Just How Did Pedro Espada Jr. Lose?

   How did a man who in 2008 won the 33rd State Senate District 60 percent to 40 percent lose in 2010, 62 percent to 33 percent? That is the question Pedro Espada Jr. wants to know the answer to. 

   In 2008 Pedro Espada Jr. was challenging then 33rd State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. who was under indictment from the federal government. Still many elected officials backed Gonzalez over Espada, but when primary day 2008 was over Espada won with 4,988 votes to 3,350 for Gonzalez or 60-40 percent as the voters said no to Gonzalez and yes to Espada.

   Senator Pedro Espada Jr. then went to Albany, and saw an opportunity in an almost deadlocked legislative body. Governor Elliot Spitzer had resigned, and Lieutenant Governor David Paterson (the tie breaker in the State Senate) was now Governor Paterson leaving no tie breaker in the State Senate. Democrats had a slim two vote majority in the State Senate for the first time in many years, and Pedro Espada Jr. was going to take full advantage of it. After failing at first to get power, a pow wow was called between Espada and three other democratic Hispanic state senators. Espada along with Senators Ruben Diaz Sr. (Bronx), Carl Kruger (Brooklyn), and Hiram Monserrate (Queens) formed the "Four Amigos". Espada and Monserrate even went so far as to overthrow the democratic majority in the now famous "Senate Coup of June 2009" by joining with the Republicans in the State Senate. Senator Monserrate however came right back to the democratic side making it a stalemate at 31 to 31 as Espada would not budge. Espada finally came back to the Democratic side when he was given the title of Majority Leader, while Senator John Sampson (D-Brooklyn) was made the Senate Conference Chairman (the real leader of the State Senate). Governor Paterson after some court challenges appointed a new Lieutenant Governor, and everything got back to what could be called normal in Albany. 

   A short time later Senator Monserrate was accused of assaulting his girlfriend, and as a result of the  conviction was quickly expelled from State Senate by a majority of his colleagues. Now there were only three amigos left. 

   A few months before Primary Day 2010 New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo raided the Soundview Health Center run by Pedro Espada Jr., carting away boxes of what was called evidence while accusing Espada of looting the Soundview Health Center of 14 million dollars. Cuomo also filed a civil suit against Espada. This happened shortly before petition time where it looked like Pedro Espada Jr. would have four challengers for his seat, almost a guarantee that he would be re-elected. When the petition deadline passed only three people handed in petitions to challenge Espada. During the petition challenge process another candidate was knocked off the ballot leaving only two challengers to face Espada in the primary. Two debates were scheduled with Espada failing to show for either to defend his record as State Senator. The endorsements for one of his challengers kept coming in from elected officials and unions so great that right after Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. had endorsed Mr. Gustavo Rivera the other challenger Mr. Dan Padernacht decided to end his campaign and throw his support behind Mr. Rivera "To defeat Pedro Espada Jr. for the good of the Democratic Party". 

   By now BP Diaz was hacking Pedro Espada Jr. in the media even though his father Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. was endorsing Espada. This was not the first time that the Diaz's had endorsed different candidates in the same race, and I was told it may not be the last time either. As Primary Day approached Espada challenger  Gustavo Rivera had a unified campaign of elected officials, union support, and others who's main goal was to see that Pedro Espada Jr. was to be defeated on Primary Day 2010. 

   Espada's ground troops were no match for Gustavo Rivera's army of supporters as Rivera blew away Espada 62 percent to 33 percent, with 5 percent of the district vote going to Mr. Dan Padernacht who was supporting Gustavo Rivera the eventual winner. In all the vote in the 33rd State Senate District was 6,870 for Gustavo Rivera, 3607 for Pedro Espada Jr., and 567 for Dan Padernacht. 2,692 more people voted in 2010 that did in 2008, for an increase of voter participation of 24 percent. Mr. Rivera received 3,520 more votes (or more than twice as much) in 2010 than Espada's opponent did in 2008. Pedro Espada Jr. received 1,381 (28 percent) less votes  in 2010 than he did in 2008. 

   We think each and everything we mentioned contributed to Espada's lose, but it could be that Pedro Espada Jr. underestimated the voter above Kingsbridge Road. We say that because it was the Attorney General race of 2010 that brought out more voters above Kingsbridge Road, and most of those voters as we have seen did not vote for Pedro Espada Jr. Senator Diaz told me on election night as the votes started to come in, that there seemed to be an avalanche of votes against Espada in the northern part of the district that Espada was not going to be able to make up. Senator Diazleaving Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. as the "Lone Amigo" in the New York State Senate

   

 Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., & the Bronx Clergy Task Force

                                      

     Invite you to join our--- “Peace in Our Streets” Initiative

  

“Peace in Our Streets” is a borough-wide community outreach initiative where members of the faith-based community, along with volunteers, go out into the community and speak to fellow Bronxites and disseminate information about ways they can make their neighborhoods safer and help to remove guns from our city’s streets.

Saturday, September 25, 2010

12:00 p.m. – Convene

1:00-4:00 p.m. – Community Outreach

Greater Faith Temple

4214 White Plains Road

If you are outraged by violence in our communities,

be part of the solution and volunteer your time on September 25th!!

This a special call to action to all Bronx houses of worship,

young adults and all Bronxites!

Please wear light blue to signify peace.

 

Bronx Democratic County Organization Getting Very Busy

   Now that the Democratic primary is over the Bronx Democratic County Committee is getting very busy in the next two weeks. Notices are being sent out to all county committee members and Judaical delegates and alternates of the upcoming meetings.

   On Wednesday evening September 22nd the Bronx Democratic County Committee will meet, and decide on officers, after that the elected officers and district leaders will then vote on the county leader. Current Bronx Democratic County Leader Assemblyman Carl E. Heastie is confident that he will be re-elected as Bronx County Leader. The Bronx County Committee meeting will take place at the Eastwood Manor located at 3371 Eastchester Road just south of Boston Road.

   On Thursday night September 23rd the newly elected Bronx County Judicial delegates and alternates will convene to nominate Judicial candidates. The meeting will take place at the Villa Barone Manor located at 737 Throggs Neck Expy, at Phillip Ave. 

   I was able to ask Chairman Heastie about the primary results, and he said that he should not be badgered about loosing only one race (the 86th assembly), when all of the other candidates he backed won. I also asked Chairman Heastie his thoughts on the Republican candidate for governor Carl Palidino. Heastie said "Carl Palidino is the one person that you would want for an opponent, Palidino is a racist, bigot, and anti woman Andrew Cuomo can't loose".  A few weeks ago Republican candidate Carl Palidino visited the Bronx where I was able to ask him his opinion of the recent test score uproar, and bilingual education. Palidino said that he could not give me an answer on those two important education issues, becaus he did not know about them. I wonder if Mr. Palidino has done his research on those and many other important issues to the voters, and would quit using scare tactics that mean nothing to the voters.

Primary 2010 Continued

   We were going around the 33rd State Senate District on primary day, and saw that there was very low voter turnout. We believe that this was because there was no real race of importance to many voters. One reason the turnout was higher in the northern part of the 33rd State Senate District was the fact that the attorney general race was of interest to those voters. Since current AG Andrew Cuomo filed suit charging that Pedro Espada stole 14 million dollars from his Soundview Health Center, that must have been one reason Espada did so bad (being outvoted by up to 5 to 1) in the northern part of the 33rd senate district. 

   While the final tallies won't be in for a few days we were told that Espada did manage to win in the 86th A.D. and was close in the 78th A.D., but only by a very slim margin which was not enough to offset his tremendous deficit from the northern part of the district. 

   I was with Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. when the polls closed and saw that Senator Diaz was both happy and sad at the same time. When I  asked Senator Diaz what was wrong he told me " yes I have won big, but it is looking like I will loose an amigo in the senate". Senator Diaz then told me the early numbers from the northern part of the 33rd State Senate District which had Pedro Espada Jr. behind by very large numbers. 

   I then traveled up to the Gustavo Rivera Victory celebration to arrive as the results were coming in over the televisions that were on. The crowd cheered every time new numbers came in, and the loudest roar came when Senator Pedro Espada Jr. admitted defeat. 

   When Mr. Gustavo Rivera arrived the crowd went crazy chanting "GUSTAVO-GUSTAVO-GUSTAVO" again and again until it was time for the primary winner (and as the Bronx votes new state senator) to speak. Gustavo Rivera first thanked his parents for the way he was brought up, then thanking Ms. Hunter and Dan Padernacht (former candidates who united with him) to defeat Pedro Espada Jr. next came a slip of the lip (or maybe Senator Rivera knows something we don't) as Gustavo thanked Borough President Jeffrey Dinowitz. After correcting himself he thanked Assemblyman Dinowitz, Bronx BP Ruben Diaz Jr., Councilman G. Oliver Koppell (one of the first elected officials to support Mr. Rivera), the rest of the elected officials on hand, the unions for their help and ended by thanking the Working Families Party who also helped in the victory. Mr. Gustavo Rivera now has the Democratic line which all but ensures him victory in the November general election. Mr. Rivera will also have the Working Families Party line, but must face Pedro Espada Jr. again who does have the Independence Party line in the November general election.

Primary Day 2010 The Day After

   It is the day after Primary Day 2010 and the dust is settling so here's what happened.

   In the 33rd State Senate District Gustavo Rivera won, and won big 62% to 33% for Pedro Espada Jr., with 5% going to Dan Padernacht who withdrew to support Gustavo Rivera. 

   In Bronx Assembly races all incumbents have won.

   76th- Peter Rivera squeaks out a victory over his challenger 56% to 44%.

   78th- Jose Rivera wins by 76% to 24% for his challenger.

   80th- Naomi Rivera wins by 69% to 31% over her novice challenger.

   82nd- Mike Bennadetto wins with 73% to 27% split between two challengers.

   85th- Marcos Crespo wins with 73% over his challenger.

   86th- Nelson Castro pulls this one out by winning 56% to 44%. 

   In other State Senate races- 

   28- Jose M. Serrano wins by over 2 to 1 over his challenger (we did not have the exact figures).

   31- Adriano Espaillat wins with 51% to 33% for Mark Levine, and 16% for the other 2 candidates.

   32- Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. wins big 79% to 21% for his challenger.

  In the Attorney General race current State Senator Eric Schniderman won 34% to 32% for Rice, and 33% split between the 3 other AG candidates.

   The other big upset is look out Andrew Cuomo, because upstate businessman Carl Palidino won big in the Republican primary for governor by almost 2 to 1. Rick Lazio did however hold on to win the primary for governor in the Conservative party 60% to 40%, but it does not look good for the conservatives.

  We will have more details and comments in future reports, and in our column 100 PERCENT which appears in the Bronx News, Parkchester News, and Coop-City News.

 

Primary Day 2010 Final Update

   Voter turnout is much lighter than expected since there has been no real reason for voters other than those in the  Riverdale section of the borough to come out and vote for the Attorney General race, and while there are some local races are of importance it looks like the majority of registered voters in the Bronx will complain once again about their elected officials the day after the primary. This time those who did not vote can only look in the mirror and say to themselves, just why didn't you vote yesterday? 

   There have been reports of allegations of impropriety at the poll sites in almost every assembly district, with most having been reported in the 33rd State Senate District. There have been problems citywide with Mayor Bloomberg saying that this morning has been a royal screw up by the board of elections. 

   We are heading out for our final voter tallies, and will be visiting different campaign headquarters to be with the winners and see how those who did not win are doing. 

   We are now calling the 33rd State Senate race a toss up that could go either way due to the very low turnout.

Primary Day 2010 Update

   We just got back from voting, visiting a few poll sites, and having the honor of being at PS 8 where Pedro Espada cast his ballot. 

   First while I was shocked to see only two ballot scan machines at my poll site that has 11 election districts, voting  however went smooth and fast for me. There was no line as my Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz was not facing a primary, so my paper ballot was very easy to read and understand.

   Upon visiting some other poll sites I saw smooth and fast voting with little problems,  just the usual where do I vote. Turnout in the morning has been very light, and even at the larger poll sites. 

   At 10AM I was at PS 8 where Pedro Espada Jr. walked in to his poll site and signed in to vote. Senator Espada was given a paper ballot, asked if he knew how to fill it in, and then given a privacy sleeve to mark his ballot at one of the privacy booths that were set up. When Senator Espada finished marking his ballot he was instructed to go to the ballot scan machine to cast his ballot. Doing so as his vote was scanned and then recorded Espada said "see how easy it is". He added that he is confident that he will be returned to Albany even though it looks like it will be a low voter turnout. Mr. Espada's vote was number 17 at 10:05 AM which seemed low for his poll site. When asked by a reporter who he voted for Espada jokingly said "Padernacht".

More in future updates.

Primary Day 2010

As primary Day 2010 begins there are reports that a shortage of voter scan machines has occurred in the Bronx.

We have been told that there will be only two voter scan machines per poll site no matter how large the poll site may be. 

We will be trying to catch up on some of the important races, and hope to watch New York State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. as he casts his ballot today at 10 A.M. at his local Bronx polling site.

We urge you to carefully look at your ballot to make sure that no stray marks are on it where you are to mark your choice of candidate. This could result in the voter scan machine informing you that there is a problem with your ballot. If you make an error you can ask for a new ballot.