![]() Weinstein, currently at 30.5%, by all rights should be considered a reform candidate rather than a more traditional public safety candidate, as the media have portrayed her - and certainly not the Trump-aligned financial sector caricature portrayed in certain corners. Likewise, former ADA Lucy Lang, who received 7.6%, staked out reformist positions close to, but not going quite as far as, Bragg’s. So it is likely that some of Bragg’s support came from people otherwise partial to Orlins, Aboushi, and Quart. He also received extensive financial support from a California racial justice organization that supports progressive prosecutors like Philadelphia DA Larry Krasner. Indeed, Bragg, currently at 34%, courted the progressive left, ultimately garnering the coveted endorsement of former gubernatorial candidate Zephyr Teachout (which he combined with support from Preet Bharara, a more traditional law-and-order type). Like Orlins, he has pledged not to prosecute consensual sex for money, and would issue a policy on his first day in office precluding ADAs from seeking prison sentences longer than 20 years even for the most heinous crimes. Bragg, for one, also staked out positions some would consider radical. Quart and all the remaining candidates received an “Approved” rating from the non-partisan lawyers’ group.īut although it seems clear that a majority of Manhattanites steered clear of the radical reformer’s playbook in favor of more traditional liberalism, the story is not as clean as the 82% of voters who rejected the three most progressive candidates. Like Orlins, Aboushi was unsurprisingly rated “Not Approved” by the New York City Bar Association. ![]() Her 11% finish is remarkable in absolute terms, but even more when combined with totals for Orlins and the third far-left candidate, Dan Quart: The three barely hit 18%. One of those, Tahanie Aboushi, staked out a radical decarceral platform in which she pledged not to prosecute crimes like commercial burglary and promised to offer alternatives to incarceration for even the most serious crimes. Orlins, who went all in to decriminalize sex work in Manhattan and who pledged massive budget cuts and staff changes if elected, was done in both by the more traditional liberals that make up the Manhattan Democratic Party’s core electorate and the two other candidates who competed for the left end of the spectrum. For all her star power and social media following, all her boasts about having more donors than any other candidate, former “Survivor” contestant and public defender Eliza Orlins didn’t crack 5%. The key lesson is that Manhattan Democrats are not as radically progressive as the loud voices on Twitter might lead one to believe. With the caution that the available returns don’t include those absentees, what did we learn? But a day later, it’s time to write about politics. My previous writings about this race focused on the substance of the issues, the office and the qualifications of particular candidates. Bragg would be first African-American Manhattan DA in history, while Weinstein would be the first woman and the first immigrant. We don’t yet have definitive results, but the in-person vote shows Alvin Bragg ahead of Tali Farhadian Weinstein by about 7,000 votes, with at least 27,000 and as many as 59,000 absentee votes yet to be counted. ![]() Nine candidates threw their hat in the ring, and astonishingly, eight stuck it out to the end. Manhattan has never seen a district attorney election (well, primary, but let’s not quibble) like this one. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |