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July 17th , 2024 Len’s Political Note #657 John Avlon New York 17
2024 General Election
I do not read or watch the right books or watch the right programs. I had never heard of John Avlon until he announced he would run for NY 01.
Perhaps it is not entirely my fault. Bill Maher is quoted as saying about John Avlon: “He’s more of what we need in politics — boring. Shawn McCreesh, who writes about politics and media had heard of John Avlon. He finds him problematic.
John Avlon is so centrist that he was part of founding of No Labels. However, John Avlon has found his label. A founder in 2010, he left in 2013 condemning No Labels’ effort to create a third party candidate for President. After John Avlon left, they quit that effort.
In his article about John Avlon in Intellgencer, Shawn McCreesh mocks him a bit for including in his conversations “patriotic platitudes and factoids of American history.” McCreesh starts his article with John Avlon imagining himself as the town hall speaker in the Four Freedoms painting. He concludes his article noting that John Avlon has written books about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln.
There could be worse models from American history. John Avlon is a little restless. He may not be happy for the long term in Congress. He joined the Daily Beast in 2013, left it after 5 years. He joined CNN, left it to run for Congress. Success in the House of Representatives usually requires being in it for the long haul. But there are other kinds of successes, other tasks to go on to from Congress.
Meanwhile, it is notable that this man who had come to represent, for some, the American center, has run for office as a Democrat. He sees Donald Trump as the core of the greatest danger the United States faces and begins his statement on the issues by saying “We need to break the hyper-partisan fever that has gripped America.” Is this a platitude? Watch below for platitudes.
In his website, John Avlon chose to address issues alphabetically. I can’t claim I am picking the two or three issues he considers most important. But here is how he starts:
Abortion: Abortion should be between a woman, her doctor, and her God.
Affordability and Taxes Republicans raised our taxes – and they did it out of spite (He was referring to elimination of SALT tax deductions)
Climate change In Suffolk County the environment is the economy, and the economy is the environment from farming and fishing to tourism and recreation.
Crime We need to be tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime.
Defending Democracy We need to defend our democracy ….and pass the John Lewis Act, the Freedom to Vote Act, and the Protecting our Democracy Act.
Read on: Consider what he has to say. Are his statements platitudes? Or are they clear, simple, understandable prose that establishes positions on important issues of our time. Try it. You’ll like it: https://www.johnavlon.com/issues
His opponent is Nick LaLota. LaLota prefers vulnerable opponents. He was the first Republican to call for the Ethics Committee to investigate George Santos. Rather than give consideration to people genuinely seeking asylum from tyrannical governments and dangerous gangs, Nick Lalota claims tens of thousands of immigrants have been admitted crating a “danger to public safety and national security.” He makes that claim despite the sharp drop in violent crime nationally, the fact that nearly all mass shootings have been the work of native-born Americans, and terrorism by foreigners has become virtually nonexistent.
Help John Avlon flip this seat. DONATE.
OTHER COMPETITIVE NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL SEATS
NY 04 Former Democratic Supervisor of Hempstead Laura Gillen v incumbent Republican Anthony D’Esposito. Laura Gillen is a local. After college, she tried Broadway – unsuccessfully. She traveled, worked with Mother Theresa, and returned home for law school. She practiced law in the City and on Long island and was a one term Supervisor of Hampstead, a town of 800,000 people.
As Supervisor, she reduced taxes, restructured the town’s debt, passed ethics reform, and ran for Congress. She is running for the second time against Republican incumbent Anthony D’Esposito. He was a New York City police detective who boasts of the number of his arrests and against whom there were more complaints than average. He insists on his law and order credentials, but Laura Gillen insists you can’t really be for law and order while being soft on guns. Help Laura Gillen win this 50% white, wealthy, Nassau County district that Joe Biden carried in 2020 56 – 42. DONATE. Flip this Republican seat. See Len’s Political Note #586
NY 17 Former Democratic Congressman Mondaire Jones v. incumbent Republican Michael Lawler. Mondaire Jones grew up in Rockland County and returns to this Rockland and Westchester County district that he gave up to then DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney rather than contest a primary. Maloney lost to Assemblyman and political operative Mike Lawler in the 2022 general election.
Lawler demonstrated his political experience and deviousness by organizing (though he denies it) the registration of hundreds of Rockland County Hasidim to join the Working Families Party to prevent Mondaire Jones from getting that progressive party endorsement. Lawler (though he denies it) also organized advertisements focused on district progressives criticizing moderate voting by Mondaire Jones and hisendorsement of County Executive George Latimer in the neighboring district primary. Help Mondaire Jones flip this now Republican seat. DONATE See Len’s Political Note #579
NY 18 Democratic incumbent Pat Ryan v 2020 Republican Lt. Governor nominee Allison Esposito. If we are going to flip Republican seats to gain Democratic control of the House, we also need to protect endangered incumbents. Pat Ryan is a former Army intelligence officer, businessman, and county executive. He represents a diagonal district running from the New Jersey to Connecticut border including Poughkeepsie and Newburgh.
With a record of supporting both business and the environment while serving as County Executive, his victory in a special election for Congress was attributed to his support for women’s reproductive rights after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision. Keep a Democratic seat in this district that Joe Biden carried in 2020. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #545
NY 19 Democratic attorney Josh Riley v Republican incumbent Marc Molinaro. Josh Riley came home after a career as a mostly political attorney, working with a firm in Florida, working as Al Franken’s chief attorney early in his Senate tenure. No one has been a bigger support of Josh Riley than Al Franken.
Molinaro defeated Josh Riley by 5,000 votes in 2022. The contest for this district that stretches from south of Albany west half way across the state is not at all friendly. Molinaro is the rare Republican who supports some abortion rights. He attacks Riley for having lived and worked out of state. Riley reminds people he is in the fifth generation of his family to live in Broome County and accuses Molinaro has failing to solve problems. While Molinaro complains illegal immigrants crossing the southern border, Josh Riley points to the Molinaro and the House failure to pass the border proposal that accompanied support for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.
The most important difference between the two may be the presidential candidates the two candidates support. Molinaro supports Donald Trump’s candidacy without qualification. Josh Riley has supported Joe Biden in the past, but acknowledges that he and others would be comfortable with someone else at the top of the Democratic ticket now. Support Josh Riley. Let’s get those 5,000 votes and more. Fiip the House blue. DONATE. See Len’s Political Note #580
NY 22 Democratic State Senator John Mannion v Republican Incumbent Brandon Williams. John Mannion was a biology teacher. He was head of his local union. As Union head, he dealt skillfully with the Superintendent resigning when the affair he had with a subordinate came to late. John Mannion urged the district to look carefully at the extent professional and personal lines had blurred in the entire district.
John Mannion was elected state rep and had to deal skillfully with what appear to be false accusations that he had abused his staff. There was a consensus that he had been an excellent teacher and there was no indication of inappropriate behavior with students or colleagues. He is running to unseat incumbent Republican Brandon Williams. Williams has retrograde views on political issues and only a loose connection to the district. He has a lot of money, though. If John Mannion can generate enough resources, he can flip this seat. DONATE.
WE HAVE A PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION TO WIN
Donate to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
As we look toward November, 2024, Help sustain the Joe Biden and Kamala Harris campaign. Even while the campaign is in flux, we know that whatever the resolution, resources are essential.
Every donation, large or small, makes a difference. Larger donations mean more money for the campaign. But many in the media count the number of small donations as a measure of enthusiasm for the candidate. Make a small donation if you cannot afford a large one. DONATE TO JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS. https://secure.actblue.com/donate/web-bfp-december-2023 ‘
See Len’s Political Note #605