taxis of Tomorrow contract.

While anti-fracking protesters descended on the Capitol, pro-frackers met behind-the-scenes with lawmakers and members of Gov. Cuomo’s staff.

Rudy S. Giuliani, cousin of Hizzoner, will not run for State Senate.

The city reined in part of its school breakfast program over obesity fears.

People lose babies and engagement rings on the High Line.

Dave Weigel wants Buzzfeed  in the Romney press pool, and includes a picture of a cat.

Rick Santorum’s eldest daughter explains how the campaign almost pulled off the impossible.

Mitt Romney is waging war on class warfare.

A pro-Romney SuperPAC is on the air in 9 battleground states.

Rick Perry says that God will forgive his “ooops”

Obama is expected to bring in $2 million at two DC fundraisers today.

Is it really true that Democrats have followed Republicans and moved to the right.

Alec Baldwin thinks Mitt Romney is out-of-touch.

Viewed historically, Obama remains more popular than he should be considering the economy.

No SNL for Romney.

Americans Elect, which is apparently Salt Lake City mayor’s Rocky Anderson’s best chance to become president (and my excuse for using the above headline) is running into trouble.

George Maragos

In honor of Tax Day tomorrow, Republican Senate candidate George Maragos sent out a lengthy press release accusing New York's current senator, Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, and President Barack Obama of trying "to deflect public attention from their failed economic policies by cultivating a climate of class warfare among economic, ethnic, and gender groups." Mr. Maragos specifically criticized the "Buffet Rule." Presumably, Mr. Maragos was actually referring to the "Buffett Rule," the plan to ensure higher tax rates on people making over $1 million proposed by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, rather than a proposed regulation on buffet-style dining.

Mr. Maragos cited the recent scandals involving the Secret Service's trip to Colombia and the General Services Administration's Las Vegas conference as "symptoms of gross waste and mismanagement pervasive in the Obama Administration" that Ms. Gillibrand and the president are attempting to cover for by calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.

"Gillibrand and Obama must be held accountable for their failed stewardship of the economy--destroying American jobs, increasing the national debt, and pushing food and gas prices ever higher," Mr. Maragos said. "Adding insult to injury, they both constantly fight to raise taxes on the American people in order to continue their wasteful spending and hide their mismanagement."

Mr. Maragos, who is comptroller of Nassau County said the "Buffet Rule" is one example of Ms. Gillibrand and President Obama's tax coverup.

"The 'Buffet Rule' is not a serious attempt at tax reform but a stunt to perpetuate class warfare," Mr. Maragos said. "There is no meaningful economic benefit to this rule. The rule is projected to raise less than $5 billion in revenue annually and would not put a dent in the nearly $1.3 trillion budget deficit."

The Senate is set to hold a procedural vote on the "Buffett Rule" this week. President Obama has given the bill strong support. We're not sure what's the current status of the "Buffet Rule."