New York Bans Hydrofracking

According to an email blast from Zephyr Teachout, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that New York State will ban the controversial, high-risk horizontal gas drilling process known as hydrofracking or "fracking'.




Teachout called the state's decision a "historic moment" and one of "the great environmental and health victories of the last decade." New York will be the first American state with

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Golden Says the System's Working

If Albany Republicans have their way, the "soup to nuts" review, called for by Governor Andrew Cuomo called for after a Staten Island jury brought back no indictment against NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo in the Eric Garner homicide, would be an empty gesture.

"You don't want to fix something that's not broken," commented Conservative Republican State Senator Martin Golden, NYPD retired, who

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Teachout, WFP Join Forces against Cuomo and the Charter Schools Lobby

The Working Families Party, which dropped Fordham law professor Zephyr Teachout for Governor Andrew Cuomo last fall in trade for Cuomo's (failed) promise to help Democrats regain the State Senate majority, has rejoined Teachout in an effort to stop Cuomo from raising the cap on charter schools again.



Teachout warned, with Cuomo apparently trying to change education policy on the sly and on

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Ecce Cuomo

Will Democrats remember, four years down the road, Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez wondered, how Machiavellian Andrew Cuomo sailed to a second term as governor by throwing progressives under the bus?

To wrest the Working Families Party endorsement away from progressive Democrat Zephyr Teachout, Cuomo made a deal with the WFP's backers, including labor unions and other progressive groups, to

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PHDR Endorses Hawkins for Governor

According to an email from Raul Rothblatt of Prospect Heights Democrats for Reform, the progressive Democratic club, having "zero" interest in any other gubernatorial candidate, has endorsed Howie Hawkins, the Green Party candidate for governor of New York.

It feels good, he said, to stand up for your beliefs.

Hawkins, Rothblatt said, is "thoughtful', "well-versed in the issues, and a "great

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Howie Hawkins Hopes for 7-10%

As reported by Capital New York, Howie Hawkins, the 61-year-old UPS worker and fracking foe running for governor on the Green Party line, is starting to look like a real candidate, raising five times more money than he did in 2010: enough to staff up to 10 and score the support of a record 9% of voters in a recent Quinnipiac University poll.



Hawkins' 2014 rise began when the progressive,

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Cuomo Will (Probably) Debate Astorino

Rob Astorino

The well-deserved criticism heaped on Gov. Andrew Cuomo for stubbornly refusing to debate -- or even acknowledge -- primary opponent Zephyr Teachout has given the advantage to Republican challenger Rob Astorino, who Cuomo has agreed (after elbowing by the Daily News, Channel 7, Univision, and the League of Women Voters) to debate between now and the November 4 general election.

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Teachout: "We Are the Possible"

In a thank-you note to supporters yesterday, Democratic primary challenger Zephyr Teachout credited her stoestring campaign -- without money to spend on ads or mailers -- with nevertheless getting heard: carrying 24 counties, capping Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a bare 60% of the vote, and puncturing the illusion that he is a popular incumbent.

Her people-led campaign demonstrated the rise of a new

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Shunning, Threats as Primary Day Approaches

The video, now gone viral, shows Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Democratic Primary opponent Zephyr Teachout face-to-face with him at Saturday's Labor Day Parade in Manhattan. But then, Cuomo enforcer Joe Percoco steps in to body-block the Fordham professor -- twice. As Teachout holds out her hand and says "Hi", Cuomo turns away to greet a grinning Bill deBlasio.



Asked by a reporter later about the

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"Mister Machiavelli to You"

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Buying Time and Buying Silence

For Democratic Primary challengers Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu, law professors running to expose Albany's culture of corruption, the race could come down to the extent of mass media coverage of their campaign during the week remaining before the September 9 Democratic Primary.



With Gov. Andrew Cuomo refusing to even talk to Teachout about scheduling a primary debate, her ability to access

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Teachout-Wu Campaign Gaining Momentum

Gov. Andrew Cuomo's challenger Zephyr Teachout, with the battle for the ballot behind her but with less than two weeks left before the September 9 Democratic Primary, is barnstorming the state and raising campaign cash.

Teachout sees herself and running mate Tim Wu having a real shot.The likely turnout for the Democratic Primary is 750,000, with thin support for Cuomo among those likely voters

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New York Times Endorses Tim Wu for Lt. Governor

The New York Times Editorial Board, acknowledging that the New York lieutenant governor's office  is a "feeble" one, has endorsed Tim Wu, Zephyr Teachout's running mate, against Gov. Andrew Cuomo's lt. governor pick Kathy Hochul in the September 9 Democratic Primary.

Comparing Columbia Law professor Wu to former congressional representative Hochul, the Times saw newcomer Wu bringing a fresh

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No Love for Cuomo in Prospect Heights

At a candidate debate last night in Prospect Heights, two of three candidates running for retiring Brooklyn Assembly Member Joan Millman's seat told the Observer that they're voting for Gov. Andrew Cuomo's long-shot primary challenger Zephyr Teachout in the September 9 Democratic Primary. The third was undecided.



At the event at Duryea Presbyterian Church in Prospect Heights, Democratic

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Quinn Fronting Cuomo's Women's Equality Party

According to a Daily News exclusive, former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, is one of the organizers of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Women's Equality Party.



Quinn, re-entering politics after losing last year's Democratic mayoral primary, has played a key behind-the-scenes role in organizing her old ally's new party, making her first pubic appearance at a WEP City Hall rally last week.



Quinn

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New York State NOW Endorses Teachout

The New York State chapter of the National Organization for Women has announced its endorsement of Zephyr Teachout, Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Democratic primary challenger.

According to the Teachout campaign, the endorsement was made despite the governor's behind-the-scenes lobbying to get NOW board members to change their minds.

Zenaida Mendez, President of the NYS NOW Chapter, called Teachout "a

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Appellate Division Upholds Teachout Residency Decision

The State Supreme Court Appellate Division, 2nd Department, has unanimously rejected Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s third failed attempt to kick Democratic primary challenger Zephyr Teachout off the Democratic primary ballot on September 9.



The Appellate Division, in denying and dismissing the appeal, found it merely "ambiguous", not dispositive, that Teachout had resided at several different addresses

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Cuomo's "Unprecedented" Refusal to Schedule Special Elections

As Caribbean Life reported in March, there are an estimated 700,000 Brooklyn residents, including residents of State AD 54 (Bushwick/Cypress Hills); AD 55 (Brownsville/Ocean Hill); AD 59 (Canarsie/Marine Park/Mill Basin/Gerritsen Beach); and AD 60 (East New York); and the 20th State Senate district (Crown Heights/Brownsville/Prospect Heights/Park Slope/Sunset Park) with no elected

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Teachout in to Win

Having survived Gov. Andrew Cuomo's attempt to keep her off the Democratic Primary ballot on September 9, progressive Democrat Zephyr Teachout is getting ink in New York City as Cuomo, appealing the judge's decision to let her on the ballot, ignores her calls for a primary debate.

In a Gothamist ride-along interview in Ulster County, Teachout, still with only 10% name recognition in New York,

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The Wu Factor

Bill Hammond, in a Daily News op-ed today, found more intriguing than the main event the fact that Democratic gubernatorial challenger Zephyr Teachout's primary running mate, Columbia law professor Tim Wu, might end up on the ticket with Andrew Cuomo in the November General Election.

How could that happen?  New York's quirky electoral laws. No. 1, although the governor and lt. governor

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