The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2016/03/22/democrats-arent-getting-behind-silvers-choice-to-replace-him/
Democrats aren’t getting behind Silver’s choice to replace him
By Carl Campanile
March 22, 2016 | 2:19am
Alice Cancel
Photo: Helayne Seidman
Alice Cancel, the handpicked candidate of Sheldon’s Silver cronies to succeed him in the state Assembly, is being shunned by the Democratic establishment.
Cancel’s campaign has raised only $3,815 for the April 19 special election to the vacant seat of the disgraced former Assembly speaker, who was convicted of corruption last November.
Records show she received a $3,000 contribution from a little-known union, the United Surface Workers, and 15 separate individual donations totalling $815.
Equally startling, Cancel reported not a single campaign expense — providing further evidence that she’s running a stealth campaign, as The Post reported Monday.
By comparison, Working Families Party candidate Yuh-Line Niou has amassed $144,000 in her campaign treasury and has the backing of the United Federation of Teachers, Local 32BJ Building Workers and the Communication Workers of America, among others.
Niou spent $26,000 during the 32-day special pre-election filing period — including to pay for the services of longtime Democratic Party operative Chung Seto, a top aide to former city Comptroller John Liu, and to election lawyer Martin Connor, a former state senator who used to represent the same downtown neighborhoods that encompass the 65th Assembly District.
Yuh-Line Niou
Photo: Helayne Seidman
The Republican candidate, Lester Chang, also raised more than Cancel — $10,190 — and has $7,599 left. Chang, a long shot in the heavily Democratic district, has enlisted the help of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani was the featured speaker at a Chang fund-raiser in Chinatown on Monday night. The message was clear: Clean up the Silver stench,
“Cancel is a political hack,” Chang said. “We shouldn’t elect a candidate who was handpicked by Sheldon Silver.”
Still, consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Cancel has the edge.
“The Democrat has the advantage in a special election,” he said. “The special election favors the ruling party.”
The Democratic and Republican primaries for president will be held the same day. That means registered Democrats and Republicans turning out for the presidential primary will receive a separate ballot for the Assembly race when they enter the polls.
Democrats aren’t getting behind Silver’s choice to replace him
By Carl Campanile
March 22, 2016 | 2:19am
Alice Cancel
Photo: Helayne Seidman
Alice Cancel, the handpicked candidate of Sheldon’s Silver cronies to succeed him in the state Assembly, is being shunned by the Democratic establishment.
Cancel’s campaign has raised only $3,815 for the April 19 special election to the vacant seat of the disgraced former Assembly speaker, who was convicted of corruption last November.
Records show she received a $3,000 contribution from a little-known union, the United Surface Workers, and 15 separate individual donations totalling $815.
Equally startling, Cancel reported not a single campaign expense — providing further evidence that she’s running a stealth campaign, as The Post reported Monday.
By comparison, Working Families Party candidate Yuh-Line Niou has amassed $144,000 in her campaign treasury and has the backing of the United Federation of Teachers, Local 32BJ Building Workers and the Communication Workers of America, among others.
Niou spent $26,000 during the 32-day special pre-election filing period — including to pay for the services of longtime Democratic Party operative Chung Seto, a top aide to former city Comptroller John Liu, and to election lawyer Martin Connor, a former state senator who used to represent the same downtown neighborhoods that encompass the 65th Assembly District.
Yuh-Line Niou
Photo: Helayne Seidman
The Republican candidate, Lester Chang, also raised more than Cancel — $10,190 — and has $7,599 left. Chang, a long shot in the heavily Democratic district, has enlisted the help of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Giuliani was the featured speaker at a Chang fund-raiser in Chinatown on Monday night. The message was clear: Clean up the Silver stench,
“Cancel is a political hack,” Chang said. “We shouldn’t elect a candidate who was handpicked by Sheldon Silver.”
Still, consultant Hank Sheinkopf said Cancel has the edge.
“The Democrat has the advantage in a special election,” he said. “The special election favors the ruling party.”
The Democratic and Republican primaries for president will be held the same day. That means registered Democrats and Republicans turning out for the presidential primary will receive a separate ballot for the Assembly race when they enter the polls.