It's (Almost) Official, Padavan Wins

Three months to the day after the 2008 election, we have finally determined that Frank Padavan won his re-election bid to represent Northeast Queens in the State Senate. The battle was drawn out after the initial close results, full of recounts, counting ballots that were initially declined and a whole lot of political drama in the press.

From The Daily Politics:

With all but 265 ballots fought over, counted and recounted, Republican Frank Padavan retains a 578-vote lead over his Democratic challenger, Councilman Jim Gennaro, according to a Queens GOP source who has been monitoring the situation.

That makes it arithmetically impossible for Gennaro to pull out a victory - even if those last remaining ballots all cut his way, which, of course, they wouldn't.

Ironically, that's not all that terribly far off from the unofficial results on election night last November when Padavan was up 723 votes.

Considering that the DSCC gave next to nothing in support for Gennaro and that Padavan has been in office for more than thirty years, the close race shows that this district is vulnerable to be flipped. As Liz notes, Gennaro is getting ready to contest the race again next year and with his numbers in 2008, there should be a big push to get him over the top and to make the very Democratic area represented by one from their own party.

Padavan-Gennaro Contest Finally Drawing To A Close

It has been quite some time since any news has come out of the 11th Senate District. Padavan had the lead last time it was checked and Gennaro was trying to get as many eligible votes counted as he could. Yesterday the Board of Elections granted Jim that wish, but whether or not the remaining ballots holds enough Gennaro votes to overcome Frank's lead...well, let's just say it looks highly doubtful.

From The Daily Politics:

Depending on how long the count takes - and there have been conflicting reports as to exactly how many ballots are out there, but it's somewhere between 1,700 and 2,700 - this contest could be a contender for the title of longest-running undecided legislative race in modern history.

The record to date is the 2004 Spano-Stewart-Cousins race, in which Spano wasn't declared the winner until Feb. 8 of 2005 - and then by just 18 votes.

Republican Frank Padavan, who was the incumbent GOP senator when this whole mess started, has a lead of several hundred votes - perhaps as many as 500 - over his Democratic challenger, Councilman Jim Gennaro.

So yeah, it is a longshot, but stranger things have happened in politics before. Regardless though if Padavan pulls through, the contest is a clear indicator that Padavan is vulnerable and the district is nearly ready to change. With a stronger challenge, especially if the DSCC backs the Democrat in the race like they did for Foley and Addabbo, this is another pick-up opportunity for the state party.

Finally, Counting The Last Padavan-Gennaro Ballots Will Begin

Nearly two months have gone by since election day and still, one race is not over in New York. Incumbent Frank Padavan is up over 500 votes, yet his team has tried to blockade the counting of nearly 2,000 votes that were initially rejected by the Board of Election. Sen. Frank Padavan has desperately wanted this whole thing to be over with and force a concession from Jim Gennaro, but the Democrat is holding fast to the priniciple that all eligible votes be counted. Finally the courts have decided to let those last ballots be added to the mix.

From The NY Times:

The Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court ruled that the counting of about 1,750 paper ballots could proceed in the razor-thin contest, blocking an attempt by lawyers on behalf of Mr. Padavan to halt any further vote counting.

“Frank Padavan and the Republicans have now asked two different courts to stop the Board of Elections from counting legitimate ballots,” said Mike Barfield, a spokesman for the Gennaro campaign. “Each time the courts have directed that the ballots be reviewed, but Frank Padavan seems to think that the counting of valid votes should stop simply because he is ahead.”

The truth is that Gennaro has long odds in pulling this thing out, even with 1,750 ballots left to be counted. Sure, he could win them by a margin of 1,175 to 575 and win this thing by 20 votes but the chances of that are slim. Jim would make an excellent Senator in the place of Padavan, but it looks like that will have to wait for two years. Still, I'll keep my fingers crossed, ya never know, right?

Padavan-Gennaro Starting To Look Like Bush v. Gore

I was hoping to write about the still-contested State Senate race until it was decided, but things are just too crazy out there. The court had allowed 2,000 ballots to be re-examined to ensure they weren't just tossed out without a thorough review. With less than 600 votes between the two, that amount of votes has the possibility of changing the outcome of the election, even if it is slim. Yet just as soon as the counting began, another court stepped in to stop it.

From The NY Times:

After a State Supreme Court judge ruled that 2,000 paper ballots could be counted, the Appellate Division issued a stay on Thursday afternoon, halting any further counting of ballots until their fate is determined at a hearing next Thursday in Brooklyn.

Why the Appellate Court sees a need to stop the last stages of counting ballots, or even re-examining them is odd. Padavan and the Republicans are thrilled that one court overruled another to stop counting votes. Of course, the Gennaro's camp and the Democratic Party want a full accounting of the ballots but are now stopped from doing so until next week. Meanwhile, both sides will trade barbs but the count is officially stopped, after being stopped and started before.

The stakes aren't as high as Florida in 2000, but things certainly sound familiar. All we need is a staged and enraged group like the Brooks Brothers Riot and we're good to go.

The Latest From The Fightin' 11th Senate District

With only a few affidavit ballots to count, the final tally is going to come down to what happens in court. Padavan's lead has gone from the seven hundreds, to the four hundreds, back to the seven hundreds and now somewhere in the five hundreds. Nearly two thousand ballots must be examined and how that turns out is ultimately up to a bunch of lawyers and a judge.

From The Daily Politics:

The players in the fight over the 11th SD recount - now almost a full month old - are due back in court at 2 p.m. this afternoon, and the focus has now shifted to some 1,750 to 2,000 ballots that were ruled invalidated by the Board of Elections back before the recanvass began.

If you ask the Democrats, this is a perfectly reasonable request and to deny it would be a move to disenfranchise voters and an act of desperation by the other side, which wants the recount to end while incumbent GOP Sen. Frank Padavan is 580 votes ahead with just 252 paper ballots left in the so-called "box."

The Republicans, of course, say it's completely out-of-the-ordinary move and a desperate, hail-Mary measure by the Democrats who know their candidate, Coundilman Jim Gennaro, is unlikely to win.

Obviously there is plenty of politics on the side for the media and blogs (myself included) to lap up. While the Republicans currently have the lead, like I've said before, nothing is set in stone and until everything is examined, the winner is still unknown. There's plenty more drama in Liz's story, so have fun with that...I just wish they'd count the ballots that show the voters who intended to go for Jim or Frank, add em' up and let us know already.

Padavan Tries To Invalidate Student Voters At St. John's

Many people in New York have written off Jim Gennaro's chances at winning his challenge to Frank Padavan. The main reason local reporters are calling this (almost) over is that Padavan increased his lead to over 600 votes with only 3,000 approximately left to count. Two-thirds of those are challenged ballots and it looks like a few were objected to by Padavan were cast by students at St. John's.

From The NY Times:

The unresolved State Senate contest between Senator Frank Padavan, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, James F. Gennaro, moves on Tuesday into a Queens courtroom, where nearly a dozen college students have been subpoenaed to verify their residences.

Republican lawyers have challenged the votes of students, mostly from St. John’s University, saying that they filled out affidavit ballots with addresses that were not their permanent residences. In the paper ballot count, Mr. Padavan is leading by about 600 votes, but about 1,000 more ballots remained to be counted and the validity of an additional 2,000 must still be reviewed.[...]

Steven H. Richman, the general counsel at the New York City Board of Elections, said that under state law, a student can vote from a polling place near either his or her permanent address or a college address.

“A college student has the option,” Mr. Richman said. “If you’re living on campus, you have the right to register and vote from that district. Or you can register from your parents’ address. You just can’t vote in two places.”

If Padavan is challenging the right for college students to vote, I can only imagine who else he's contesting. Now a dozen or so votes will only make a small dent in the vote deficit Gennaro has, but only after all those ballots Padavan is scared to see added to the tally will we truly be able to call the race.

Padavan May Be Ahead, But Plenty Of Challenged Ballots Remain

It has been nearly three weeks since election day and one State Senate race is still not decided. Both Jim Gennaro and longtime Senator Frank Padavan are working hard to get their candidate to win, not just up until election day but even now. The disappointing news for Gennaro is that not many of the paper ballots counted thus far have helped him in closing the gap.

From The Daily Politics:

As of last night, 692 votes separated Padavan from his Democratic challenger, Councilman Jim Gennaro, according to someone involved in the recount process.

That's still slightly less than the 723-vote lead Padavan had on election night, but more than his low of 474, which caused quite a bit of glee in the Senate Democrats camp - so much so that Gennaro consultant, Evan Stavisky, delcared that the GOP senator's was plummeting "faster than the Dow under George Bush."

As of this moment, it appears Stavisky might have spoken too soon. The Republicans are again feeling confident that Padavan will retain his seat, which would be a blow to Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith has he tries to reach the magic 32 number that will land him the majority leader's post.

About 1,600 paper ballots remain to be counted, down from about 8,000. The remaining ballots are form the 26th, 27th, 29th and 33rd ADs, at least two of which are considered by the Republicans to be strong for Padavan.

It's still possible that there will be a legal challenge filed by the Democrats in response to what they allege is an effort by the Republicans to disenfranchise Hispanic and Asian voters.

Liz actually may be speaking too soon as well. The only challenges in this post-election contest are coming from the Republicans who are trying to disqualify hundreds of ballots that have been going for Gennaro, predominantly those cast by Hispanic and Asian voters. They'll be in court alright, but to make sure all eligible voters have their ballots count, not the other way around. Not until the counting is finished can the challenged ballots be added to the tally, so let's just wait until the entire process is finished before we call the race.

Does Frank Padavan Have His Own Katherine Harris?

I can't imagine there being a recount that can equal the epic failure that was Florida in 2000. The way that debacle turned out knocked our democracy at least a few rungs down the ladder. Katherine Harris (and the Supreme Court too) were instrumental in handing the election to George Bush by purging African Americans from the voter rolls and then stopping the count as the margin slimmed down. This is all common knowledge now but one State Senate race in Queens has a lot at stake and the Republicans will do anything it takes to keep Padavan's seat. The question is, how far will Republican Commissioner Judith Stupp go to push the results in her desired corner?

From The NY Times:

In the past, Democrats claim, all such ballots were counted. But this time, they say, the Republican commissioner of the Board of Elections in Queens has ruled that ballots should be invalidated if they do not include the signature or stamp of a poll worker.

That ruling brought a firestorm of criticism from Democratic officials and lawyers, who point out that the Republican commissioner, Judith Stupp, is also employed as the manager of downstate operations for New York State Senate Republicans. She is also a contributor to Mr. Padavan’s campaign.

Ms. Stupp defended her role, saying: “I took an oath to make sure that every legal vote be counted. And I feel that what I’ve done has been honest and fair.” She said she did not think it appropriate to comment on the specifics of the vote-counting process.

Ms. Stupp said that after the initial days of the paper-ballot counting, she stopped attending the sessions, turning over her responsibilities to the chief Republican deputy clerk, Katherine James. When asked whether she would recuse herself from further involvement in the counting, she said, “I honestly don’t see any reason why I should.”

The will of those voters be damned, if there was a poll worker that didn't know what they were doing and did not stamp a ballot, it isn't the fault of the voter. I expect the frivolous and discriminatory challenges from the Padavan campaign, but as far as the people that count the ballots no changes in the system should be made at this time. If the BoE has counted the paper votes of registered voters in the district last time around, it should be the same this time around.

Stupp should have recused herself before this started anyway, as she has two clear conflicts of interest. Padavan would be screaming and shouting if a Gennaro contributor and DSCC operative were in Stupp's position, so if we on the left are ticked off about this it is for the right reasons. I wonder if her actions help Padavan hold on, what plum positions can she look forward to? She might want to give Katherine Harris a call and get some advice. On second thought, nah, nevermind that.

The Post-Campaign Between Gennaro And Padavan

As the counting continues in Northeast Queens, Frank Padavan is doing what was expected of him. The eighteen term Senator and his workers are vigorously challenging paper ballots from the heavily Democratic district. Frank got his most serious challenge to the seat in decades and he is sweating bullets. His campaign signs say "Nobody cares like Frank" but what he really means is caring about disenfranchising the new voters in his district who overwhelmingly signed up to vote for Obama.

From The NY Daily News:

A still-undecided state Senate contest in Queens turned ugly Tuesday as Democrats accused Sen. Frank Padavan's supporters of launching a massive effort to discard paper ballots cast by minority voters.

"They are systematically trying to exclude Asians, Hispanics and Democrats from the count," said Michael Reich, executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party.

As the challenges mount, expect this to get increasingly nasty. Padavan does not want to lose his seat and the Senate GOP (along with the Gang of Three) want to hold onto power by keeping progressive Democrat Jim Gennaro out of Albany. So what has gone on so far over there?

Affidavit ballots are generally from first-time voters. Given the huge turnout Barack Obama's candidacy sparked, Gennaro believes most of those affidavits are Democrats.

Last Wednesday, a recanvass of the machine tally reduced Padavan's lead to just 503 votes.

The next day, some two dozen Board of Elections staff members and representatives of the two candidates began counting the paper.

Gennaro's people say they have not challenged a single ballot the board's staff has ruled eligible. They say Padavan's people, on the other hand, have tried to disqualify an astonishing number of Hispanic and Asian surnamed voters.

Republicans claim they aren't interested in disenfranchising people, but if the totals show a narrowing lead for Padavan you can almost predict the percentage of challenges to go up. As the DN notes, 120 votes have been contested thus far with only 2,000 out of 8,300 ballots counted. No matter what, a brutal fight to the finish is nearly certain.

Gennaro Continues To Close The Gap

We are now nine days past the election and the count continues for the 11th Senate District in Northeast Queens. Board of Election officials are busy counting inside a warehouse in Middle Village and the machine tally has brought the seven hundred-plus Padavan lead down to a mere 502 out of more than 82,000 ballots cast. Now it's time for a hand count of all the paper ballots, due in part to dysfunctional machines throughout the district.

From The NYT Cityroom:

In unofficial results, Mr. Padavan was leading his Democratic rival, City Councilman James F. Gennaro, by 723 votes. But Valerie Vazquez-Rivera, a spokeswoman for the city’s Board of Elections, said that there about 8,000 absentee and other paper ballots yet to be counted.

The board said the official count of the votes cast at machines could be completed as early as today. But it was uncertain how long it will take to count the various paper ballots; it could take days or much longer. Both candidates are entitled to oversee the process, the length of which depends on the degree of scrutiny — and objections — offered by either side.

“We’re incredibly optimistic about how the vote will play out,” said Evan Stavisky, a consultant working with the Gennaro campaign. “Every day for the last several years, this district has become more and more Democratic.”

I talked to a member of the Gennaro campaign last night and he was equally upbeat about the way things are going. With approximately 8,000 paper ballots to count, a 5,251 to 4,749 split or greater is all Jim Gennaro needs to oust Padavan from the seat he's held since 1972. It isn't a terrible hurdle to overcome and all eyes will be on the process as each ballot is examined. Expect many challenges from both sides and hopefully a decent level of attention paid by the press as well.

Gennaro-Padavan Coming Down To The Wire

The State Senate has already been wrested from Republican hands, but we still have a race in Queens that is too close to call. Senate District 11 has been in Frank Padavan's hands since 1972, but Councilman Jim Gennaro gave one of the strongest challenges Northeast Queens has seen in decades. Having Barack Obama at the top of Row A (or Row E) didn't hurt either. Despite Frank's good constituent work and ability to pull in the pork, the people of Queens made this written-off race a nail biter.

From Capitol Confidential:

The final remaining question mark in the Senate fight for the majority - the Queens race between Sen. Frank Padavan and James Gennaro - won’t be resolved anytime soon, from what it seems.

There are thousands of paper affidavit ballots that haven’t been counted, and there are plans to recanvass the voting machines this week, going into next week, according to Gennaro consultant Evan Stavisky.

At last count, Padavan had 41,820 votes to Gennaro’s 41,097 votes - a margin of just 723 votes.

I've heard from the Gennaro campaign (one that I've helped out btw) that the margin is 580, but the key is the absentee voters and paper ballot voters. The Gennaro camp is very positive about the results of those uncounted ballots, as well as the recount of the machines. A Gennaro victory is not only good for the people of Northeast Queens, but all of New York by making it harder for the not-so-Democratic Democrats also known as the "Gang of Four."

Gennaro Rallies The Troops Before Saturday GOTV Canvass

This is video from the Gennaro campaign taken yesterday morning, before a successful canvass operation in the 11th State Senate District. More than a hundred people showed up, including State Senators Klein, Minority (for now) Leader Malcolm Smith, Stavisky and Councilman Liu. Plenty of community organizations and unions were in attendance as well and if you look closely at the end of the video, you can see yours truly as well.

Gennaro Goes To The Airwaves Against Padavan

With a three to one money advantage, Jim Gennaro has the backing of the people's pocketbooks with enough vigor to tell voters in Northeast Queens about Padavan's anti-women's rights record:

Citizens Union's Weak Argument For Padavan

First off I'd like to commend Citizens Union for endorsing Joe Addabbo against Serf Maltese. Maltese is part of the old establishment up in Albany that has done nothing for the likes of good government. However, Frank Padavan is a part of that broken system and should have also given a shove towards the door by CU. Instead of endorsing the progressively-minded Gennaro, they went with the status quo in the 11th Senate District.

From NYT Cityroom:

Mr. Padavan, a Republican who was first elected to the State Senate in 1972, was preferred by the organization over his Democratic challenger, City Councilman James F. Gennaro.

The organization said that it preferred Mr. Padavan “because of his long-held support for much of Citizens Union’s reform agenda and effective representation in Albany.”

Citizens Union, however, noted that Councilman Gennaro “is also an effective and well-liked Councilmember who could provide able representation in the Senate if he were elected.”; however, Citizens Union ultimately thought that a compelling enough case did not exist for it to no longer support Senator Padavan.

Since when has Senator Padavan supported the goals of Citizens Union? He may have given a nod to an independent redistricting commission but actions speak louder than words. Frank has been around for 36 years and how far has CU got in terms of reform with Padavan in office? Yeah, exactly my point. The Senate needs to be shaken up and Padavan is a giant rock in the way of change. Jim Gennaro of course had a response to this.

In response, Mr. Gennaro said that he considered it “surprising that Citizens Union would choose to endorse the Republican Frank Padavan, who has done nothing in his 36 years in office to challenge the Senate Republican Majority to push for the things that good government groups care about, like campaign finance reform, budget reform and legislative rules reform.”

He added: “My record of reform is clear, as demonstrated by my vote last week against the term limits extension bill in the City Council.”

Jim Gennaro has proven he deserves the endorsement and not just tepid praise. Dadey and CU went with a safe pick of an incumbent to give off a non-partisan look while Padavan is hardly a model of good government. The man names parks and schools after himself while in office in order to create his "institutional" character in the district. The state government would be much better served by Jim Gennaro in Northeast Queens, not the same old crap from Padavan.

Money Bags Bloomberg Goes To Bat For Padavan

Two separate fundraisers are going on tonight to help the incumbent Frank Padavan and his challenger Councilman James Gennaro. Senate District 11 is one of the top targets to help Albany go completely blue next month and Gennaro's numbers have proven it. He currently bests Padavan by a ratio of 3:1 in a district that also has three times as many Dems as there are Republicans. With two weeks to go, both sides are still raising cash but in two very different ways.

From PolitickerNY (the new home of the NY Observer's political section):

Michael Bloomberg, who may or may not want to run for mayor on the Republican line, is helping Republican State Senator Frank Padavan catch up to his Democratic opponent in fund-raising.

Bloomberg is hosting a $1,000-per-person fund-raiser at his East Side townhouse for Padavan tonight at 5:30 p.m. Co-chairs are asked to pledge $10,000 to Padavan’s campaign, according to an email sent to supporters by one of former governor George Pataki’s fund-raisers, Jason Weingartener. The email was forwarded to me by a reader.[...]

Gennaro is also having a fund-raiser tonight at a bar on 44th Street at 7 p.m. It's hosted by environmental activist Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (who has raised money for Gennaro before) and tickets are $25.

Hmm, one to ten grand versus twenty-five dollars a head, quite a difference from one another. Padavan, despite the powers of incumbency is clearly hurting on the fundraising race aspect of the campaign. Gennaro has been cruising this year and is working hard to make sure the entire district knows that their State Senator can actually stand up for priniciples and not just someone that brings home a ton of pork.

Despite his Independent status, Bloomberg has raised a lot of cash for Republicans recently and in this case, it is clearly to his advantage to keep Padavan for another term (on top of his previous 36 years) which would allow Skelos to remain in control of the Senate. Not only does that keep the State House divided and crush the possibility of reform, it denies the chance for a Democratic State Senate to stop Bloomberg from running for a third term. Promises of a Dem Majority bill to override a possible City Council decision to extend term limits must haunt the Mayor and his ambitious quest for more power.

Gennaro Outraising Padavan Hand Over Fist

Before the actual vote on election day, fundraising prowess is an important quality to have in order to get your message out. That lesson has been taken to heart by challenger and City Councilman Jim Gennaro. He is currently running against State Senator Frank Padavan, a long time Republican representing the 11th District located in Northeast Queens. Usually the incumbent is the one with more money to spend, but not in this race.

From The NY Times:

Mr. Gennaro this week reported that he has raised more than $100,000 since July, taking his current balance to about $412,000. That compares with $164,000, which Mr. Padavan’s campaign reported having on hand.

But Mr. Padavan, who was first elected to the state Senate in 1972, is considered something of an institution in the district, which includes several northeastern Queens neighborhoods, among them Flushing, Bellerose and Whitestone.

The money race is clearly no contest, but the quest for votes is a different matter. Padavan has been in there a long time and while an "institution" for the area, the same could have been said for Marty Connor down in SD-25. In 2008, people are looking for a change not only on the Presidential level but here at home as well. It is well known that the system is broken up in Albany and Padavan is a part of that malfunction.

Mr. Padavan, who prides himself on getting things done in Albany, is considered quite popular in the 11th Senate District, even though Democrats far outnumber Republicans – by a margin of 3 to 1.

But Mr. Gennaro is known as a tireless campaigner. He is willing to knock on thousands of doors to acquaint himself with voters, even while it is difficult to defeat an incumbent.

The term "getting things done" would be more appropriately replaced by "bringing home the pork." While doing good things for your district is an important part of a Senator's job, restoring dignity to the State Senate is far more valuable. Albany is in desperate need for repair and the progressively-minded Jim Gennaro would be an excellent replacement for Padavan.

Oh and as a way of putting my money feet where my mouth is, I'll be volunteering for Jim tomorrow out in the district.

Go Go Gennaro!

The battle for the State Senate is raging in many districts across the state and things are looking good for many Democratic challengers. One of those just happens to be right here in NYC, specifically in Northeast Queens. Councilman Jim Gennaro is seeking to oust longtime Senator Padavan. Incumbents usually hold huge advantages and especially so in New York. Yet the political climate is looking more and more favorable for a future Democratic majority and for a future Senator Gennaro.

From The NY Observer:

Democratic State Senate candidate Jim Gennaro, who is trying to unseat Republican Frank Padavan, says he can ride the coattails of national Democrats in his district, but the full picture could be more complicated.

His campaign just released figures of newly registered voters in the district, citing figures from the state Board of Elections.

"Between January and August of this year, 6,859 new voters enrolled in Senate District 11, according to the Board of Elections. Of them, 711 are Republicans and 4,083 are Democrats, giving the latter party a nearly six-to-one advantage with these voters.

"Democrats also overwhelmingly outnumber Republicans in Senate District 11's overall enrollment, 88,494 to 33,123 (a nearly three-to-one advantage)."

Azi's worry is that while Dems enjoy the large advantage, Padavan sits pretty because not everyone "pulls the lever down party lines." However, the 2006 example has nothing to do with what is going in 2008. Obama has large coattails and merely putting his name on a pollcard next to Barack's will have serious sway. Gennaro's progressive nature and outspokenness on important issues also has tremendous influence on the way Northeast Queens will vote. This is a time of change and that goes double for Padavan.