STATEWIDE
Senator - Kirsten Gillibrand - I was unsure about her but she fought hard for a strong public option in the health care reform bill. She is a strong supporter of same sex marriage and I was particularly pleased to find out that she opposes the death penalty. She's no Sherrod Brown or Bernie Sanders, but she is certainly not objectionable from a progressive point of view.
Attorney General- Eric Schneiderman - I can't say enough good things about him. Schneiderman has been a progressive hero in the State Senate, fighting for tenants rights, marriage equality, and bucking the corrupt leadership at every turn. There are some other good candidates but none with the track record of fighting for social justice that Schneiderman has.
LOCAL
Congress - 14th District - Carolyn Maloney - Maloney is a solid progressive. She supports single payer health care, opposes the death penalty and has worked to reign in credit card company abuses. Her challenger, Reshma Saujani is a wall street hack who was just eviscerated in a piece by Wayne Barrett in the Village Voice.
State Senate - 30th district - Bill Perkins - Perkins is being challenged for re election by an opponent who says Bill hasn't been supportive of charter schools. Perkins voted to raise the charter cap but only after important reforms were included that ban for-profit charters and address "co-location" issues when a charter school shares space with a regular public school. Perkins has been a fighter for tenants rights, marriage equality, labor rights and social justice. He deserves to be re-elected.
State Senate - 33 district - Gustavo Rivera - Rivera is challenging the most embarrassing and corrupt fool in NYS government, Pedro Espada. Espada threw the state into chaos when he switched to the Republican Party and then demanded to be made majority leader for the Dems to get his vote back. He is bought and paid for by real estate interests and has single handedly blocked legislation that would strengthen tenant protections. Gustavo Rivera is a strong progressive who will be a team player and work to represent this low income district as opposed to the wealthy developers Espada sells his vote to.
State Senate - 32 district - Charlie Ramos - Ramos is challenging, Ruben Diaz Sr, a sickening bigot who has been the main reason marriage equality has failed in the State Senate. Diaz is a despicable blowhard who is an embarrassment to the state. It is critical to the credibility of the Democratic Party that Diaz and Espada are defeated in this primary. These districts are in the Bronx but they are probably the most important elections in the whole state on Tuesday. If you can contribute or volunteer, please do..
http://gustavoforstatesenate.com/
http://www.charlieramos2010.com/
