Gun Politics New York

Further humiliation for David Weprin and the Democrats: latest Sienna polling shows Bob Turner up by 6 points.  DCC is dropping $500K into the race to save Weprin’s bacon.  NRA apparently sent out orange postcards on behalf of Turner, although this is not listed on the PVF website.

Brooklyn Politics offers their opinion on why Turner is leading.

Another poll for CD-9 shows Bob Turner leading David Weprin by 4 points.  That’s unheard of in the district which last elected a Republican in the 1920s.  Worse (for Weprin) is that Dov Hikind endorsed Turner.  Democrats are nearing PSH levels with a new fundraiser mailer attacking Turner.

Democrats are clearly worried that David Weprin is going to blow it in CD-9.  Obama, Schumer and Cuomo are all getting into the act.  Despite his public support for more gun control, he’s received nothing from the Brady’s or NYAGV demonstrating again their lack of political substance.

Rick Perry stating his position on guns:

Continuing with the David Weprin v. Bob Turner race, the Democrats have released their own internal polling which shows Weprin up by 8%.  Some thoughts on this:

Weprin Leading and Nearing Majority Support
Democrat David Weprin currently leads Republican Bob Turner by an eight-point margin, 47% to 39%, with 14% still undecided in the special election contest.

Given the 3-1 enrollment advantage, he should have overwhelming support.  The fact that even Democrats must acknowledge he only has a small lead underscores Weprin’s weakness.

Weprin Ahead Despite Being Less Known
Turner is familiar to 66% of voters in the district thanks to his previous run for the seat, with 40% rating him favorably and 26% unfavorably. Weprin is familiar to fewer voters (59%), with 35% rating him favorably and 24% unfavorably.

Voters don’t know who Weprin is?  Bullshit.  He ran for City Comptroller two years ago.  He was in the City Council before heading to Albany.  Plus there’s his brother Mark and his old man.  He’s been in the public eye for years.  Everybody knows who David Weprin is.

District Prefers Democrat as Representative
By a wide, 14-point margin, voters here prefer a generic Democratic candidate for Congress (46%) over a generic Republican candidate (32%).

Probably true, but given the voter enrollment a generic Democrat should be closer to 65% right out of the gate.  Weprin is nowhere near there.  He’s got serious problems and the Democrats cannot spin it otherwise.

David Weprin tries raising the gun issue.  The Queens Chronicle reports:

“…. The democratic candidate also highlighted his stances on gun control and abortion rights.  “I’ve been a strong advocate on gun control,” Weprin said. “There’s a lot of national bills that would really prevent illegal weapons.” …”

With a Sienna poll showing a close race between Weprin and Republican Bob Turner despite the 3-1 Democrat enrollment advantage, why he feels the need to bring up is unclear especially given his past history of antigun advocacy.  The campaign must be worried that he could lose.  A new GOP poll shows both candidates tied at 42% apiece.  I would guess the Democrats have done internal polling and gotten similar results.