Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY-Upper East Side), the primary author of the recently enacted Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009, is a high ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee and a member of the Progressive Caucus. She has a safe seat and a lot of seniority, but she’s seriously considering taking on Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in the primary next year.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney is moving forward with her prospective Senate candidacy, signing Cindy Darrison as a fundraiser and Josh Isay of Knickerbocker SKD to do communications for her. She is planning to make an indication of her candidacy by the end of the month, though the formal creation of a Senate exploratory committee may wait until as late as the fall, according to several in Maloney’s camp. She will not start any major effort to fundraise before the end of this quarter on June 30.
CQ Politics also has an article on developments in New York.
Gillibrand was appointed earlier this year by Gov. David A. Paterson when Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton became secretary of State, with the special election in 2010 to determine who will serve out the remainder of Clinton’s term. Since then, Gillibrand has struggled to consolidate support among Democrats, particularly those from downstate, and her centrist voting record during two terms in the House could provide fodder for a divisive contest.
That is something national Democrats have tried to avoid, with New York’s senior senator, Charles E. Schumer , Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman Robert Menendez and the White House all taking pains to clear Gillibrand’s path to the nomination.
Their main target on that front was Rep. Steve Israel who indicated to colleagues this spring that he was preparing a run, only to abruptly shift course in May at the behest of President Obama.
Up to this point, Democrats have not felt the need to stage the same sort of intervention with Maloney or with Rep. Carolyn McCarthy , an anti-gun activist who represents the 4th District, on Long Island.
Israel, said one Democratic operative who asked not to be identified, “could have been a real problem, a real threat,” thanks to his popularity downstate as well as his fundraising abilities.
“Neither of the Carolyns pose a real threat,” the operative said.
I think it’s hubris to dismiss Maloney’s chances. She represents one of the wealthiest districts in the country and can use her connections with the financial services industry to raise even more money. She’s a down the line progressive on most issues and can probably count on massive netroots support. Gillibrand’s is a legendary fundraiser but that may turn out to be a wash in this case. Her real advantage is that she has the support of the president, the governor, the DSCC, and Sen. Chuck Schumer. This race, along with the potential Sestak-Specter showdown in Pennsylvania, could become real power struggles between the establishment and the grassroots of the party.
Go Carolyn Maloney, go. About time we got some of those progressives back in the Senate. What better way to counter those nut cases on the right than to vote in more and more of the left. Gosh, you can almost feel the political grounds shifting; perhaps, New York and Pennsylvania will lead the way to a new and more sensitive political consciousness.
Not to be a stick in the mud, but what power does the netripts have other than fundraising capability? A slew of candidates were backstopped by the netroots but precious few won. Do the netroots have enough juice to buck the President? I don’t think so.
the president’s grassroots organization is the best in the country.
Maybe so … but can he harness that in non-Presidential years? And in Maloney’s case .. obviously she feels that she can raise the necessary money despite Schumer telling a lot of doaners to stay away
i think Maloney can raise enough money. Her problem is that Obama is gonna campaign for her opponent.
In the primary? He really has no business doing that, and no excuse. It’s not like he’s working to get somebody in Congress that will not sandbag his agenda — quite the reverse, in fact. I have to think he’d step back if a credible primary candidate emerged.
Really? Will he really attend rallies for her? Will he attend rallies for Specter too? I don’t think he’ll get too involved in the primaries, especially the Specter/Sestak one(if it pans out).
I think that frame is quite a stretch in this case. Kirsten Gillibrand has a huge grassroots following in New York. It is how we got her elected in the most Republican district in the state over a guy that put the THUG in Rethuglican. And how we got her re-elected with over 60% of the vote against a multi-millionaire trust fund baby that spent $6 million of his own bubble gum money.
And you’d be hard pressed to show that Maloney is any less a part of the establishment here in New York then Kirsten is.
And that’s before we even get into Kirsten’s record as one of the most liberal members of the Senate since she’s been there.
While I can certainly understand people disagreeing with this “clearing the field” business (I disagree with it strongly) and I can certainly understand folks wanting to see Kirsten earn the election through a primary against a perfectly qualified Democratic opponent like Carolyn Maloney, to try and frame this as establishment vs. grassroots is just not accurate at all.
There are issues here but that ain’t one of them.
Peace,
Andrew
So maybe it is different but the overall point remains. Until she was appointed to the Senate, Gillibrand was a Blue Dog. It’s good to see she is moving farther left since she now represents the whole state. Lets see either of them transfer that support statewide.
Carolyn Maloney is moving forward with her prospective Senate candidacy, signing Cindy Darrison as a fundraiser and Josh Isay of Knickerbocker SKD.
This Isay guy is the same dude that Caroline had lead her disastrous NY senate deal. Big mistake on Maloney’s part. He is awful & a former Schumer guy. He will internally sabotage the bid. Schumer wants Gilibrand so this make no sense. Isay biggest clients are Loserman & Benjamin Netanyahu.
How these guys keep getting work in politics is amazing.