Friday, October 30, 2015

Does a recent Brooklyn Eagle article seal the deal in 46th AD assembly race — OR — Does the Eagle just tell a story about a “sealed deal” in that race involving the invisible and unmentioned State Senator Golden ? ? ?

Innocuous piece by Paula Katinas shows a clear tipping of the scale(s) toward Pam Harris —  and that almost all Republican Marty Golden’s levers are being worked invisibly AGAINST Republican candidate Lucretia Regina-Potter


Look at these magic words  —  “....  Harris...  has frequently campaigned in the Bay Ridge end of the district. She attended the 49th annual Ragamuffin Parade and recently sat in on a meeting of the Merchants of Third Avenue....  In many campaign appearances, Harris has pointed out that her father lived in Bay Ridge...”  —   now tell me what jumps out at you from that


Then, look at these very routine and completely non-magical words  —  “....  Several elected officials have come forward to endorse Harris. The officials backing Harris included U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, state Sen. Diane Savino, Assemblymember William Colton and Councilmember Mark Treyger [and, to be Shakespearean, the rest is silence....]”  —   now tell me what jumps out at you from that silence



I’m doing this post before the last week-end of the 2015 election campaign.  There are lots of things going on; and maybe some (or even just one) of them might change my observation(s) and opinion  —   BUT  —   I’m not expecting anything will change.

THE “DOG WHISTLE” —  THAT DIDN’T BARK

Many election campaigns are a lot like paint-by-numbers pictures. The one’s done by people with no artistic heart and soul inside of them look like paint-by-numbers pictures; the ones done by people with real artistic sensibilities look like actual artwork.

Earlier this week, a very quiet looking and sounding  article in the Brooklyn Eagle actually showed something that was really something closer to a symphony or opera (See “Bay Ridge Assembly seat up for grabs in Nov. 3 election” by Paula Katinas, 10/26/15, The Brooklyn Eagle [http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2015/10/26/bay-ridge-assembly-seat-grabs-nov-3-election]).  In the background to that article by Paula Katinas were two parallel campaigns  —  both being run to elect Democrat Pamela Harris as the 46th AD’s next Member of the NYS Assembly.  On the one hand, it showed Ms. Harris formally being introduced into significant parts of the Bay Ridge establishment; and on the other, it showed that nothing like that was going on for the Republican candidate Lucretia Potter.

Early articles in various local and at least one city-wide paper pointed out that the Democratic party nominee, Pamela Harris, was a black woman, who had run a non-profit organization in Coney Island after she retired as a NYC Corrections Officer.  Several of those articles also noted that GOP candidate Lucretia Potter had a good chance to win because of the demographics of the district and the fact that no black person had ever been elected to represent a majority white district in NYC.

Political realities being what they are, for Potter to have had a real chance to win in the 2015 special election in the 46th AD, the dog whistles in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights would have had to be cranked up so loud that they would’ve sounded like the Fort Hamilton High School Marching Band practicing late on a night before a game. The back-beat of that dog whistle march needed to have been that Pam Harris was just not a right fit to represent neighborhoods like Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights  —  and that message needed to come from several branches of the “non-political” establishment of those communities.

If any such dog whistles ever sounded, then only a small pack of K-9s in the 46th AD was able to hear them. What actually happened was that Pam Harris repeatedly was introduced around Bay Ridge and Dyker like she were a dear cousin, whose welcome was not only appropriate, it was really what was best for everybody. Almost needless to say, the Ragamuffin Parade and Third Avenue Merchants did jump out as avatars of the Bay Ridge establishment in the Katinas article in “The Brooklyn Eagle”  —   btw, that it appears in a  Katinas article in “The Brooklyn Eagle” makes is jump even higher.

BUT WHAT ABOUT STATE SENATOR MARTY GOLDEN’S FOLKS ? ? ?

Well, you might ask ! ! !

There is a subliminal message (sometimes not so subliminal) that has been repeatedly being pushed by many in the Bay Ridge establishment  —   one of the candidates running in the 46th AD special election really isn’t one of us. That part of the Bay Ridge crowd has often been identified with Republican State Senator Martin Golden  —  in fact, several of those people also self- identify as solid establishment or social conservative Republicans.  The odd thing about it is that the one candidate running in the 46th AD special election, who was being whispered about as not really being one of us is the neighborhood business woman and long-time Republican activist, Lucretia Regina Potter.  I don’t think that’s an accident, and it wouldn’t have happened unless Golden and/or several of his key insiders wanted it to.

You know what this all shows to me   —   that Republican-Conservative State Senator Marty Golden would never have ANYTHING to do with “Dog Whistle Politics”  —   AND  —   I’m sure that explains all of it, completely, with nothing else to do with it, no intra-party politics, no Brooklyn GOP leadership fights with Arnaldo Ferraro and/or Craig Eaton, none of that  —  I repeat: I'm sure  —  maybe even, certain.....

What do you think ?

65 comments:

  1. Going to a parade and a merchants meeting means how many votes? I didn't know Bay Ridge even had an establishment?

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  2. The problem isn't the parades and the merchants. The problem is there are no signs of an active campaign from Lucretia.

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  3. The problem for Lucretia (in the context of this blog post) is that a special election needs to target voters with a history of voting in off-year elections. A traditional street campaign with lots of pomp and circumstance won't help Lucretia. Neither will attacking her for not having that kind of campaign.

    She's targeting, which is the best evidence she has some professional advice this time.

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  4. Lucretia's got a good chance at winning Tuesday, in part due to her having professional advice, and a good active campaign. Both things she didn't have in her prior runs against Democratic incumbents.

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  5. Lucretia has a good chance to win because the State Party is backing her with its full resources. She also has a good chance to win because her opponent faces enormous challenges when trying to express herself in grammatically correct sentences. Lucretia is facing a very weak Democrat in a special election where most of Pam Harris core voters won't she up. She should stop complaining about Marty Golden and campaign hard in what should be an easy win for her. If she loses its not Golden's fault but all her own.

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  6. Potter's campaign has been apparently so targeted no one knows she is running. Expect very low turnout and a big Democratic win.

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  7. EXPLANATION: THE "STORY ABOUT THE STORY" EDITION

    NOTHING IN MY POST ABOVE WAS ABOUT EITHER THE DETAILS, THE QUANTITY OR THE QUALITY OF THE CAMPAIGN THAT IS BEING RUN BY AND FOR LUCRETIA POTTER

    I WAS FOCUSING ONE THING: THE BALLY-HOO-ED INTRODUCTION OF PAMELA HARRIS TO CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS IN BAY RIDGE AS HIGHLIGHTED IN A PARTICULAR ARTICLE BY PAULA KATINAS THAT APPEARED IN THE BROOKLYN DAILY EAGLE

    AS ONE OF THE RARE PIECES OF "EARNED MEDIA" IN THE 2015 POTTER-HARRIS RACE THE SIMPLE EXPOSITION STORY ABOUT THE CANDIDATES SEEMED TO CLEARLY FAVOR PAMELA HARRIS --- TO ME THAT SEEMED ODD AND I JUST TRIED TO GIVE MY EXPLANATION OF WHAT I SAW --- AND --- MY CONSPIRACY THEORY ABOUT THE REVERSE "DOG WHISTLE" BY THE GOLDEN CROWD IS A PART OF MY EXPLANATION

    My personal experience with the Eagle is that they generally tend to cover Republican candidates somewhat fairly, and in some instances, even quite favorably. When it comes to political coverage, the Eagle reporter, Paula Katinas, during her tenure at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, has tended not to get in the way of material that she finds or that is submitted to her by campaigns.

    The Katinas-Eagle article quoted and cited above did not seem to me to follow the Eagle's or Katinas' earlier patterns. On its face, the article in question was weighted toward Harris and particularly the last part where some of her introductions in Bay Ridge were detailed.

    There have not been a lot of articles about this campaign -- so when a single piece of 'earned media" goes against one side, and the coverage itself can influence some voters, it wasn't fair and it needed to be pointed out.

    I still believe this coverage was not accidental; and it is symptomatic of several things that are being done to the Potter campaign from the outside.

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  8. The issue is loud and clear. Gale I must commend you. Its clear Martys boys are all pounding the pavement for Harris. Like a mob boss Marty will show up at Lucretias funeral on election night.

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  9. The nattering nebobs of negativism that are handicapping this race, on a GOP blog no less, is not what the Dr ordered.

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  10. Its Natering Naybobs of Negativism. And what the fuck does that have to do with anything

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  11. No one from Golden's group is helping Pam Harris, they haven't been known to willingly "pound pavement" for their own boss let alone Pam Harris. Larry Morrish someone who is obviously well connected in the area is supporting Pam Harris and showing her around. Lucretia on the other hand is panicking that she might lose a very winnable election and is already looking for scapegoats and crying about Marty Golden. Lucretia's heavy handed tactics have alienated so many Republicans in Bay Ridge it is no surprise that Harris feels more comfortable than she does.

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  12. Everybody that writes for or visits this blog needs to get real.

    The Doctor doesn't get to give any orders that anybody will listen to, much less obey. Ferraro is an honorary Chairman at best. His GOP title is hollow. He's facing a lawsuit to kick him out, he's got nothing going on at the Brooklyn Board of Elections, most of the leaders that "voted" for him already hate him, and he still only cares about re-telling the same old stories about himself that nobody under 75 can fact-check.

    Luretia is one of Ferraro's last remaining sycophants who needs to unlearn everything she thinks she knows about running an assembly campaign on any level. Lucretia Regina Potter doesn't have any name recognition nor the full support of anybody in this Special for the assembly, especially the real Republicans and the real Conservatives.

    Nobody in the know is handicapping this race, it is an Off the Board non-contest.

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  13. You mean to tell me that we have real conservatives in this assembly district? Are they dead or alive?

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  14. The real Conservatives are in the 51st AD. It covers all of Greenwood Cemetary

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  15. Pam Harris' core voters are not going to show up on Tuesday. This is a very winnable election for Republicans so Lucretia needs to worry about campaigning and not about finding excuses why she is going to lose.

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  16. Campaigning? What are you talking about? This is the LAST weekend and nobody not already aligned even knows that there is a campaign. The campaign is 90% over and the last 10% part is something Republicans don't do very well and haven't done for years, have an Election Day pull operation.

    Meanwhile, there are the unions and at least two Democratic Clubs from outside the 46th AD, each of them bigger than the whole Brooklyn GOP, that are going to send some of their troops in to help Harris. Oh, and there are three Democratic Clubs that are in or partially in the 46th AD, all doing something for Harris.

    I'll bet Potter doesn't do as well as Quaglione in all their overlapping EDs.

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  17. I saw Quaglione handing out Pam Harris flyers at the ragamuffin parade

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  18. If potter does better than Q that is really not good for him. But seriously are these 2 the best GOP has

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  19. Say what you will about Quaglione but at least he lost to Vinnie Gentile who has a strong political brand. But Pam Harris? If Pam Harris wins by large margin Lucretia and all Brooklyn GOP will be humilated. Pam Harris?

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  20. Oh I get it.

    Regina & Q are in a contest for Brooklyns biggest loser

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  21. Quaglione ran a legitimate hard campaign against a very popular and longtime incumbent. Lucretia is being backed up by the State Committee with numerous paid for mailings and she is running against a woman no one has ever heard of and who can hardly utter a sentence without Mark Traygor whispering it in her ear.

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  22. Nobody said Quaglione ran an illegitimate campaign, he is just amongst the many proven fall guys in Martys stable.

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  23. Tuesday will be win for Lucretia and County Chair Ferraro. People will learn about what real leadership is about.

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  24. Harris is even nailing to a Republicans. I got a piece in the mail. Lucretia seems almost invisible. No posters, one mailing I received and just about nothing in the local papers. And does she even have a Facebook or Twitter account. Seems like she has no idea how to get her message out. Who is running her campaign?

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  25. OBSERVATIONS AND CRITICISMS: THE "ARE ANY OF YOU PEOPLE SERIOUS ? ? ?" EDITION

    I AM "SHOCKED" TO SEE SUCH A PACK OF SILLY COMMENTS ON MY WONDERFUL BLOG --- "SHOCKED, I TELL YOU"....

    SOME PEOPLE ARE PUTTING COMMENTS HERE THAT THEY KNOW ARE NOT TRUE --- THIS IS A VERY BIG DISAPPOINTMENT TO ME --- I WANT EVERYBODY TO THINK ABOUT WHAT THEY'VE DONE --- THEN I WANT THEM TO TURN OVER A NEW LEAF AND WRITE BETTER AND TRUER COMMENTS

    Many of the twenty-five comments above are purely chaff or flak --- empty chatter with no useful purpose. Others are specifically intended to misinform and deceive. A few are probably honestly mistaken. It makes no difference, ERROR HAS NO RIGHTS to be expressed here or any place else --- But, most especially intentional falsehood.

    Somebody out there is attempting to sell a big lie. How foolish, on Tuesday, Election Day, everything will be exposed.

    All of the illusions and delusions commented upon above will come crashing down. Who knows; perhaps, some of them might be my own. I can hardly wait.

    Until then, do a better job commenting about Pamela Harris and Lucretia Potter, and whomever else rates a mention.

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  26. If you're not getting Lucretia's mail ... you're a Republican who doesn't vote very often. Either that, or your mom threw it out.

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  27. As Republicans we could not have asked for a better opportunity in the 46th special election where the Dems voters aren't going to turn out an opponent who almost no one has ever heard and who embarrasses herself early and often with her own comments.

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  32. ADMONISHMENT: THE "NEED TO STOP WITH THE AD HOMINEM NONSENSE" EDITION

    The most recent comments mentioning Larry Morrish and John Quaglione in nothing but derogatory personal terms have been removed.

    The next step will be banishment like I did to the "Church Lady".....

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  33. What's with the "Dear Neighbor" smear letter (from "A Very Concerned Bay Ridge Resident") -- tearing Harris apart -- that hit mailboxes this past week? No name, no organization, and with return address of "8335 3rd Ave."

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  34. QUERY: THE "IF YOU SAY THE MAGIC WORD... I'LL TELL WHAT I HEARD" EDITION

    TO: "ANONYMOUS SAID... AT 6:34 PM," IF YOU PROVIDE SOME MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS "'DEAR NEIGHBOR' SMEAR LETTER" , I MIGHT BE ABLE TO BE PROPERLY RESPONSIVE WITH SOMETHING THAT I HEARD ABOUT AN UN-ATTRIBUTED ANTI-HARRIS PIECE

    What I heard about was "OTR" and "For Background Only"... there's one identifying feature about an unofficial and unattributed piece that was described to me. --- If you say the magic word (s), I promise that it will be like Alibaba's cave and "Open O Sesame" with some >>> related <<< but non-confidential info ....

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    1. I don't know any magic word. Just that it was mailed from Manhattan, lists the usual anti Harris misc, says PH "is wrong for Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights" and says she'd be arrested after the election.

      A lot of my neighbors recd this and are not happy re: getting anonymous slams from a fake address. It looks sleazy.

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  35. Lucretia's website has finally been updated.

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  36. UPDATE & QUERY: THE "WHERE IS THE MARTY GOLDEN ENDORSEMENT ?" EDITION

    ON THIS DAY OF ALL SOULS, NOT ALL SOULS ARE PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR

    IN WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE A COMPETITIVE, "ALL HANDS" OPERATION FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE BROOKLYN GOP, THE "SPECIAL ELECTION" FOR THE 46th AD ASSEMBLY SEAT --- THE TOP ELECTED REPUBLICAN OFFICIAL IN THE COUNTY OF KINGS, AND THE MAN WHO WANTS TO RUN THE PARTY AS HIS OWN >>> MARTY GOLDEN <<< IS AWOL

    I've heard several robo-calls for Lucretia Regina-Potter this weekend --- but not one was by the all-to-familiar, nasally-voiced GOP State Senator from Bay Ridge. I say "all-to-familiar" and "nasally-voiced" from my recent personal experience. I heard a Marty Golden robo-call last Friday --- it was to invite everybody to Marty's annual Halloween event in Owl's Head Park.

    Maybe, Marty's call will be coming later today..... After all, the Conservative Party, which had endorsed Ms. Potter, has yet to weigh in on her behalf in any meaningful way.

    BTW, Potter's last mailing will include all her GOP endorsements. --- GUESS WHICH BROOKLYN REPUBLICAN STATE SENATOR'S NAME IS NOT GOING TO BE ON THAT MAILER ? ? ?

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  37. People have tried helping Lucretia only to be horrified by her behavior. In the beginning of the special election campaign she was supremely confident as should have been considering the opponent they put up against her. As time went on Lucretia and Arnaldo realized they were in over their heads. Going to be very close tomorrow and could go either way, they should focus on winning instead of planning their next two or three primary campaigns.

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  38. I got a robo-call from Arnaldo Ferraro about the election of Lucretia Regina-Potter.

    He sounded like "BORIS" telling "NATASHA": "I git Mooz, you git Squeeerill..."

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  39. 10:00 AM sounds strongly anti-immigrant. Arnaldo is a naturalized American citizen. Poking fun at his accent is un-American.

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  40. 10:OO AM, here, I don't know nothin' 'bout that. Just because I root for a phonetically challenged North American Moose and an obviously female sounding indigenous flying squirrel doesn't mean I'm anti-immigrant, but real-live people that talk like cartoon characters sometimes do bug me -- especially on robo-calls.

    What's a "naturalized American citizen" somebody that had naturalizer put on their hair to get all the kinkyness out of it? I though Arnaldo used olive oil for that, so wouldn't that make him an "Olive-Oiled American citizen"? Oh, but that would mean Arnaldo is Popeye, wouldn't it.

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  41. Lucretia waited until two days before the election to update her campaign website? Sounds about right for her. I went on the page and most of it still has stuff about the 49th AD from over three years ago. Please someone remind her she is in the 46th now.

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  42. She does not need to be reminded that she lives in the 46 the AD. She needs to be nicer to the Republican leaders who supported her and Arnaldo at the convention and have chosen not to help because she treats them very badly often in a threatening manner.

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  43. Win or lose tomorrow Lucretia's ego is only going to get bigger.

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  44. Dear 10:00 ... Naturalization is the process by which U.S. citizenship is granted to a foreign citizen or national after he or she fulfills the requirements established by Congress in the Immigration and Nationality Act.

    What kind of mook doesn't know that?

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  45. Are you sure? Nothing seems natural about that. I still think it is all about the hair relaxing and straightening. And of course there's the Naturalizer shoes, don't foreigners need to wear them to become citizens?

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  46. THE "BETTER LATE THAN NEVER" EDITION

    LUCRETIA FINALLY CHANGED HER WEB PAGE TO SHOW THAT SHE'S IN THE 46TH AD AND NOT THE 49TH --- THE POSTS WERE ALL DATED NOVEMBER 1ST

    AND AT LAST, TWO OF MY MORE CONNECTED BSIs FINALLY GOT BACK TO ME WITH SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT THE POTTER-HARRIS RACE

    Two people with whom I've had a long association finally fessed-up that they actually had some opinions about today's "Special Election" to fill the vacancy in the 46th AD -- one by phone, the other by E-mail. The two messages were quite similar -- both were of the opinion that the Brooklyn GOP MISSED it's best chance to win the seat in the 46th AD, and this was because Marty Golden and his folks were AWOL. One of them explained that this failure to get Golden into the race falls EQUALLY on ALL of the Republicans at and near the top of the Brooklyn GOP from the moment that this vacancy first occurred (this view and others will be fully explored in a post-election piece on this blog).

    The other, a long-time Bay Ridge community activist who usually votes for Democrats, says that Republicans had a huge opportunity, but nothing shows that anybody at any level of the NYS GOP seemed to care enough to put together the kind of campaign necessary to WIN the seat.

    There is one note of hope for Lucretia and Arnaldo, and everybody else working to elect L R-P. Both of the observers mentioned above think that the GOP still might squeak through, because so many of the dynamics of the Potter-Harris contest are not measurable or even readily observable. Also, the campaign for Ms. Harris was quite ordinary at the Bay Ridge end; and if a "special" effort was put forward by the Democrats there, Harris might have been much tougher to beat.

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  47. I don't know where your sources are getting their information but he State Party paid for three mailings for Lucretia and helped her raise a lot more money that she could have otherwise. Lucretia is using Marty Golden as a crutch as if he has ever helped another candidate beside himself. Obnoxious and overconfident from the beginning Lucretia & Company are already looking for excuses and people to blame in case they lose tonight to an opponent that almost anybody else in a special election could easily defeat.

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  48. Hearing that the turnout in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights as of 430 very light. Well below what Lucretia would expect to need to win. Unless something changes soon, she will not only lose, she will likely lose big. Sad, she worked hard.

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  49. Let's go folks, put up your predictions. Harris: 47%, Regina-Potter: 53%

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  50. Harris 59/potter41

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  51. Harris 58%, Potter 42%

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  52. Harris 52%-Regina-Potter 47%.

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  53. QUERY: THE "WHAT IS THE TURN OUT IN BRIGHTON BEACH" EDITION

    DID ARNALDO & LUCRETIA DO WHAT NEEDED TO BE DONE IN THE MANY BLOCKS EAST OF THE AQUARIUM ? ? ?

    For weeks everybody talked about Bay Ridge and the CI projects -- there is plenty of 46th AD that's not in either of those pockets.

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  54. Quaglione 60% Harris 40%
    I mean
    Harris 60% Potter 40%

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  55. Regina-Potter: 55.6, Harris: 45.4

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  56. We're playing price-is-right rules

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  57. Bottom line the winner is Craig Eaton and company...

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  58. This just in...

    Lucretia Regina-Potter lost the Special Election in the 46th AD.

    Arnaldo/Marty have their first loss on their hands.

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  59. So Lucretia Potter got less votes (percentage-wise) against Pam Harris in a SPECIAL ELECTION than Tom McCarthy (37%) and Steve Lilikakis (41%).

    Very sad.

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  60. 63-37? No amount of excuses can help Lucretia this time. Stop blaming your loss on Marty Golden when you decide to update your campaign website for the first time two days before the election.

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  61. An embarrassment for Lucretia, she should not run for office other than DL anymore. This is her first general election since 2008, and she barely improved her showing. Very disappointing for all NY Republicans, she's responsible for a very serious defeat. Dyker and Bay Ridge turnout was pathetic, and Coney Island was easily at midterm level. Terrible.

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    1. You think she'd know how to campaign by now, right?

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  62. She is arrogant and frankly a know it all. Why would anyone who actually had a conversation with her ever vote for her. She needs to accept this defeat as truly being her own fault and start thinking about ways to change the way she approaches things. She should start by realizing Arnaldo is all about himself and she comes across as his stooge.

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  63. Yesterday, Lucretia Potter got a lower vote total than any other Republican candidate in the 46th AD. In 2006 Patricia Laudano from the Seergy Club got 4,738 votes and yesterday Lucretia Potter got a little over half of that. Last year, in 2014, Stamatis Lilikakis got 6,420 votes and yesterday Lucretia Potter got more than a thousand votes less than half of that.

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