Luke Henry

Hillary Clinton just sent out this email in which she says of her "friend" Sheldon Silver that "New York is lucky to have Shelly Silver fighting for us in Albany."

Paul Newell, if nothing else, continues to attract the heavy artillery.

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 some non-Minnesota news: Sheldon Silver has been out-paced in fund-raising by one of his Democratic primary challengers, Paul Newell, a community activist.

In the pre-primary filing report (which candidates are required to file 11 days before the primary), Newell raised $40,015. In that same time period, Silver raised $19,575.44. Attorney Luke Henry raised only $510.

But that’s just a snapshot of what’s going on in the race. Here’s the bigger picture: overall, Silver has on hand $2,941,159.64, Newell has $37,729.78 and Henry has $9,086.34.

Also worth noting: Newell is buying ads on FaceBook, and Google.

The good government group Citizens Union declined to endorse Sheldon Silver or either of the candidates challenging him in the Democratic primary this fall.

In explaining the decision, C.U. wrote, “[Silver] needed to embrace and advance a broader agenda of reform issues that included a nonpartisan redistricting commission, greater transparency in, and public scrutiny of, the decisions that are made by the Assembly, and strengthening state legislative ethics rules in the areas of financial disclosure and conflicts of interest.”

Oddly, C.U.’s reason for not endorsing Paul Newell was electability.

“One of his challengers was a compelling candidate, Paul Newell, who had a good grasp of the issues, but had not been able to demonstrate that he had broad community support for his election,” the release says.  read more »

Sheldon Silver will get another chance to remember Paul Newell when the challenger arrives in Denver.

Newell, a community organizer, is also an elected Obama delegate, but has been missing from the convention events so far. I called to inquire and he replied via text message (so fancy!), saying he’ll be here tomorrow.

Silver is also facing challenger Luke Henry, an attorney, in the Democratic primary next month.

What to make of Michael Bloomberg diving head first into a series of contested Democratic primaries today?

Barbara Barteletti of the League of Women Conservation Voters sounded disappointed that the billionaire mayor was endorsing, and not funding, his preferred candidates.

“That sheds a little different light on it,” she said, noting, “Under New York State campaign finance laws, he can throw as much money at them as he wants.” (So can Republican billionaire Tom Golisano and his P.A.C.)

But, she said, “The fact that he’s only endorsing them--that he’s using his political goodwill as mayor in those areas of New York City, means a great deal.  read more »

Democracy for New York City's Fourth Annual "Summer Cocktail Reception" was all about Barack Obama.

Held at the downtown bar M1-5, the event's theme was "Unity '08," a reference, apparently, to bringing Democrats together (and not to the group that wanted Michael Bloomberg to run for president).

As the guests trickled in, DFNYC finance director Lewis Cohen decorated the bar with "Obama '08" signs.

"I have no doubt we will endorse," he told me.

"I think people are looking at the total candidate," said City Councilman Tony Avella, also a long-shot mayoral candidate. "He [Obama] stands for change, and we need change in the city.  read more »

Here's one of Sheldon Silver’s Democratic opponents, Luke Henry, speaking before an endorsement meeting of the Stonewall Democratic Club last week.

In this clip, Henry challenges Silver’s commitment to same-sex marriage because, even as Silver helped it pass in the Assembly, he did little to try to flip the Republican-controlled State Senate, where the issue died.

“If there was a true, true commitment to these issues, we would have seen all his weight and force applied to the State Senate, which has been the obstacle. So that $3 million war chest should have been applied to the State Senate -- to making sure the State Senate was Democratic a long time ago.”

Stonewall voted to endorse Silver for re-election.

The Stonewall Democratic Club, one of the city's largest gay political clubs, held an endorsement meeting last night.

According to a club member, here is who the club is endorsing in a few key races:

-Challenger Kevin Powell over incumbent Representative Ed Towns

-Incumbent State Senator Marty Connor over insurgent Dan Squadron

-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver over his two challengers, Paul Newell and Luke Henry

-Incumbent State Senator Kevin Parker over challengers Kendall Stewart and Simcha Felder

-Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidate Nora Anderson

For those that want to get on the ballot this September in New York City, July 15 10 is the deadline to submit the signatures required, or, in the case of most candidates, including Sheldon Silver, more.

Silver's spokesman Jonathan Rosen e-mails, "More than 100 volunteers from across Lower Manhattan collected nearly 8,000 signatures to keep Shelly Silver as their voice in Albany." He also said that the Silver campaign has no plans to challenge anyone else's petitions.

The exact number of signatures required varies per district, but most Assembly candidates need only about 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Silver has two challengers also trying to get on the ballot.

Also at last night’s fund-raiser for Kevin Powell was one of Sheldon Silver’s opponents, Paul Newell.

It seemed like Newell, and fellow challenger Luke Henry, might get a boost when billionaire Tom Golisano announced he would launch a $5 million PAC to help shake up the legislative races and change Albany’s leadership-driven style of politics. But when Golisano made the announcement, he said he didn’t even know who was challenging Silver.

It might be somewhat mutual.

Last night, I asked Newell if he had gotten in touch with Golisano, as a campaign aide told reporters they would.

“I don’t know anything about it,” Newell said.

 

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.

 

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.
 read more »

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.
 read more »

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 »

In this campaign video, one of Sheldon Silver’s opponents, Luke Henry, hits the street to push his fund-raising philosophy.
 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 »