Paul Newell

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who hasn’t faced a Democratic opponent in 22 years, was out campaigning this Sunday, a spokesman for his campaign confirmed.

“Assembly member Silver spent some time on Sunday with a longtime resident of Village View who introduced him to some of her neighbors to hear their concerns and talk about his record fighting to preserve affordable housing in Lower Manhattan,” said Silver campaign spokesman Jonathan Rosen in an e-mail.

Silver’s campaign previously said he would not campaign until the legislative session ended and "once we know who all the candidates will be.”

That second part is usually code for the July 10 deadline for petitions and whatever additional time it takes to challenge the validity of those petitions in court. It looks like Silver isn't waiting.

This year, he's facing two Democratic opponents: Luke “Skywalker” Henry and Paul “Obamawitz” Newell.

 

One of Sheldon Silver’s Democratic opponents is asking him to release his tax returns, and, in making the case for him to do so, is quoting one of Silver's allies: Marty Connor.

In this Downtown Express article, Connor, who has been Silver's legislative partner and election lawyer for years, said he would release his own taxes for the last five years and says, “Why not do it?"  read more »

David Paterson spoke with Barack Obama around 2 p.m., he told reporters in Midtown during the New York State Democratic Party’s meeting.

“He asked me how the first two and a half months were going," Paterson said. "And I told him it might have even been more difficult than your campaign.”  read more »

It should, theoretically, be the least of concerns for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's primary challengers to petition successfully for a place on the ballot. (Only 500 signatures are required in the district.) But they're not taking any chances.

This morning, one of Silver’s opponents, Luke Henry, announced that he’s retained Alan Zimmerman, a petition specialist. In announcing Zimmerman's hire, Henry's campaign said, "No campaign for which Zimmerman has directed the petitioning operation has ever failed to get onto the ballot. This is no small accomplishment in New York, where candidates are often 'bumped' from the ballot for failing to comply with meaningless technicalities."  read more »

Luke Henry, one of Sheldon Silver's Democratic opponents, announced this morning that he's opening 400-square-foot campaign office on Madison Street in the middle of the lower Manhattan Assembly district.

Silver's other Democratic opponent, Paul Newell, opened a campaign office in Chinatown earlier.  read more »

In this clip from the DFNYC-Young Manhattan Democrats debate last Sunday, both Paul Newell and Luke Henry are asked if they would step aside to improve the other's chances against the incumbent they hope to unseat: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Both say no.

Henry, an attorney, also says he's the more viable candidate because he has more lawyers and money. Community organizer Newell says that “there is no question” that “the winds of change are blowing” in the district.

Of course, the argument between Silver's challengers about viability is purely relative. And perhaps one of them might feel more compelled to step aside if either had a a discernable route to victory. Consensus, needless to say, is that the don't.

As consultant Joe Mercurio told me, “I can’t even envision a way to beat Sheldon Silver."  read more »

The second part of yesterday’s DFNYC debate was for the Assembly race in Sheldon Silver's district, where the speaker faces two challengers: attorney Luke Henry and community organizer Paul Newell.
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One benefit to running against a longtime incumbent, as one of Sheldon Silver’s Democratic primary opponents shows, is that you can raise money in eye-catching amounts, like $32 (for the number of years Silver has been in office), or $354 (which is the number of millions NYC lost when they shot down congestion pricing).

Also, notably, I'd be willing to bet that the Assembly speaker has spent comparatively little time at Piano's, the Lower East Side music venue where, according to this flier, Paul Newell is holding his May 22 event.

Democracy for New York City, the progressive group related to Howard Dean's Democracy for America, is holding a forum on Sunday, May 18 for the candidates in two upcoming elections: the one for Sheldon Silver's Assembly seat, and the challenge to State Senator Marty Connor.
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David Brock's group Progressive Media has scaled back its planned $40 million effort because the Obama campaign disapproves of 527s. [The Fix]

Obama said George W. Bush's comments about appeasement were a false attack. [AP]

Kirsten Gillibrand had a boy. [Capitol Confidential]  read more »

The executive director of the Working Families Party, Dan Cantor, showed support for Sheldon Silver in an interview with OpenLeft published today, calling attacks from the left on the incumbent Democrat “intellectually shallow and politically naive.”  read more »

Sheldon Silver is giving money to the Stonewall Democratic Club for the first time. In the past, the 32-year-incumbent and Orthodox Jew has not conspicuously supported the causes embraced by many gay activists in his district--or at least he didn't before bringing gay marriage legislation to a vote in the Assembly last June.

Silver paid $500 for a ticket to the May 15 annual fund-raiser for Stonewall, which is based in his district and considered one of the major Democratic clubs for the gay community. He is also expected to attend.

According to a search of campaign finance records, Silver has never given a contribution to the group before. Nor has he given to Lambda Independent Democrats.

The May 15 fund-raiser is the first major event the group has hosted since the Assembly passed the same-sex marriage bill last year. It's also in the run-up to the September primaries, which Silver is taking more seriously than usual as he faces two spirited challengers.  read more »

Here is something I just noticed.

Minutes after Kevin Sheekey went on NY1 and blasted Sheldon Silver for not having the "courage" to vote on the mayor’s congestion pricing plan, Sheekey officially made a new Facebook friend: Paul Newell, one of two Democrats seeking to oust Sheldon Silver in the September primary.  read more »

With all the talk about Sheldon Silver's efforts during the congestion pricing fight to keep his members happy, it's easy to overlook the fact that he's been quietly tending to his other constituents—the ones who will, barring a shock upset, vote to return him to his seat on the Lower East Side later this year.

A reader passed along this ad for Silver, which appeared in this week’s issue of Downtown Express.

A spokesman for Silver’s campaign said it was paid for by the campaign and ads like this have appeared throughout the past decade. (His campaign finances show he has run ads as early as February in any given year.)

Silver is facing two Democratic primary challengers this year, and may have inspired a billionaire mayor (and his top political aide) to look at the race anew.

Here's spokesman Jonathan Rosen's e-mailed explanation:  read more »

One of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's challengers in the Democratic primary this year, Luke Henry, released his tax information this morning and called on the 32-year incumbent to disclose more about his outside sources of income.

The other challenger in the race, Paul Newell, a community organizer, released his tax information last month.  read more »

Thanks in large part to Sheldon Silver, congestion pricing is dead. Now, Silver's Democratic primary opponent, Paul Newell, wants to make sure the Assembly speaker gets credit.

“This is a perfect example of how the broken system in Albany fails New Yorkers, and lower Manhattanites [are] included in that category,” Newell said.

“What is the point of being represented by the speaker of the State Assembly if he can’t even go to bat for us when it counts?”

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From Downtown Express:

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver told Downtown Express Wednesday he is likely to support congestion pricing, but the Albany power broker also said passage is still in doubt.  read more »

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Last month, a market-research firm called my Lower East Side apartment to gauge my support for Paul Newell.

I admitted that I had never heard Newell’s name before, and the caller quickly explained that Newell will challenge my state assemblyman–Speaker Sheldon Silver–in the Democratic primary in September.  read more »

Assemblyman Sheldon Silver is being challenged to disclose more information about his outside sources of income, something the Democratic Speaker has  read more »

A sports-minded reader predicts a rebuttal to the Michael Benjamins and Paul Newells of the world, who are already writing Hillary Clinton's political obiturary.  read more »

A Democratic Assembly candidate in Manhattan is calling on Hillary Clinton to drop out of the presidential race.

“Be polite. Thank her for her efforts,” writes Paul Newell, who is running to unseat Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan. "But ask her to gracefully bow out and return to representing the good people of New York in the Senate.”

Newell’s email to "New York Obama supporters," and his letter to Clinton are after the jump.  read more »