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Volume XXI • Number 22 • May 29 - June 4, 2014 •
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Klein crushes Koppell in Dem Club vote Former City Councilman Oliver Koppell’s “Last Hurrah” campaign to return to public office suffered a stinging blow Thursday night when he was decisively defeated for the endorsement of his own political club, the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club. Koppell is seeking to renter public office by challenging State Senator Jeffrey Klein, who is seeking reelection. Senator Klein leads an group of Democrats who have entered into a power-sharing agreement with Republicans in the State Senate. This has made Klein one of the most influential figures in Albany, and changed the face of the notoriously dysfunctional New York political scene, perhaps forever. At the Ben Franklin club, Klein defeated Koppell by a nearly three-to-one margin, 96 votes to 38. Eleven others cast ballots for “no-endorsement.” This would seem to put an end to more than a half-century of Koppell’s involvement with the Ben Franklin Club. On Thursday, the club’s prowess in gathering the signatures necessary to place candidates on the ballot will be unleashed on behalf of Senator Klein. This marks the first time in decades that Mr. Koppell has had to gather his own signatures without the assistance and coordination of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, well known for his expertise in these matters. Mr. Koppell will have to present a minimum of 1000 valid signatures of enrolled Democratic voters in the Senate District, which covers much of the north and east Bronx, as well as large areas of Westchester. Mr. Koppell presumably knew what he was facing hours before Thursday night’s vote, when he called Mr. Dinowitz and suggested that the club not endorse any candidate. Just days before such a suggestion might have been accepted by the Klein forces. But for reasons not clear, perhaps due to the aggressive and nasty nature of the internal campaign effort among club members, Mr. Koppell’s position steadily deteriorated. The move for no-endorsement became the opening gambit in the Koppell effort as the 150 or so club members coming to vote gathered in the American Legion Hall on Corlear Avenue. Tasting victory, the Klein faction rejected these efforts, and pressed for total victory. They were rewarded for their strategy. In defeat, Koppell vowed to press on and put the best spin on the crushing defeat. His wife, attorney Lorraine Coyle Koppell, emailed this analysis to supporters, misstating, presumably by error, the number of Klein votes, which we are told by club officials was indeed 96, not 86. Somehow the more than two-to-one drubbing was morphed into a Koppell victory by her analysis. “Although at first blush the club’s
By a surprisingly large margin, members of Riverdale’s Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club backed Klein over Koppell. endorsing Klein seemed so lopsided and it was and then again it wasn’t. “Deduct from Klein’s 86 votes all of Dinowitz’s family and staff; Cohen’s family and staff, Klein’s staff and close friend and Eliot’s staff (assume they voted with Klein - don’t know for sure but they are friendly with Dinowitz although also friendly with Oliver), the Felds and then all of the inspectors (who were all of those people I had never seen before and I estimate at least 20-25 inspectors were called in and showed up just for this vote knowing that if they didn’t their inspector jobs were on the line) and Klein is left with far less than 1/2 of the vote because Oliver got 38 votes and we asked people to do no endorsement and no endorsement got 11 so effectively Oliver got 49 votes and Klein I estimate less than 30. “I ran this by a few other people to see if I was kidding myself and I am not. Heard Jeff and Bruce were not happy with the margin and that made me look at the numbers again as to why. “What was the most telling about this vote is that NOT one person talked about the integrity of Jeff Klein; what a good Democrat he is - the talk was about his doing what he was asked to do and bringing money into the district. Is that the standard that we go by? How ‘bout all those people who are not getting an increase in the minimum wage? How ‘bout those students who won’t be able to go to college because the Dream Act failed? How
‘bout the women’s agenda? How ‘bout the fact that there is not one Latino, not one Latina not one African-American in the so-called IDC or as a committee chair. Why was none of that important to those people who spoke on Klein›s behalf? They didn›t mention any of that.” In fact as Ms. Coyle once again raised the race issue, it was boomeranged back at her husband when Assemblyman Dinowitz, in his remarks, noted that in 2009, then-Councilman Koppell endorsed Republican candidate for mayor Michael Bloomberg over the Democrat, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, thus denying the city’s highest ranking African-American official from becoming mayor. Dinowitz called this hypocritical, and the crowd seemed to agree. Klein’s press syaff issued a statement saying that “the overwhelming support from the progressive club is a major vindication of Klein’s leadership on core Democratic issues and a resounding rejection of the candidacy of his challenger who once served as a past president of the Benjamin Franklin Club and had been endorsed by its membership in numerous previous elections.” “I’m honored to win the endorsement of the esteemed Ben Franklin Club. I look forward to working with its membership, and the leaders who represent the 81st Assembly District on Democratic issues well into the future,” said Klein. A week before the club’s endorsement,
influential Ben Franklin stalwarts Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Councilman Andrew Cohen, former Councilwoman June Eisland, 81st Assembly District Leaders Randi Martos and Bruce Feld and State Committeewoman Helen Morik backed Klein’s reelection bid. “Jeff Klein deserves reelection as our State Senator. He is an excellent partner in Albany. He works hard and gets results in our community. That’s why I’m supporting him and that’s why I am pleased that there was a huge turnout for the Ben Franklin Club endorsement. Senator Klein’s landslide victory in the club is a testament to the great work he has done for his constituents,” said Dinowitz. “The Ben Franklin Club meeting was truly an example of democracy in action. Nearly 150 people voted by secret ballot for the candidate of their choice. Senator Klein’s overwhelming victory shows a recognition of his hard work and effectiveness in our community. I hope that our club members now unite behind the winner of this endorsement in the upcoming campaign,” concluded Dinowitz. The Benjamin Franklin Democratic Club was formed over 50 years ago. Although he was a key early member, and first elected to the Assembly from the club, he was not, as stated in other media, a club founder. The club is in the 81st Assembly District which includes Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Van Cortland Village, Norwood, Wakefield and Woodlawn.