West Side Rag
  • TOP NEWS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT
West Side Rag
No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

Search the site

No Result
View All Result

Get WSR FREE in your inbox

AVAILABLE NOW!


HERE

Cash Infusion into Local State Senate Race Revives Debate Over Who’s the ‘Real Democrat’

September 12, 2018 | 4:57 PM
in NEWS
13


Alcantara (left) and Jackson (right) are on the ballot in the Democratic primary for State Senate on Thursday.

State Senator Marisol Alcantara, who represents sections of the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights and Washington Heights, received a large infusion of money from a group called the Senate Independence Campaign Committee (SICC) in recent days. Alcantara received $125,000 from the SICC, according to the most recent filing, and has received $295,750 in 2018, Gothamist reports. Among the donors to SICC is the Real Estate Board of NY (REBNY).

Alcantara was a member of the Independent Democratic Conference, a group of Democrats who caucused with Republicans, throwing control of the State Senate to the GOP. That allowed GOP leaders to squash legislation expanding rights for LGBTQ people and updating the state’s abortion laws to enshrine pro-choice protections that are now being threatened on the federal level, critics note.

Gothamist reports that the SICC was aligned with the IDC, and a judge had ruled that $1.4 million in previous SICC donations were illegal. Since then the IDC has rejoined the mainline Democrats, but some Albany-watchers remain skeptical that that alliance will hold.

The IDC members now face challengers in Thursday’s primary — Alcantara faces Robert Jackson, a former City Councilman known for his education advocacy. Jackson has been endorsed by Congressman Jerry Nadler and other Upper West Side Democratic politicians. Other Democratic challengers include Tirso Pina and Thomas Leon.

Jackson has argued that Alcantara sold out the Democrats by aligning with the IDC and Republicans, and that she continues to benefit from those alliances. Alcantara, a longtime labor organizer, has said that she supports liberal positions, and has been able to achieve positive and progressive change for her constituents.

Alcantara’s spokesman responded to Gothamist about the SICC donations.

“Senator Alcantara has fully complied with state election laws throughout her campaign, and will continue to comply with them for the duration of her campaign,” said Michael Oliva, a spokesperson for the Alcantara campaign. Oliva then accused Jackson of being beholden to donors outside of the state rather than to the voters in the district.

Here are Jackson and Alcantara’s websites. Leon has a Facebook supporters page here. On the “about page” of his site, it says he lives in the Dominican Republic. We could not find a webpage for Pina.

Remember to vote this THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13, 2018! Information on where to vote and sample ballots are is available here.

Share this article:
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

13 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
PaulCons
PaulCons
4 years ago

It’s not that comlicated, she broke with Democrats, voted with the rethugs, aligned with the rethugs, turn the state senate over to rethug control when it had a Democratic majority. NOW she claims membership in the Democrat Party? All of these IDC turncoats need to be shown the door…

0
Reply
nycityny
nycityny
4 years ago
Reply to  PaulCons

It’s the “Democratic” party, not “Democrat” party. “Democrat” is the snide moniker assigned by Republicans. The purpose is to annoy democrats and deny them/us the description of being (lower case d) democratic.

0
Reply
Janice
Janice
4 years ago
Reply to  PaulCons

Agree!

0
Reply
West Side Watcher
West Side Watcher
4 years ago

There’s really no question here — Alcantara is a traitor and completely untrustworthy. Vote her out!

0
Reply
Gretchen
Gretchen
4 years ago

Please be aware: Alcantara is NOT a real Democrat – she’s an IDC “Democrat” which is fraud because she votes and caucuses repeatedly with the Republicans in Albany. She has been denounced by NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, former NYS Gov. David Paterson, Assemblymembers Linda Rosenthal and Danny O’Donnell, City Councilmember Mark Levine, and other notables. Real Democrats: DON’T BE FOOLED. Robert Jackson, is True Blue and I’m voting for him.

0
Reply
Shibboleth
Shibboleth
4 years ago
Reply to  Gretchen

It is not even that she is ideologically conservative or votes with Republicans. It is worse. The only reason she joined the IDC was for personal financial gain (i.e. Republican funneled IDC cash).

0
Reply
E. Lang
E. Lang
4 years ago

Yeah, Ms. Law-abiding Alcantara, who continues to violate the 1st Amendment rights of constituents with whose opinions she does not agree by blocking them from reading her official Twitter and Facebook accounts. She’s a phony and a fraud and deserves to be booted out.

0
Reply
Bob Lamm
Bob Lamm
4 years ago

It would be absurd to trust the IDC traitors. If they win their primaries, they could cut a new deal on Friday with the State Senate Republicans. But let’s not forget: the dirty deal between the IDC and the Republicans never would have happened without Andrew Cuomo. He wanted the GOP to retain control of the State Senate.

0
Reply
Janice
Janice
4 years ago

Once I heard that Alcantara was part of the IDC, she lost my vote. Jackson definitely has my vote.

0
Reply
Bruce bernstein
Bruce bernstein
4 years ago

no idc!

Vote Robert Jackson!

0
Reply
EricaC
EricaC
4 years ago

Why run as a democrat if you’re really a Republican? It seems dishonest.

0
Reply
Carlos
Carlos
4 years ago

If more people had used their brains and voted for Lasher last time, none of this would have happened…

0
Reply
MarieNYC
MarieNYC
4 years ago

Alcantara is a fake and a traitor. She won her seat as a Democrat then betrayed voters by joining Jeff Klein and the IDC and used her power to vote like a Republican for the Trump agenda. Public schools were robbed of the funding they deserve because of Alcantara and the IDC, please vote for Robert Jackson . Hopefully this will be her last term. No IDC baggage deserves to be re-elected

0
Reply

YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Lincoln Center Looking for Community Input on Plans to Remodel West Side of Campus
ART

Lincoln Center Looking for Community Input on Plans to Remodel West Side of Campus

June 8, 2023 | 9:29 AM
WEST-PARK CHURCH LEADERS WIN VOTE, PLEDGE TO REVITALIZE BUILDING
NEWS

It’s Been Awhile: Landmarks Preservation Commission Meets June 13 on West-Park Church

June 8, 2023 | 6:34 AM
Previous Post

Silver Stars Fitness: How To Improve Balance To Help Reduce The Risk Of A Fall And To Increase Confidence In Life!

Next Post

Momentum Builds for Two-Way Protected Bike Lane on Central Park West

this week's events image

Explore Your Favorite Subject

20th precinct 24th precinct american museum of natural history animals art bicycling bulletin central park closings columns community board 7 coronavirus crash crime dogs events fdny fire food gale brewer helen rosenthal history homelessness jcc lincoln center monday bulletin morning bulletin nypd openings openings and closings pedestrian safety photography photos politics public schools pupper west side real estate restaurants riverside park silver stars fitness snow sponsored subway upper west side uws

CITY NEWS

The City
Brick Underground
City Limits
Eater
Gothamist
NY Daily News
NY Post
NY Times

LOCAL RESOURCES

Bloomingdale Neighborhood History Group
Central Park Conservancy
CB7
Community Education Council 3
Assembly District 67
The New York Historical Society
Riverside Park
West End Preservation

UWS Blogs

Bloomingdale History Central Park Blogger
North River Notes

Next Post
Momentum Builds for Two-Way Protected Bike Lane on Central Park West

Momentum Builds for Two-Way Protected Bike Lane on Central Park West

UPPER WEST SIDE DOCTOR SOLD $77 MILLION IN PAIN PILLS: PROSECUTOR

UWS Doctor Ran a 'Pill Mill' With His Wife and Will Go to Prison, Prosecutors Say

Racial Profiling Charge Roils Local Theater

Racial Profiling Charge Roils Local Theater

  • ABOUT US
  • CONTACT US
  • NEWSLETTER
  • WSR MERCH!
  • ADVERTISE
  • EVENTS
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • TERMS OF USE
  • SITE MAP
Site design by RLDGROUP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • TOP NEWS
  • THIS WEEK’S EVENTS
  • OPEN/CLOSED
  • FOOD
  • SCHOOLS
  • OUTDOORS
  • REAL ESTATE
  • ART & CULTURE
  • POLITICS
  • COLUMNS
  • CRIME
  • HISTORY
  • ABSURDITY
  • CONTACT US
  • WSR SHOP

© 2023 West Side Rag | All rights reserved.