I have been keeping track of endorsements for the NYC Democratic Primary on Sept. 9th. The LGBT organizations cover the most ground in terms of number of races. There are four local LGBT organizations that I am aware of, and they are among the more influential progressive organizations in NY. These are the following: (click on each for their full endorsement lists)
Lambda Independent Democrats (my favorite of the four but covering the fewest races)
Stonewall Democrats
Empire State Pride Agenda
Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club
What interests me is how on some races these clubs agree completely and on others they are split. I want to highlight those races they are either unanimous on or three out of the four agree.
First, what candidates are unanimously supported by all four major NY LGBT organizations: (There are only four such candidates! Click on their names for more info)
AD 42 (Brooklyn) Rodneyse Bichotte (D)
AD 51 (Brooklyn) Ceasar Zuniga (D) (This is one where I disagree with them and I support Felix Ortiz, but that is just my opinion!)
AD 52 (Brooklyn) Jo Anne Simon (D) (Jo Anne is a good friend of mine so I heartily agree here)
AD 64 (Staten Island/Brooklyn) Marybeth Melendez (D)
I find it hard to argue against any of these candidates. All are endorsed by many excellent organizations. Although I DO prefer Felix Ortiz, Carlos Zuniga seems good as well.
Now let's look at cases where three out of the four agree...
There are fewer than you might thing because Empire State Pride Agenda seems to wimp out when it comes to challenging the IDC and Lambda only endorses in a relatively small number of races, making it even more amazing that all four agreed on the above candidates. But here we go:
AD 60 (Brooklyn) Chris Banks (D)
AD 61 (Richmond) Matthew Titone (D)
AD 71 (Manhattan) Herman Denny Farrell, Jr. (D)
AD 75 (New York) Richard Gottfried (D)
AD 76 (Manhattan) Rebecca Seawright (D)
SD 12 (Queens) Michael Gianaris (D)
SD 14 (Queens) Leroy Comrie (D)
SD 22 (Brooklyn) James Kemmerer (D)
SD 26 (New York) Daniel Squadron (D)
SD 27 (New York) Brad Hoylman (D)
SD 28 (Manhattan) Liz Krueger (D)
SD 29 (Bronx) Jose Serrano (D)
SD 33 (Bronx) Gustavo Rivera (D)
So there you have it. The candidates that have the strongest organizational LGBT support in NYC.
I will add that two groups agree on challengers to the IDC. Both Stonewall and Jim Owles endorse:
State Senate District 11 (Queens): John Liu
State Senate District 34 (Bronx): Oliver Koppell
Empire State Pride either doesn't endorse or endorses the IDC incumbent in these races and Lambda has stayed out of it. I strongly endorse both and dKOS has endorsed both.
You can donate to some if the candidates who are discussed above who are in close races through my Reform Albany 2014 Act Blue Site. The primary is coming up fast, so now is the time to help.