How many times have you heard someone say, "Well, if the two (or three, or four) big established politicians beat each other up in the primary, Lesser Known Candidate Z could sneak through"? Certainly I've seen this kind of speculation far more often than it actually happens. Alice Kryzan's win over Jon Powers and Crazy Jack Davis in NY-26 was quite the shocker - there must be a dozen (if not 50) Tom Geoghegans for every Kryzan.
But it's obviously happened in the past, and it'll occasionally happen in the future. So I'm asking the SSP brain trust to dig deep into the memory banks and tell us about any other "sneak through" primary winners you're aware of. I'm sure there are some good stories out there, so let's hear `em.
1) Way back when, New York's Working Families Party gave its ballot line to Jon Powers for the NY-26 congressional race.
2) Powers lost the Democratic primary to Alice Kryzan, but due to election laws had to remain on the WFP line unless he died, was nominated for a judgeship, or moved out of state. He accepted employment in DC and moved there, thus theoretically freeing up his line.
3) However, the state GOP sued, and a trial court-level state judge agreed that Powers had to stay on the line.
4) Dems appealed, and New York's intermediate appellate court reversed the first judge, saying that Powers's name should be removed from the WFP line and that Kryzan's could be added.
5) Republicans then sought to take the case to NY's highest-level appellate court, the Court of Appeals, but Chief Judge Judith Kaye declined to hear the matter.
6) So in a desperate last-second move, the GOP sued in federal court, seeking a restraining order to prevent Kryzan from getting on the WFP line. The judge granted the order late last night.
Kyrzan's people say they plan on appealing this decision to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. With the election just days away, hopefully this newest decision will also be overturned. Stay tuned.
A State Supreme Court justice Thursday rejected congressional candidate Jack Davis' attempt to remain on the November ballot, ending his third attempt to win the job. [...]
Justice Richard M. Platkin of Albany disagreed with Davis' contention that his petition to form a minor party line called Save Jobs and Farms should have been accepted even though he failed to file a certificate of acceptance on time, as required by state election law.
Davis argued that the state Board of Elections should have provided him an opportunity to submit the late application anyway and that the board acted "arbitrarily and capriciously" in not allowing him to file.
The judge ruled otherwise.
"The court concludes that this case is governed by myriad authorities holding that the failure to timely file a certificate of acceptance is a fatal defect that cannot be cured or excused," Platkin wrote.
Davis left a voicemail with Democrat Alice Kryzan yesterday to congratulate her on her primary win, but would not commit to helping her campaign -- because he doesn't think that she "understands" his anti-trade message.
Also non-committal is Jon Powers, who has yet to either endorse Kryzan or confirm whether or not he'll be actively campaigning as the Working Families Party candidate. This is getting pretty lame.
I was at the Primary Night watch party for Jon Powers on Tuesday. Every TV crew from Buffalo and Rochester showed up. One of the crews was setting up a microphone and we had to get out of the way. Only a few minutes later, the same crew came back to get their mic.
Within minutes, the TV crews were gone.
In the two days since Alice Kryzan topped the polls for a primary win over Powers and Jack Davis, I've been looking for some sort of metaphor that would best describe this situation.
How about the tortoise and two hares?
I live in NY-26 and supported Jon Powers ever since I met him and interviewed him on July 8, 2007. Powers had the momentum going. He was picking up endorsement after endorsement. The first four county Democratic committees to endorse Powers were all four of the rural counties in the district: Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming. Then Niagara endorsed and Monroe followed. Erie became the last to endorse Powers, giving Powers every county Democratic committee in the district.
So how did he lose? How could he have the support from virtually everyone - local Democrats, DCCC, "grassrooters" in the district, the netroots and others - and lose?
I'm as surprised as anyone about Alice Kryzan's upset win in NY-26, but while this is an uphill fight, we definitely still have a chance here. The only way we can do this, though, is if Democrats at all levels come together to support our nominee. The DCCC immediately jumped on board, and the Working Families Party has already pledged to back Kryzan despite the ballot situation, saying that they "play to win." But Jon Powers for some reason has not:
As we are still on the ballot as the nominee for the Working Families Party, my family and team are currently deciding how best to proceed.
If Crazy Jack Davis had won the primary, Powers might have had a shadow of chance running on the WFP line. But with Kryzan on the ticket, Powers can only play spoiler. For a likeable, young guy with a bright future in politics, anything less than a full-throated endorsement would be an error.
According to the New York Times, there are only three ways a candidate can remove himself from the ballot: die, move out of state, or get nominated for a judgeship. Theoretically, that last avenue is still possible, but Powers isn't an attorney, and I wouldn't ask him to submit to something so ridiculous. (Though the corrupt schmucks who run New York's judicial "elections" would probably go along with such a scheme - after all, Supreme Jerkward Antonin Scalia ruled just this year that the "smoke-filled rooms" which rule this process "have long been an accepted manner of selecting party candidates.")
Anyhow, this obstacle is why it's crucial for Powers to come out strongly for Kryzan right away - votes on the WFP line can only hurt us now. Even the WFP itself acknowledges that. I supported Jon Powers in the primary, and I know he's already done a lot for the Democratic Party. This is the last thing I'd ask him to do this cycle. We can win this, but we've all got to do it together.
Following her victory in the Democratic Primary in New York's 26th Congressional District, Alice Kryzan has immediately been added to the DCCC's Red to Blue program for open seats. Alice Kryzan earned a spot in the competitive program by establishing significant local support and skillfully showing New York's voters that she stands for change and will represent new priorities.
"Congratulations to Alice Kryzan on her primary victory," said DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen. "Alice Kryzan is a strong leader who will fight to make college and health care more affordable, and lower gas prices. Alice Kryzan will be a formidable candidate in the general election. With 55 days left to make her case to the voters of the 26th district, the Red to Blue program will give Alice the financial and structural edge to be even more competitive."
The DCCC has also released a viability memo on this race, indicating that they still consider this one very much on the big board of opportunities. I wonder if EMILY's List will decide to make a bit of penance for its embarrassing support of Nikki Tinker against Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen earlier this summer by throwing their fundraising support to Kryzan. Might be a good idea for them.
Many have asked if Jon Powers can remove himself from the Working Families line on the November ballot. The short answer? He can't. But if he endorses and campaigns for Kryzan, his votes should be minimal.
With the ongoing meltdown in NY-13 in spectacular display, it's easy to forget that there are at least three other GOP-held House seats in New York that are on the chopping block this year. In NY-26 (the seat being vacated by ex-NRCC chair/Mark Foley enabler Tom Reynolds), however, we have a crowded primary to get through before focusing our fire on the Republican, and that primary just got more crowded.
Erie County Legislator (a position equivalent to county council or county commission in most states) Kathy Konst has announced her intention to officially announce her campaign for this seat later this week. Designating petitions to get on the ballot begin circulating this week, so she's a little late to the game, but she's committed to spending at least $100,000 of her own funds on the primary.
"I'm beyond the exploration stage of this," she said. "I'll be making the decision shortly."
There are already three candidates on the Democratic side of this primary. Jon Powers is a substitute teacher and Iraq War veteran who has already secured the endorsement of the local Democratic committees in all of NY-26's counties and enjoys netroots backing (although I noted Matt Stoller voicing some misgivings about Powers last week).
Jack Davis was the 2006 candidate, and was basically responsible for wresting defeat from the jaws of victory against the scandal-plagued Reynolds with a tepid campaign that focused almost exclusively on trade issues and those damn kids who are always on his lawn. (Davis is in the news these days for his legal quest to overturn the "millionaire's amendment," in order to bring his plan to spend $3 million of his own money to win the primary to fruition.) No word on whether he plans to seek cross-endorsement from the Crazy Old Man Party this cycle. The other candidate, Alice Kryzan, is an environmental lawyer, which sounds good until you realize that she was an environmental lawyer on the side of the polluters in the Love Canal disaster.
I don't know of anything to suggest where Konst falls in the liberal/conservative spectrum; the Buffalo News says she's "proud of her independent reputation," but, geez, everyone from Bernie Sanders to David Duke is proud of his independent reputation. Another question might be from whom she'll draw votes: she's the only elected official in the race, so she has that base of support to draw on, but the other three candidates are all also from nearby towns in the Buffalo suburbs portion of the district (she's from Lancaster, Powers and Davis are from Clarence, and Kryzan is from Amherst), even though this district encompasses a lot of rural terrain and Rochester suburbs as well. She and Kryzan might well split the "women's" vote, but I'm more worried about Powers and Konst splitting the "party establishment" and/or "sane" vote, allowing one of the other ones to slip through. Hopefully some polls soon will provide some clarity to this situation.
On the Republican side, Rothenberg is reporting that Iraq war vet David Bellavia will be dropping out of the race soon. This allows a clear path to the nomination for businessman Chris Lee.
NY-26 Democratic candidate Jon Powers had a great week in his race for Republican Rep. Tom Reynolds' House seat.
It all started with a fundraiser in Buffalo. Rep. Steve Israel from New York's 2nd District attended the fundraiser to show his strong support for Powers.
Israel touted Jon's military record, as well as his message of leadership by example. Following Israel, Powers spoke about the concerns of Western New Yorkers. Powers said that WNYers' first concern is jobs. The second concern is jobs and probably the third is jobs as well. The jobs issue is an important one for people in the 26th district.
Here in New York's 26th congressional district, we have two interesting races developing: A Democratic primary which will decide who gets the right (and/or privilege) to challenge Rep. Tom Reynolds in the 2008 elections.
Those of you who attended YearlyKos know that Iraq War Veteran Jon Powers is one Democratic candidate. I met Jon at the Orleans County Democratic Party picnic in July. I conducted an interview with him at the time for the Journal-Register. It was at that time that I extended my hand and told him that I wanted to work on his campaign.
Powers declared in June and has since traveled throughout the 26th congressional district spreading his message to people. Thanks to his hard work, he already has netted two local endorsements plus a huge national endorsement.
