Gun Politics New York

Guns were a topic in a debate between Adam Haber and Elaine Phillips for the open SD-7 seat:

“… Phillips, the Flower Hill Village mayor, said she “absolutely” supported “common sense gun legislation.” She said that she grew up in western Pennsylvania, where hunting was popular in her community, and was well-educated on gun safety. “What we need to do in New York State is make sure we give the resources to those individuals, our law enforcement, so we don’t have illegal guns brought into New York State,” Phillips said. “So criminals on the street can be apprehended, so we can clean up our streets, we can enforce, but it is law enforcement that needs the resources.” Haber, a former commodities trader and Roslyn school board trustee, said the two may have differing ideas of what “common sense” means. He said he understands that citizens have rights to own or carry a firearm, but he believes “gun control is an important part of keeping our community safe.” …”

Translation: Both candidates stink.

Right now, I’d give Haber the edge in winning the seat, giving a +1 to the mainline Democrat caucus.

Gun control astroturf Americans for Responsible Solutions has endorsed challenger Colleen Deacon in CD-24:

“… Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, a gun control group co-founded by former Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, endorsed Deacon, D-Syracuse, in the 24th Congressional District race … Kelly, who held a conference call with reporters to announce the endorsements, said the candidates and incumbents they’re supporting are “champions of the vocal majority” who want to address gun violence …”

This endorsement is all we need to know about Deacon’s stance on our issues.

“… Kelly said he and Giffords will be embarking on a bus tour throughout the country to campaign for candidates in key races. It wasn’t revealed whether the pair will visit central New York for an event with Deacon …”

Nobody cares about this.

The real question is will ARS cough up some cash for Deacon.  Their PAC is what separates them from the run-of-the-mill antigun astroturf.

Governor Cuomo has endorsed Anna Throne-Holst:

“… The governor also said Throne-Holst will work to address “common-sense gun control laws” … Cuomo noted that Zeldin opposed the SAFE Act when he was a member of the Senate Republican conference, and has voted against gun control measures since arriving in Congress. “Senseless acts of violence continue to claim the lives of too many citizens across our state and country, and this issue is critical to the people of Suffolk County,” the governor said. “Lee Zeldin has allowed the grip of the NRA to persuade his positions, forgoing the needs of his constituents for the deep pockets of the gun lobby.” …”

What is his endorsement actually worth?  Probably not a lot and even less when it is based upon an unpopular issue.  Cuomo gets a lot of criticism for not helping to elect fellow Democrats.  This is an easy way for him to appear to be doing something for them, while not really putting a lot of effort into it.

Zeldin is one of the few bright spots in the NY Republican conference.  I don’t think he is going to waffle on the issue because of this.

A couple of new campaign ads are out, the first by the NRA:

Doesn’t look bad, but I question how effective it will be as it is a bit vague. It doesn’t specifically say not to vote for Hillary or vote for The Donald.

The second ad is by Trump:

I like this one. Good imagery and narration. Only downside is Uncle Ted who is an asshole. If he presented himself like this all the time I’d have more respect for him. Nevertheless, I think it is an effective ad.

New ad from Hillary featuring outgoing Congressman Richard Hanna:

The ad is scheduled to run in various swing-states, not locally.

Some more reasons for optimism in the CD-22 race between Claudia Tenney, Kim Myers and Martin Babinec.  I believe Tenney is leading the group.

First, there are two biased polls, one by the DCCC and another by a Republican-leaning group, which indicate Tenney is either tied or a little ahead of Myers.

Second, a Democrat super PAC is doing a big attack ad campaign against Tenney.  If Myers were out in front they would not be doing that.

With it being a three-way race a candidate only needs a plurality of votes to win.  Tenney had some issues with local Republicans, but appears to have gotten past that.

New Yorkers Against Gun Violence has endorsed Anna Throne-Holst in her campaign against pro-gun incumbent Congressman Lee Zeldin.

I’m not expecting much to come of this except for a brief press conference that will largely be ignored by both the media and general public.