Winners and Losers 05/08/15

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son were arrested on federal corruption charges this week. Ex-Assemblyman William Scarborough pleaded guilty to theft and wire fraud. And no one would be surprised if more elected representatives end up with legal problems in the near future—and that makes us all losers. But not all the news was negative. We had some winners too.

WINNERS

Preet Bharara – The U.S. Attorney dropped another one of his corruption-busting bombshells on Albany this week—and while he didn’t opine at length about the state Capital’s systemic venality this time around, he didn’t have to: the 43-page federal complaint against Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son really says it all.  

Dan Donovan - The Staten Island District Attorney, who gained national notoriety this summer as the guy who decided not to indict a police officer whose use of a chokeholdresulted in the death of Eric Garner, won the special election to replace Rep. Michael Grimm this week, bumping him from the top prosecutor of a borough to the House of Representatives. Donovan, whose decision not to charge the officer may have been a key factor in his 60 percent to 39 percent victory over New York City Councilman Vinny Gentile, will now take his spot as a member of the majority, though who knows for how long, as national Democrats have already said he is a marked man in the 2016 elections.

Bill Lipton – The Working Families Party got its groove back this week when Diana Richardson easily won her special election to the Assembly, on the WFP line. The party also got a bump from Gov. Andrew Cuomo on one of their key issues, raising the minimum wage for fast food workers. Cuomo took action by convening the state's wage board and circumventing the state senate, grabbing good press for himself, but sending advocates over the moon. After a tough 2014, things are starting to look up for the WFP and their state director Bill Lipton. 

Diana Richardson – The Brooklyn Democrat, running on the Working Families Party line, made easy work of the four-person special election for the Assembly. Normally the Democratic candidate would sail to victory in an election like this, but there was no Democrat because of clerical areas, making Richardson's triumph all the more impressive. 

Jon Stewart – Albany politicians got their turn this week as the subject of the Daily Show host’s scathing wit. Stewart in his opening segment Wednesday night tore into the rampant corruption in New York and New Jersey. At one point, Stewart asks the camera, “By the way, why are you arranging all these payments for Junior over here, huh? He’s 32 years-old. Don’t you think it’s time he went out and stole his own money?” Go watch the clip, it’s a well spent nine minutes. 

LOSERS

Bill de Blasio – While de Blasio continued to elevate his national presence, his profile in the city took a hit. Nearly half of New York City voters said they believed the city is moving in the wrong direction and a majority disagreed with de Blasio’s characterizations of his policies as historic and transformative. The Daily News dinged him for suggesting New Yorkers are not savvy enough to appreciate his greatness in a Rolling Stone profile highlighting his national agenda, as did NY1’s Bob Hardt, who compared his statements to powerbroker Robert Moses asking, “Why weren’t they grateful?” And the mayor accidentally emailed a New York Times reporter venting about the subway delays most commuters contend with daily, which came as advocates called on his administration to invest more in the transit system.

John Sampson – In case anyone was beginning to think that all of New York’s political scandals involve either Assembly Democrats or Senate Republicans, a judge reminded everyone about the federal charges against state Sen. John Sampson, who once served as the Senate Democrats’ de facto leader. In a blow ahead of Sampson’s trial this summer, the judge ruled that prosecutors could argue that the lawmaker lied and misled investigators about his involvement in the bidding process for a racetrack casino in Queens. No dice, senator! 

Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos – It’s looking like the beginning of the end for this father-son duo: both were arrested on federal corruption charges on May 4, with authorities accusing the elder Skelos of using his position as Senate Majority Leader to persuade two private firms to pay his son over $200,000 in exchange for legislation favoring one company and a government contract for the other. Adding insult to injury, the complaint is chock-full of dialogue from recorded phone conversations between the two, painting a picture of an over-indulgent father going all out to keep his struggling son afloat. You know what they say about family, but it sure seems like a whole lot to lose for anyone.

Shenendehowa High School Boys Varsity Basketball team – They may not have been honored in the state Senate for their win of the Class AA state championship, but these high-schoolers got a civics lesson that couldn’t be taught in a classroom. After the state Senate Dems were repeatedly blocked from allowing a leadership vote to force Skelos to resign, the conference walked out of the Senate and there were not enough members left to pass the resolution. Witnesses said the basketball team was laughing while watching the antics on the Senate floor so at least their visit was entertaining!

Peggy Siegal – The high-society event publicist appears miffed she has not been able to get Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray to take their anti-inequality crusade onto the affluent New Yorkers’ party circuit. Siegal groused to The Wall Street Journal that the couple had “made themselves socially irrelevant,” noting “It is a major shortcoming not to mingle with all classes.” Siegal may have inadvertently aided the mayor by handing him material for his next campaign mailer.