http://politisoft.com Contribute to Democracy Thu, 10 Sep 2009 19:30:00 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Gary Schaer will replace Neil Cohen as Chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance CommitteeAssemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) is expected to be named chairman of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee. The post became available in July when Neil Cohen resigned his Assembly seat after being caught with ... http://politisoft.com/2009/09/10/nj-schaer-will-replace-cohen-as-key-committee-chairman/ Assemblyman Rick Merkt, a conservative from Morris County, is expected to announce tomorrow that he's forming an exploratory committee to look at a bid for the 2009 Republican nomination for Governor. http://politisoft.com/2009/08/27/nj-merkt-mulling-bid-for-governor/ ALBANY—The latest swap in the State Senate office shuffle: the press offices. Austin Shafran, press secretary for Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, said the Democrats will be moving into the old suite occupied by John McArdle, the longtime Republican press hand. While some Republicans have been downsizing and packing for a while ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-senate-press-office-flip/ Michael Bloomberg’s re-election campaign isn’t hiring everyone, he wants you to know. “Last time I checked, there were probably a few other Democratic consultants in the country that we haven’t hired. Even I don’t think I have that kind of money necessary to hire them all. That’s not a ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-bloomberg-says-there-are-some-consultants-he-hasnt-hired/ A reader passes along this video of City Councilman Larry Seabrook being confronted by an unhappy constituent. A rare public challenge for an elected official. UPDATE: Well, not precisely the public. It should be noted that the guy confronting Seabrook is Jerome Rice, his political opponent. http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-the-public-comes-to-seabrook/ A small victory for the people fighting Michael Bloomberg's term-limits extension: their legal case against it has been fast-tracked, according to a plaintiff in the case, City Councilman Bill de Blasio, who sent over this statement: "Today our appeal of the term limits decision was granted an expedited schedule, a critical ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-expedited-schedule-for-term-limits-case/ ALBANY—Now that one early candidate to gain the Democratic nod to run for Kirsten Gillibrand's House seat - Saratoga County Democratic Chair Larry Bulman - is out of the running, the various Democratic chairmen will begin interviewing other prospective candidates this afternoon. Given news that Republicans have chosen Assembly Minority Leader ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-a-woman-to-oppose-tedisco/ ALBANY—A Democratic source confirms that Kirsten Gillibrand has hired Roberto Ramirez, of Mirram Group, as a consultant. The source said Ramirez had a hand in arranging a round of phone calls to Latino elected officials who were set to publicly oppose Gillibrand yesterday because of her poor record on immigration. That ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-gillibrand-hires-consultant-to-help-with-latino-problem/ It has taken him over a year to make a decision on whether or not he wants to stay in the legislature, but Assemblyman John Rooney (R-Northvale), the senior member of the lower house, said today that he filed a letter of intent to the Bergen County Republican Organization announcing ... http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/nj-rooney-prepares-to-seek-15th-term-in-assembly/ The state chapter of N.O.W. is preparing to make some noise about Hiram Monserrate. [AW] An upstate blogger is outraged that the stimulus funds will go to cities, and blames Chuck Schumer. [MR] Dan Janison finds a biographer to explore rumors around the connection between Erasmus Corning and Kirsten Gillibrand. [ http://politisoft.com/2009/01/28/ny-a-monserrate-protest-obama-on-snow-days/