ICYMI, it’s Election Day

Last chance! Polls close today at 9p.

Find your polling site here.

ON THE BALLOT
(You can see all the candidates and plan your ballot here. My shorthand below. The anti-vaxxers are declared as part of the Medical Freedom Party.)

  • Senator (Chuck Schumer vs. Diane Sare, a Lyndon LaRouche disciple, and Republican Joe Pinion, a politics reporter who was raised in Yonkers and went to Horace Mann)
  • Congressional District 10 (Tribeca resident Dan Goldman vs. Republican and Brooklynite Benine Hamdan and anti-vaxxer Steve Speer)
  • Governor (Sitting governor Kathy Hochul vs. Long Island Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin whose top issues are curbing crime, cutting taxes and stopping congestion pricing)
  • State Comptroller (Sitting comptroller Thomas DiNapoli vs. Republican Paul Rodriguez)
  • Attorney General (AG Letitia James vs. Republican and Queens resident Michael Henry)
  • State Senate District 27 (Sitting senator Brian Kavanagh vs. anti-vaxxer Eric Rassi)
  • State Assembly District 66 (Longtime Assemblywoman Deborah Glick running unopposed)

ALSO ON THE BALLOT
Four ballot proposals: #1 is statewide and #2-4 are for NYC only
My text here is from The City. Read their story for more analysis.

Proposal 1: Environmental Bond Act of 2022
“This proposal would allow New York State to borrow $4.2 billion through a bond issuance for specific environment-related projects and policy efforts. That includes $250 million for improving stormwater systems, $200 million for wastewater infrastructure, $500 million for zero-emissions school buses and $1.5 billion for climate mitigation such as wetland protection and renewable energy projects.”

Proposal 2: Statement of Values for City Government
“This measure would create a mission statement of sorts for New York’s government by adding a preamble to the city charter that includes a statement of ‘values and vision,’ the ballot proposal says, that aims to create a ‘just and equitable city for all.’ The proposal, like proposals three and four, was born from former mayor Bill de Blasio’s Racial Justice Commission. The mayor convened the RJC in 2021 following the widespread protests of systemic racism and police violence in 2020.”

Proposal 3: Racial Equity Plans and Office
“This measure would bring three new requirements to the city charter: mandating that all city agencies create ‘racial equity plans’ every two years, establishing a new Office of Racial Equity to coordinate racial equity planning across city government and creating a Commission on Racial Equity. That commission would identify and propose priorities for racial equity planning, and review the racial equity plans for each city agency.”

Proposal 4: True Cost of Living
“This measure would mandate that the city government use a new method to calculate the ‘true cost of living’ in the city without taking into account public, private or informal assistance a person or household may receive. The RJC advocated for this change, it said, because it concluded that current poverty measures are not accurate for New York City’s needs or policy decisions. The proposed measure would include costs related to housing, childcare, food, transportation, healthcare, clothing and shoes, hygiene products, household items, and telephone and internet services, among other things.”

 

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