The Election Lawyer in Winter
Tue, 24 Mar 2009 10:32:00
Last fall, Martin Connor (D) was forcibly retired from the State Senate by Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan), a well-connected 28-year-old upstart who was backed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Ind.).
Now, he longs to return the favor.
“I certainly don’t trust anything Bloomberg says,” said the former Senate minority leader and 31-year veteran of New York politics, sipping coffee on a recent afternoon at Eamonn’s, an Irish pub just down the street from his law office near Brooklyn Borough Hall.
“It just came out in The Village Voice, Bloomberg giving $1.2 million to the Independence Party,” Connor said of the recent disclosure that Bloomberg funneled money into the party’s coffers. “I don’t know how he did that. He’s not allowed to make that kind of contribution. That’s illegal. And I’m going to look into that more.”
In his first extended interview since losing last September, Connor made it clear that he still longs for the life of a state senator. And he still seethes about his 8-point loss to Squadron.
He has still never called Squadron to formally concede.
Even a question about campaign finance reform, a seemingly unrelated issue, induces a diatribe about Squadron, who was backed by the Working Families Party:
“Let’s say you’re running against me for State Senate in the primary,” he said. “You know how much an individual can give to a political party, whether it’s Democrat, Republican or Working Families?
$85,000. So that meant, if I’m a well-connected, wealthy candidate running for the State Senate, supported by Working Families, I can get all my wealthy friends to give me up to $6,000. But I can also say, ‘go see [WFP executive director] Dan Cantor,’ and they can write $85,000 checks. You know how much a political party is allowed to spend in your race? Unlimited.”
Aside from his career in Albany, Connor has long established himself as one of the state’s most formidable election lawyers. That expertise came to bear already this year, as he figured prominently in each of three Feb. 24 special elections for New York City Council, knocking one candidate off the ballot for using the word “families” in his party name and catapulting another to the front of the field.
He made close to $10,000 just from those three Council elections over the course of a few days, according to campaign expenditure reports.
“I left office after 31 years, no savings account, no investments, not a share of stock,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to be busy the first couple months of the year, probably made more in law practice in two months, definitely, than I made all last year.”
He watched as Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), anxious to gain control of the chamber but inexperienced at pulling the levers of power, struggled with negotiations with three renegade Democrats. Smith weakened himself right out of the gate, Connor says, by granting concessions to the three.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but I had a lot more experience than he did … he was leader for two years,” Connor said. “I would’ve said, ‘do what you’ve got to do. If we have to wait another two years … you know the demographics of this state. We’re going to take over, and then you guys will be nowhere.’”
Connor said he is also disappointed with what he sees as a lack of leadership in the conference, which has so far stalled on most of its major campaign promises, ostensibly because of the fiscal crisis.
“I’m really disappointed [that] there doesn’t seem to be anybody in that conference who could hold these things and push them through,” he said.
If he were still leading the conference, Connor said, he would use the knowledge he has of his old Republican colleagues’ personal opinions—collected over the years from drinking sessions in Albany bars and cloak-room schmooze-fests—to facilitate the push for controversial measures, such as legalizing gay marriage.
“I’d be talking to a number of my Republican colleagues who I think might be persuadable,” Connor said. “Over the years I’ve heard, ‘Come on, my nephew’s gay, he and his partner are over our house all the time.’ Little things like that, that people coming in just in the last couple years don’t know, and that those members would never confide in.”
The fact that he could be using his institutional knowledge to steer the Senate through this difficult moment for the conference and state has not escaped Connor, either. Though he says he is concentrating on his law practice—and on beating Bloomberg this year, especially if hired by a client to help—he admits that political life still entices him.
“I miss it,” he said, quietly and without elaboration.
Even after 30 years in a largely powerless minority and a fairly undignified exit, Connor said, he would still consider running for office—even for his old seat, in a rematch against Squadron.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he said of taking on Squadron. “If I decide to run for office, it wouldn’t really matter who was there.”
--
ABOVE: Marty Connor, still simmering over his loss to state Sen. Daniel Squadron last year, is eager to take on Mayor Michael Bloomberg in court this year. Photo by: Andrew Schwartz
Now, he longs to return the favor.
“I certainly don’t trust anything Bloomberg says,” said the former Senate minority leader and 31-year veteran of New York politics, sipping coffee on a recent afternoon at Eamonn’s, an Irish pub just down the street from his law office near Brooklyn Borough Hall.
“It just came out in The Village Voice, Bloomberg giving $1.2 million to the Independence Party,” Connor said of the recent disclosure that Bloomberg funneled money into the party’s coffers. “I don’t know how he did that. He’s not allowed to make that kind of contribution. That’s illegal. And I’m going to look into that more.”
In his first extended interview since losing last September, Connor made it clear that he still longs for the life of a state senator. And he still seethes about his 8-point loss to Squadron.
He has still never called Squadron to formally concede.
Even a question about campaign finance reform, a seemingly unrelated issue, induces a diatribe about Squadron, who was backed by the Working Families Party:
“Let’s say you’re running against me for State Senate in the primary,” he said. “You know how much an individual can give to a political party, whether it’s Democrat, Republican or Working Families?
$85,000. So that meant, if I’m a well-connected, wealthy candidate running for the State Senate, supported by Working Families, I can get all my wealthy friends to give me up to $6,000. But I can also say, ‘go see [WFP executive director] Dan Cantor,’ and they can write $85,000 checks. You know how much a political party is allowed to spend in your race? Unlimited.”
Aside from his career in Albany, Connor has long established himself as one of the state’s most formidable election lawyers. That expertise came to bear already this year, as he figured prominently in each of three Feb. 24 special elections for New York City Council, knocking one candidate off the ballot for using the word “families” in his party name and catapulting another to the front of the field.
He made close to $10,000 just from those three Council elections over the course of a few days, according to campaign expenditure reports.
“I left office after 31 years, no savings account, no investments, not a share of stock,” he said. “I was fortunate enough to be busy the first couple months of the year, probably made more in law practice in two months, definitely, than I made all last year.”
He watched as Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens), anxious to gain control of the chamber but inexperienced at pulling the levers of power, struggled with negotiations with three renegade Democrats. Smith weakened himself right out of the gate, Connor says, by granting concessions to the three.
“I wouldn’t have done it, but I had a lot more experience than he did … he was leader for two years,” Connor said. “I would’ve said, ‘do what you’ve got to do. If we have to wait another two years … you know the demographics of this state. We’re going to take over, and then you guys will be nowhere.’”
Connor said he is also disappointed with what he sees as a lack of leadership in the conference, which has so far stalled on most of its major campaign promises, ostensibly because of the fiscal crisis.
“I’m really disappointed [that] there doesn’t seem to be anybody in that conference who could hold these things and push them through,” he said.
If he were still leading the conference, Connor said, he would use the knowledge he has of his old Republican colleagues’ personal opinions—collected over the years from drinking sessions in Albany bars and cloak-room schmooze-fests—to facilitate the push for controversial measures, such as legalizing gay marriage.
“I’d be talking to a number of my Republican colleagues who I think might be persuadable,” Connor said. “Over the years I’ve heard, ‘Come on, my nephew’s gay, he and his partner are over our house all the time.’ Little things like that, that people coming in just in the last couple years don’t know, and that those members would never confide in.”
The fact that he could be using his institutional knowledge to steer the Senate through this difficult moment for the conference and state has not escaped Connor, either. Though he says he is concentrating on his law practice—and on beating Bloomberg this year, especially if hired by a client to help—he admits that political life still entices him.
“I miss it,” he said, quietly and without elaboration.
Even after 30 years in a largely powerless minority and a fairly undignified exit, Connor said, he would still consider running for office—even for his old seat, in a rematch against Squadron.
“I wouldn’t rule it out,” he said of taking on Squadron. “If I decide to run for office, it wouldn’t really matter who was there.”
--
ABOVE: Marty Connor, still simmering over his loss to state Sen. Daniel Squadron last year, is eager to take on Mayor Michael Bloomberg in court this year. Photo by: Andrew Schwartz
