The Brennan Center regularly compiles the latest news concerning the corrosive nature of money in New York State politics—and the ongoing need for public financing and robust campaign finance reform. This week’s links were contributed by Eric Petry.
NEW YORK
Indictments Not an Issue for New York
Politicians Seeking Re-Election
Four New York politicians
were re-elected on Tuesday despite facing federal indictments.
- Congressman Michael Grimm won re-election to his Staten Island-based House seat despite facing a 20-count federal indictment for various offenses.
- State Senator Tom Libous was re-elected with 60 percent of the vote in the 52nd Senate district. Libous still faces a trial on charges of lying to federal investigators, but he is attempting to have the charges thrown out on technical grounds.
- State Senator John Sampson of Brooklyn was charged this summer with embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars, but still won his primary and general elections by very comfortable margins.
- State Senator William Scarborough ran uncontested on Tuesday. He was charged and arrested this summer for improper use of campaign funds.
Post-Moreland Reforms Unsuccessful
The New York World in partnership with Capital New York published an assessment of the reforms that
Governor Cuomo secured in exchange for shuttering the Moreland Commission
earlier this year. These reforms included a pilot program to test public
financing, new disclosure rules, and a new office of enforcement at the State
Board of Elections. Overall, the article claims, these reforms have been a
bust. New York Comptroller, Democrat Tom DeNapoli, opted out of the pilot
public financing system, citing the program’s structural flaws. His opponent,
Republican Bob Antonacci, did participate in the program, but was unable to raise the requisite $200,000
in matchable contributions to qualify for the public funds. Increased
disclosure for outside spending, while necessary, was not a profound reform because
New York’s unusually high contribution
limits allow big spenders
to make direct campaign contributions instead. Finally, the
independent enforcement office at the Board of Elections took little action
this election cycle and proved to be less independent than planned.
Poll: Small Businesses Support Public Financing
A recent national
poll conducted by Small Business Majority shows that 85 percent of small
business owners support public financing of elections. The results also show
that small employers feel that their voices are drowned out by large
corporations, giving big business an unfair advantage in the political process.
The poll reflects survey responses from 900 small business owners, with 48
identifying as Republican or independent-leaning Republican, 32 percent as
Democrat or independent-leaning Democrat, and 11 percent as independent.
IDC Senators Want to Remain with Republicans
State
Senator Jeff Klein, leader of the Independent Democratic Conference, announced last
week that the he wants the IDC to remain aligned with the Republican
majority, despite promises earlier this summer to form
a coalition with the other Democrats in the chamber. The deal struck this
summer helped to appease the Working Families Party and major labor unions,
allowing Klein and the rest of the IDC senators to avoid difficult primary
challenges from the left. But while the IDC Senators won reelection, other
Democratic candidates were less successful, leading to Republicans taking 32
seats and maintaining control of the state Senate. The Senate GOP leader, Dean
Skelos, would not confirm whether he would
welcome a new coalition with the IDC.
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