After serving his first term as a New York State Senator, John Sabini is confident that he will have the opportunity to serve a second term, as he is getting ready for a September primary battle for the 13th District against current City Councilmember Hiram Monserrate.
“The best way to get reelected as an elected official is to do a good job while you are in office, and I believe we will be measured as such, and I am pretty confident we will be measured in a positive way,” Sabini said.
Sabini believes that after serving in Albany for two years, he has worked for structural change in Albany, but he said there is still more to do.
“I believe Albany, despite some modest reform, still needs overhaul in order to get it working the way it should.”
In addition to structural changes in Albany, Sabini believes that delivering quality health care to the local community will be essential during the next term.
Before serving as a Senator, Sabini served three terms in the New York City Council and believes his experience in city and state government have helped him become a more effective legislator.
As a Senator, Sabini received several high-profile appointments unprecedented for a new member including a ranking member of the Elections Committee and the Rules Committee, making him the first freshman Democrat to serve in that capacity.
Sabini said he was not surprised that Monserrate decided to run against him, however, he was surprised about the timing.
“I am surprised that someone would take $87,000 from the taxpayers to run for City Council and serve less than a year of his term,” Sabini said, referring to Monserrate taking the money from the campaign finance board to run for reelection. “It would seem to me that when you agree to take that money from the taxpayers that you would actually want to serve out the contract, or at least more than a year.”
Sabini said that his campaign is working hard to get the vote out for the primary including canvassing the area, knocking on doors, appearing at public events, direct mail, and phone calls, but he said it is not running a smart campaign that will get him reelected.
“Ultimately, I believe that the campaign is won and lost in the years you are not running when people judge whether or not you are doing a good job.”
SPEAKING OF POLITICS…
BY JESSICA LYONS
Carl and Kelly Mattone recently held a reception for Andrew Cuomo, a candidate for New York State Attorney General. Among those in attendance were Councilmembers Leroy Comrie, James Gennaro and Melinda Katz, Assemblymembers Ann Margaret Carrozza and Mark Weprin and Senator John Sabini, just to name a few.
Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who is running for the 13th district Senate seat, received the endorsement of leaders and advocates of the South Asian community during a conference held on Wednesday, August 2.
Carmen Enriquez, a teacher at PS 149 in Jackson Heights, announced that she will on the ballet in the primaries in September to run for a seat in the 39th Assembly District. She said that she filed a petition with about 4,000 signatures.
David Paterson, a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, joined Councilmember John Liu and State Assembly candidate Ellen Young as they visited several local senior centers on Wednesday, August 9.
Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who is a candidate for the New York State Senate, announced that he is endorsing candidate Mark Green for New York State Attorney General. Green also gave his endorsement to Monserrate.
Nora Marino, who is running for the State Senate in the 11th District, released a statement about education funding saying that, if elected, she will fight to make sure that city schools get the funding that is due to them.
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is running for Governor, visited the Jamaica AirTrain Station on Friday, August 11 to discuss his “economic development plans for urban communities.”
As part of a joint campaign rally for Senator Hillary Clinton and Senator John Sabini, the two visited LeFrak City in Corona. While speaking to residents, Clinton said, “I'm proud to stand here with John Sabini; we need to get him back in office. He's got the experience, he works hard and he delivers for the people.”
Assembly candidate Terence Park lost an appeal to the Supreme Court to have the Board of Elections decision to take him off the ballot reversed. He is now appealing to the appellate court.
Attorney General Spitzer in governor's race
By JESSICA LYONS
Since 1998, Eliot Spitzer has been serving New York State as its Attorney General and is now looking to continue working to benefit the state by serving as its governor.
While New York State Attorney General, Spitzer has been recognized by various media organizations for his work. New York magazine gave him their Public Service Award while, in 2002, Time magazine named him the “Crusader of the Year.”
During approximately eight years as attorney general, Spitzer said the highlight of the position was “bringing cases that reflect the values of the public.” Some of those involved Wall Street, environmental issues, initiatives to assist immigrants, low-wage labor and government corruption.
Spitzer has said that he decided to run for governor to use the skills he developed while working as attorney general.
“I really thought that I had established for the public that I understood how to run a government entity,” said Spitzer, adding that his term as attorney general illustrates that he knows what needs to be done.
Among Spitzer's priorities are improving the state's economy, the public school system and transportation while also addressing tax relief, security issues and environmental issues.
In regards to Queens, Spitzer said that he wants to help the borough expand.
“Queens is New York,” he said, remarking on the diversity of the borough. “What is holding Queens back right now is a lack of transportation and a lack of housing.”
Spitzer, who was born in the Bronx and now lives in Manhattan, said that he wants to expand transportation excess to central business areas and create funding to support businesses, which are just two of the ways that he wants to help Queens.
Some of the qualities that Spitzer said he can bring to the office of governor are ones that he has used as attorney general, such as having integrity and being hardworking, among others.
“Hopefully it will translate well into the governor's office,” said Spitzer, who attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School.
Although current polls have Spitzer as the favorite to win the governor's race, he said that he isn't taking anything for granted and will continue to conduct a strong campaign.
“I'm satisfied that we're working hard and we'll do so until November 7,” Spitzer said.
For more information on Spitzer and his campaign for governor, visit www.spitzer2006.com.
