Brian Kavanagh

Paul Newell, dressed in a beige suit, his pockets stuffed with palm cards, was standing on the steps of St. Mary's Church on Grand Street Sunday afternoon, stopping any parishioner he could get in front of to tell them that he'd been endorsed by every daily newspaper in New York City.

Two blocks away, Newell's opponent, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, had a fleet of seven vans, which volunteers were driving all over the district to distribute literature that touted endorsements from two local papers: The Villager and Downtown Express. (Both are owned by Community Media, L.L.C.)

In the three blocks between Newell and Silver's campaign headquarters, I ran into three three Assembly members (Rory Lancman, Cathy Nolan and Audrey Pheffer) and four volunteers, all handing out literature for Silver.  read more »

Here’s the fund-raising email Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh of Manhattan sent to supporters this morning, in which he says he welcomes even $5 donations:

"In fact, I'm committed to relying more on smaller contributions and have unilaterally accepted the lower contribution limit that applies to federal campaigns, even though the limit under state law is 65 percent higher," Kavanagh wrote.

The people in charge of the fund-raiser is The Esler Group, which is also involved with mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, Lt. Governor (and Senate hopeful) David Paterson, as well as number of other candidates.

Full email is after the jump.  read more »

Here are more numbers from some of the races that are still being counted at the city's Board of Elections. These numbers do not include paper ballots, which are still being counted.

In Manhattan's 74th Assembly District on the Lower East Side

5,075: Brian Kavanagh 4,687: Sylvia Friedman 993: Esther Yang 792: Juan Pagan

A Kavanagh aide offers different numbers, which include 357 paper ballots that were counted:

5213 (43.8%) Kavanagh 4856 (40.8%) Friedman 1022 (8.6%) Yang 807 (6.8%) Pagan

And in Manhattan's Civil Court District 2., Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's preferred candidate, David Cohen, is still trailing...

5,192: Margaret Chan 5,038: David Cohen 2,304: Andrea Masley

-- Azi Paybarah

Feeling pretty good this morning, if a little tired, are the folks at Knickerbocker SKD, who have two of yesterday's primary winners as their clients: Yvette Clarke in Broolyn's 11th congressional district, and Brian Kavanagh in Manhattan's 74th Assembly district.

In an attempt to revive the IMterview tradition, I reached out to one of the consultants there, Micah Lasher.

azipaybarah: how do you feel this morning?

micahlasher: Tired, satisfied, relieved.

azipaybarah: you guys helped kavanagh and yvette

azipaybarah: what's your secret?

micahlasher: secret is picking winners

azipaybarah: what's common among them?

micahlasher: kidding aside, i think when you work for folks who you want to win, first, that usually says something about their intrinsic qualities as a candidate -- which translates into votes, and second, when you really want them to win, really want it in your bones, it's a lot easier you really bust your ass and fight for it

micahlasher: and that's how we felt about both yvette and brian

micahlasher: i was putting up posters for brian kavanagh at 4:30am yesterday....that's a lot easier to do when it's something you really want to see happen

azipaybarah: do pros like you have to be true believers?

micahlasher: not always

micahlasher: but it helps  read more »

More IMterview after the jump.

-- Azi Paybarah

Out in Brooklyn, Tracy Boyland's campaign has Al Sharpton making robo calls into the 18th Senatorial District on her behalf, in opposition to incumbent Velmanette Montgomery.

Turnout was sparse at 8:30am at PS 9 in 11th district turf, where at least one of the voting machines was already reported broken. The campaigns of Bill Batson, Hakeem Jeffries and Carl Andrews were out there with campaign lit, while David Yassky's supporters donning "Yes for Yassky" t-shirts just a few blocks away at the nearby subway station. South of Flatbush Avenue, Yassky and Owens seem to be the most visible campaigns in Park Slope today.

Geoffrey Owens, best known as the Cosby Show's Elvin Tibideaux and the real life brother of Chris, has recorded a radio endorsement spot for his brother that begins, "Hi, this is Geoffrey Owens of the Cosby Show" urging voters to choose for Chris for Congress.

Hakeem Jeffries will watch election results beginning at 8:30pm at the JRG Fashion Cafe on Flatbush Avenue at 5th Avenue.

In Manhattan, the campaigns of Mark Green, Sylvia Friedman and Brian Kavanagh are peppering Renwick Gardens on East 29th Street with literature, and again, a campaigner reports a sparse turnout. Friedman will have her election night party at Shades of Green on Irving Place.

Rosie Mendez was spotted near PS 34 in Manhattan, tearing down Brian Kavanagh posters in the 74th Assembly district. Kavanagh is running against her ally, Assemblywoman Sylvia Friedman.

Got any more tips? Send them in!

—Nicole Brydson

Chuck Schumer says he is still not endorsing Eliot Spitzer for governor.

Councilman Alan Gerson is not backing fellow Manhattan lawmaker, Assemblywoman Sylvia Friedman. He is endorsing her challenger, Brian Kavanagh.

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin apologizes today, saying:

"What I will never do again is refer to the site as 'a hole in the ground."

Book lovers may want an apology, now that a study of the Atlantic Yards project says it will negatively impact the Pacific Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

ABC will show on Sept. 10 and 11 a "docu-drama" that blames Bill Clinton for the terrorist attacks.

Joe Mercurio has advice about how campaigns should use the telephone:

If voters are called infrequently, purposely and targeted there will be more favorables, and your turnout will be higher.

And Bill Batson figures out how to run ads in the most expensive media market for only $40.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Our John Koblin couldn't keep himself off the streets Manhattan's 74th Assembly District in the Lower East Side, where freshman Assemblywoman Sylvia Friedman lost the New York Times endorsement to challenger Brian Kavanagh.

He is riding the Reform Albany message to the hilt. The message worked on 43rd Street, but what are people saying around East 12th Street? Koblin conducted some random interviews and has this dispatch:

I come home at night and I see all these rats and shit in the garbage cans here.  read more »

-- Christian Sordelete, 18, student at School of Visual Arts, interviewed outside his apt on 12th and A -- Azi Paybarah

Manhattan Assembly candidate Brian Kavanagh's week keeps getting better.

Yesterday, he was endorsed by the Times, primarily because of his reform message.

Tomorrow, according to a source, he'll get the nod from Citizens Union, the city's oldest good government group.

-- Azi Paybarah

Ben predicted a while back that the primary for Sylvia Friedman's Assembly seat could be one of the hardest-fought races of the year.

That's because of Brian Kavanagh, the who finished second in a crowded City Council race last year, and who is now challenging Friedman. He'll be formidable, with a considerable warchest and the Knickerbocker SKD consulting firm working on his campaign.

But Kavanagh's candidacy apparently had something of a hiccup recently when he showed up late for an endorsement interview with a Working Families Party steering committee, blamed a staffer for the mix-up and then told the stunned room of labor-lefties that the worker in question was no longer with the campaign.

The committee of about 15 promptly endorsed Friedman. Kavanagh got no votes.

"He should have taken the blame himself," said WFP member Michael Hirsch, who related the story. "I guess he didn't know his audience."

Micah Lasher, responding for Kavanagh, took issue with the account and said, "Brian's proud to have the support of many progressive labor unions and looks forward to winning the primary of Democratic voters in Sept. 12."

Brian Kavanagh, the second-place finisher in a crowded East Side City Council race last year, didn't contest the special election to the State Assembly by Sylvia Friedman yesterday in an essentially uncontested race.

But a recent call to Knickerbocker SKD, Kavanagh's consultants (who also worked for Mike, Scott Stringer, and new West Side assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal) found that their voicemail now has an option for "Kavanagh for Assembly."

This could produce one of the year's harder-fought primaries. Among other factors, Friedman didn't have to raise much money for her insider-driven Assembly win; Kavanagh broke $100,000 for his Council race, and a source says he's already brought in $60,000 for this fall.