City & State New York
WILLIAM ALATRISTE/FOR THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL
December 4, 2017
“Hakeem Jeffries, it’s presumed, has interest in running for other positions,” a Democratic political insider told City & State. “You establish a lot of quid pro quos, a lot of chips, in this whole process. Joe may need Hakeem, Hakeem may need to get someone who he can work with as speaker.” The speaker candidate who asked to remain anonymous said he also thought that Crowley’s political ambitions may force him to play nice. “If I’m (Crowley), I want the least amount of blood as possible,” he said. “I want to leave this one a winner, but I want to leave it unscathed so I can walk into D.C. and say, ‘We’ve done this back home’ and not have people on different sides of the Democratic spectrum to a great degree be mad at him.” Crowley, who declined to comment for this article, also has the opportunity to strengthen already good relationships with the unions, including RWDSU, which has pull among Washington Democrats. Despite his wishes, de Blasio is not a national figure, but Crowley must consider his relationship with the city’s chief executive as well. De Blasio championing Mark-Viverito in 2014 helped swing the race in her favor, but four years later, de Blasio’s no longer a newly elected progressive darling and his influence has weakened as he enters his final term. To many of the candidates, de Blasio’s open or implied support would be considered a negative, as grounds for an allegation that someone is not sufficiently independent. But Crowley met with de Blasio in midNovember, and the mayor is expected to still have a say in Crowley’s decision. But the speaker’s race may be as much about the next mayor as the current one. A number of rumored 2021 mayoral candidates are influencing the race for speaker, including Jeffries, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who is an influential voice in the Bronx Democratic Party. New York City Public Advocate Letitia James even hosted her own public forum for speaker candidates on Nov. 30. “It’s in the interest of everyone to build out bridges in the places they may not be strong,” said the speaker candidate who asked to remain anonymous. Potential mayoral candidates like Adams and Diaz have been reaching out to speaker candidates hoping to build relationships. According to the candidate, backing a speaker of a different race or ethnicity,
or from a different borough, could be especially helpful for potential mayoral candidates who are already thinking about building coalitions for 2021. “A lot of people are flirting with different people, and we’ll just see where this madness goes as it begins to wrap up eventually,” he said. Another Democratic insider said there was a more important dynamic at play. “If I were Ruben Diaz Jr. or if I were Tish James … I would not really care who the speaker is. I would care that during this process of negotiating who the speaker is that I bond myself to Queens,” the insider said. Crowley, with his powerful hold over the borough’s Democratic Party, is expected to be a factor in that race too, as Democrats jockey for position ahead of the primary. But with four years to go, more candidates for mayor could emerge, including whoever ends up becoming speaker. Both Miller and Quinn launched credible runs for mayor after their terms as speaker concluded. There was no opening for Mark-Viverito to run for mayor this year, due to de Blasio seeking a second term, but the next speaker would at least consider a run for the Democratic nomination when the office opens up in 2021. That 2021 election is guaranteed to change the city’s political landscape. The 2017 elections saw just 11 new council members, and incumbents kept all three citywide positions. Because of term limits,
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all the citywide seats are expected to be open in 2021 as well as some three dozen City Council seats. “A significant number of City Council members are term-limited in four years,” Jeffries told City & State. “And so in many ways, decisions that are made as it relates to the speaker’s race will reverberate across the city all the way through to the 2021 election cycle.” THE CRAIN’S SPEAKER’S DEBATE was the first public event in what’s sure to be a busy two months for the candidates vying for speaker. Many insiders don’t expect a decision until late December. Why cut it off when there’s always something else to negotiate for? Some candidates may drop out of the race, backing others in the hopes of earning a prime committee chairmanship, or just hoping not to burn bridges with the next speaker. People refer to the speaker’s race as chess game, but it’s much more complicated, with no set rules and innumerable winners and losers – and some won’t know their lot for years. “We are all talking and we are all speaking to all of those who want to weigh in and actually have a right to weigh in because this is an incredibly important thing for all of us to decide, and I look forward to that,” Van Bramer said at the Crain’s forum. “And I just reiterate my endorsement of Joe Crowley for speaker.”
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THE CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER CANDIDATES HAVE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP THEIR DISTANCE FROM MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO, SEEN HERE WITH DONOVAN RICHARDS AND CORNEGY.