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QC07182013

14 The QUEE NS Courier • juLY 18, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com ▶politics THE COURIER/File photo Councilmember Leroy Comrie, seen pictured at his campaign kickoff, has exited the borough president race. COMRIE QUITS BP RACE BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Councilmember Leroy Comrie has dropped his bid for borough president, his campaign announced over the weekend. “After careful consideration, my family and I believe, due to personal matters, this is the best course of action,” he said in a statement. “I remain steadfast in my faith and belief in government and it is a true honor to continue to serve the people of southeast Queens in my capacity as councilmember.” Comrie, who trailed rivals in fundraising, represents the 27th District, which covers St. Albans, Hollis, Cambria Heights, Jamaica, parts of Queens Village, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens. He was first elected in 2002. His final term ends this year. Comrie is the deputy majority leader, head of the council’s Queens delegation and chair of the Land Use Committee. He was locked in a Democratic primary with Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., State Senator Tony Avella, former legislator Melinda Katz and businessman Everly Brown. Republican candidate Tony Arcabascio is also running. After the Queens County Democratic Party endorsed Katz, there were rumors of a Comrie exit in late May. It was the second major snub after Katz landed the backing of several leaders in Comrie’s district, including the Reverend Floyd Flake, who is the senior pastor of the 23,000-member Greater Allen African Methodist Episcopal Cathedral in Jamaica. “Queens is one of the greatest boroughs in our city,” Comrie said, “and I am thankful to everyone for the opportunity to showcase my platform for inclusion and empowerment and express my passion for the borough that was afforded me in this race.” LATEST ENDORSEMENTS The League of Independent Theater endorsed Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr. for borough president, Cathy Guerriero for public advocate, Scott Stringer for comptroller and Costa Constantinides for City Council District 22. MAYOR The New York State Federation of College Republicans endorsed John Catsimatidis. State Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein endorsed Bill Thompson. PUBLIC ADVOCATE A dozen Queens elected officials and Bronx Assemblymember Luis Sepulveda endorsed Reshma Saujani. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. endorsed Councilmember Letitia James. BOROUGH PRESIDENT The Uniformed Firefighters Association endorsed Melinda Katz. CITY COUNCIL The Small Business Coalition endorsed Paul Vallone for District 19. Local 580 of the Ornamental Iron Workers Union endorsed Lew Simon for District 32. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS FILED The city’s Campaign Finance Board has posted the following filings for 2013 city and Queens races. Candidates collected these net contributions from May 12 to July 11. Disclosure statements were due July 15. MAYOR* Adolfo Carrion, Jr.: $1,157,055 John Catsimatidis: $4,018,585 Bill de Blasio: $4,141,972 Joe Lhota: $1,798,839 John Liu: $3,389,446 Christine Quinn: $7,637,577 Bill Thompson, Jr.: $3,943,808 Anthony Weiner: $5,968,061 *candidates who raised above $1 million PUBLIC ADVOCATE Daniel Squadron: $1,401,242 Reshma Saujani: $1,305,612 Letitia James: $691,185 Cathy Guerriero: $227,552 Sidique Wai: $44,779 COMPTROLLER Scott Stringer: $3,680,289 Eliot Spitzer: unknown John Burnett: $36,401 Kristin Davis: $391 QUEENS BOROUGH PRESIDENT Peter Vallone Jr.: $1,076,638 Melinda Katz: $658,653 Tony Avella: $70,773 Tony Arcabascio: $4,510 CITY COUNCIL District 19 Austin Shafran: $100,762 Paul Vallone: $81,995 John Duane: $ 81,795 Dennis Saffran: $51,999 Paul Graziano: $23,308 Chrissy Voskerichian: $20,035 District 20 Peter Koo: $367,358 Sunny Hahn: $17,895 Evergreen Chou: $200 District 22 Costa Constantinides: $130,583 Constantinos Prentzas: $25,345 Lynne Serpe: $11,538 Daniel Peterson: $8,466 Danielle De Stefano: $7,021 District 23 Mark Weprin: $223,491 District 24 Rory Lancman: $117,799 Alexander Blishteyn: $17,371 Mujib Rahman: $14,195 Andrea Veras: $9,005 District 26 Jimmy Van Bramer: $144,955 District 27 Daneek Miller: $54,318 Clyde Vanel: $37,107 Manuel Caughman: $29,476 Gregory Mays: $10,635 Sondra Peeden: $5,753 District 28 Hettie Powell: $48,069 Ruben Wills: $37,815 David Kayode: $10,899 Christina Winslow: $2,644 Joseph Marthone: $1,261 Breina Payne: $900 District 29 Karen Koslowitz: $79,239 Jon Torodash: $1,890 District 30 Elizabeth Crowley: $160,263 Craig Caruana: $31,318 District 32 Eric Ulrich: $32,911 Lew Simon: $19,445 William Ruiz: $3,281 LEVER VOTING MACHINES FOR PRIMARIES BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com The city’s Board of Elections (BOE) will use old-fashioned lever voting machines instead of modern scan systems in this year’s primaries. Governor Andrew Cuomo, with hesitations, signed the bill into law on July 8, allowing the date for a possible run-off to be moved to October 1 as well. “I strongly believe that the use of lever voting machines is a poor solution to the Board’s concerns,” Cuomo wrote in his approval letter. The governor feared lever machines would pose “significant problems” as they are “often inaccessible” to disabled voters and more prone to losing votes than electronic systems. But BOE officials said they needed lever machines in order to finalize primary election results and prepare for a run-off in time. Scanning machines would have been difficult to reset, they said, in the two weeks between the September 10 primary and the original September 24 run-off, which occurs if no candidate takes 40 percent of the vote. Cuomo said there were “less burdensome solutions” to most of the Board’s issues, including changing its hand count requirements and using high-speed scanners. “Nevertheless, circumstances require that I sign this bill into law,” he wrote. “Preventing the use of lever voting machines through a veto could profoundly impact the integrity of this year’s elections.” The city will return to using optical scan voting machines for its November 5 general elections.


QC07182013
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