30th Council District Still Considered Undecided

It has been a week since election day in the 30th council district in Queens but there still is no declared winner. Despite a non-partisan affair, the Republican favored Anthony Como originally bested Democratic machine candidate Elizabeth Crowley. Both candidates had roughly 30 percent of the vote but there are still ballots to be had and on top of that, suspicions of voter fraud may be investigated by the Department of Justice.

From Queens Crap:

Just when you thought things couldn't get more corrupt in Queens County comes word from a source inside the Board of Elections that the US Department of Justice received a complaint regarding allegations of voter fraud during the CD30 special election. Questions have reportedly arisen as to the following:

- Postcards were not mailed to voters in the district of the election as per protocol. A vote was taken by BOE to not to inform the public via mail, allegedly in order to decrease turnout of the majority party. (Dems outnumber Reps in the district 2 to 1 - see chart)
- A total of 4,383 district voters pulled the lever for a Republican, when you add Ognibene and Como's numbers together

- Vote counts are overinflated and do not reflect actual turnout witnessed and documented by poll workers.
- Crowley won Glendale, Ognibene won Middle Village but Como won Maspeth, where he is even less known than he is in the rest of the district.
- PS113 in Glendale strangely reported triple the turnout of the other 28 polling sites.
- Allegations of individual voters casting ballots at multiple polling sites or casting multiple ballots at the same site at different times throughout the day. (This occurred as campaign volunteers mysteriously vanished from their posts during the afternoon hours.)
- The shipping of state workers down from Albany to work the election.
- Paid state employees campaigning for a candidate during working hours.
- Unusually large numbers of absentee ballots being received by BOE.

Hmm, the Council District is wrapped by State Senate District 15 and held by Republican Serphin Maltese. Perhaps that whole Albany to NYC thing had something to do with hi....nah, a State Senator wouldn't have anything to do with that, knowing how clean Albany is and especially the Senate with Joe Bruno running it. And our state's reputation for ethics and accountability is top notch.

We'll have to wait and see what the Department of Justice comes up with, you know, that Department of Justice. Of course, since this has nothing to do with George Bush, they might actually be allowed to do their jobs.

The Machinery Went To Work In Queens Yesterday

While we were all watching the returns of South Dakota and Montana, the speeches of McCain (if you can call it that), Clinton and Obama and the announcement of the Democratic nominee...the machine in Queens quietly hummed. A little over 7,600 people showed up for the special election in the 30th Council District and they split their votes mostly even between the establishment candidates and the ex-Councilman that occupied the seat. Charles Ober, the man who was worked for and in the community, endorsed by the Times and the progressive community barely got ten percent of the vote.

From The Daily Politics:

With 100 percent of the vote in, it appears the Republicans have just barely managed to hold on to the 30th CD seat that used to belong to former Councilman Dennis Gallagher, maintaining their three-member conference.

The unofficial results, according to the city Board of Elections, are as follows:

Anthony Como: 2,352, 31.71 percent.

Elizabeth Crowley: 2,282, 30.77 percent.

Thomas Ognibene: 2,031, 27.38 percent.

Charles Ober: 752, 10.14

UPDATE: There are 196 valid absentee ballots so far, according to board spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez-Rivera, and they can be received by the board up until next Tuesday.

I doubt 196 ballots can turn it for Crowley and it certainly won't help Ober or Ognibene. The two top vote-getters were the people the local committees were pushing. So with the split on the left, Como barely got a victory and maintains the three seat hold that Republicans have in the Democratic-dominated Council.

Election Day In Queens Today

Most of the national media will be focused on South Dakota and Montana today, but here in the five boroughs, there is a special election in the 30th Council District (Ridgewood, Middle Village, Glendale) to replace the disgraced Dennis Gallagher who made a deal to resign so that he wouldn't have to face a full trial that included an alleged rape. Now that he's gone and whittled the Republican delegation in the 51 seat body down to two, Democrats are looking get that much closer to a one party Council.

From The NYT City Room:

Most of the Democratic establishment in the borough is supporting Elizabeth S. Crowley, a developer of educational programs for nonprofit agencies. Ms. Crowley ran for the Council seat in 2001 and lost to Mr. Gallagher.

She is a cousin of United States Representative Joseph Crowley, the Democratic Party chairman in Queens. She is also the daughter of Walter and Mary Crowley, each of whom once represented many of the same Queens neighborhoods in the City Council.

Meanwhile, the candidate who is also considered to be highly formidable is Thomas V. Ognibene, who was Mr. Gallagher’s predecessor in the Council, having served from 1992 until 2001, when he was barred by term limits from running for re-election. He was also the Republican leader of the Council.

Another candidate is Anthony Como, a former Queens assistant district attorney and commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections. He is also a longtime aide to State Senator Serphin R. Maltese, a Republican. Mr. Como has been endorsed by the Republican Party organization in Queens.

The fourth candidate is Charles J. Ober, a financial executive and community activist who has worked on neighborhood initiatives against prostitution and graffiti.

The NY Times and many community activists Charles Ober and for many good reasons. Not only does Ober challenge the establishment (something that is going on all over the place) but has proven himself in his neighborhood and will do a great job representing the 30th CD.

A Council Race Grows In Queens

With all the news about Spitzer's prostitution scandal and newly-inaugurated Governor Paterson's affairs, it is understandable that many New Yorkers missed Councilman Dennis Gallagher's resignation after he made a plea deal to escape a trial and jail time over an alleged rape. There are just too many lurid sex (criminal or not) stories going on in the Empire State these days! Well anyways, now that Dennis is gone, the situation presents us with a brand-spanking new special election right across the East River in the 30th Council District.

From The NY Times:

Anyone can run who is a resident of the district — which includes Middle Village, Ridgewood and Glendale — and who collects 2,700 valid signatures from anyone in the district who is registered to vote. And the mayor is required to set a date for the election (with 45 days of the vacancy) within three days after Mr. Gallagher’s resignation takes effect.

But even though the election is nonpartisan, political affiliation, the power behind it, will clearly play a central role in the candidates’ campaigns.

The Democrats are expected to coalesce behind Elizabeth Crowley, in part because her cousin, United States Representative Joseph Crowley, is the Democratic Party chairman of Queens. Ms. Crowley, a developer of educational programs for nonprofit agencies who is also a member of the local chapter of the Building Trades Council.[...]

The Republicans are clearly less harmonious in their consideration regarding Mr. Gallagher’s successor. Philip Ragusa, the party chairman, said the organization will support Anthony Como, a commissioner with the New York City Board of Elections and longtime aide to State Senator Serphin Maltese. Mr. Como, a former assistant district attorney in Queens, ran unsuccessfully for the Assembly in 2005, losing to Andrew Hevesi, the son of former State Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi.

But Mr. Como will face stiff competition from Thomas V. Ognibene, who represented the 30th Council District for 10 years, immediately before Mr. Gallagher. In fact, Mr. Gallagher was the chief lieutenant for Mr. Ognibene for many of his 10 years in the Council.

Looks like an interesting race will shape up in these Queens' neighborhoods. It's also an opportunity for the New York Democratic party to shave off one of three remaining Republican-held districts in the city. Currently Dems have 48 out of 51. So if you live in that part of Queens or if you want to see a Democrat replace a Republican, sign-up and help out.