Gun Politics New York

David Yassky is a former staffer to Charles Schumer.  He’s the guy who actually wrote the Brady Bill.  He moved up to the City Council where he continued to push for more gun control like strict gun dealer liability.  Pat, Amy and Barry testified on behalf of NYSRPA in council hearings against these ideas.  Yassky himself defended them on NRA News.  Faced with term limits Yassky decided to run for City Comptroller.  He has no background related to finance so he based his campaign largely on his gun control record.  Both the Daily News and New York Times endorsed his campaign because of it.  New Yorkers Against Gun Violence founder Barbara Hohlt personally contributed to his campaign.  His advertisements loudly and proudly touted his work with Schumer.  Yassky thought it was funny we were telling people to vote against him:

… “This is a badge of honor for David, who has fought for tough gun control for years in order to protect New Yorkers.” …

What did this badge of honor get him in the primary?

He lost with 30% of the vote.

Unfortunately, it was a 4-way race and the winner came up just short of the 40% needed to prevent a runoff.  So Yassky advanced to round two anyway and we let fly a second GOTV mailing.  Now going mano-a-mano with John Liu, Democrats would have a clear choice between the gun control candidate and someone else in a citywide runoff.  Yassky had something Richard Aborn didn’t: an endorsement by Charles Schumer.

And what’s Schumer’s endorsement worth?

A double digit loss.  Yassky gets 44.3% to Liu’s 55.7%.

Since he had to give up his Council seat to run for Comptroller he’s got nowhere else to go so he’s outta here.  For the second time in as many weeks NYC Democrats have rejected the gun control candidate and their agenda and that will further marginalize the people and organizations who promoted them.

The polls are open across NYC and turnout look pitiful.  The final poll showed John Liu with 48%, David Yassky with 40% and 12% undecided.  Let’s hope Liu’s lead holds.

Mayor Bloomberg holds a 52% – 36% lead over Democrat Bill Thompson according to the latest Quinnipiac poll.

He’s never going away.  I already saw talk of him running for a 4th term in 2013.

David Yassky’s attack ad mentions his Chuck Schumer & Times endorsements are based upon his gun control work.

The latest Quinnipiac poll shows John Liu with 49% – 43% lead over David Yassky.  Turnout is critical.  Only about 11% of registered Democrats voted on the 15th and I expect it will be a little less on the 29th.  We can make a difference if our side shows up to vote.

Rick Lazio announced today he’s running for Governor.

Gunnies know he’s a stinker.

So does the general public.  He’s trailing Paterson in the latest poll 39% – 35%.