When Michael Cohen Ran for City Council

From WNYC + Gothamist [Politics Brief from WNYC + Gothamist] [Keep friends and family informed. Forward the Politics Brief.]( How Jumaane Williams Got 127,000 New Yorkers to Elect Him Public Advocate By [James Ramsay]( For a few reasons, Tuesday's special election for public advocate could've gone to Queens City Council member Eric Ulrich, the lone Republican in the race. Turnout was low (about 8 percent of registered voters showed up). Ulrich, also the only pro-Amazon candidate, had that issue on his side. And because so many Democrats were running, they risked splitting votes and all coming away with similarly small numbers. In the end, Ulrich came in second, with almost as many votes as the third and fourth place finishers, combined. So how'd Jumaane Williams, an activist and City Council member from Brooklyn, break away from the other Democrats on the ballot? [WNYC's Brigid Bergin]( points out three factors that put him over the line: 1. Name Recognition. Williams was a 2018 candidate for lieutenant governor, running parallel with Cynthia Nixon in challenging an incumbent from the left. This made him the only public advocate candidate who had appeared on a citywide ballot. 2. Strong Turnout at Home. Williams won decisively in his home borough of Brooklyn, while he only lost in Queens, Staten Island and the Bronx by small margins. 3. Key Endorsements. The Working Families Party backed Williams. So did [the New York Times editorial board](. Now, Williams has a few months to hire a staff, start making noise, and convince his party that he's the right one for the job. There's a public advocate primary election coming in June. Jumaane Williams at his victory party at Cafe Omar in Flatbush. (Brigid Bergin) Mayor de Blasio Visited a Few Dozen Voters in Iowa Bill de Blasio—who has yet to announce a presidential run—spent last weekend workshopping material at a pair of intimate venues in Iowa, speaking to two dozen people in Sioux City and 40 in Des Moines. His theme so far: Democrats should focus less on criticizing Donald Trump and more on improving the lives of lower-income workers. "I’m not 100 percent sure what he’s doing here," one Brooklyn expat in Sioux City—who said de Blasio is definitely qualified to be president—told the Times. The mayor confirmed that there may be more of these trips to come. ([New York Times]( For a Grand, You Can Attend This Kirsten Gillibrand Fundraiser Sally Susman, a Pfizer executive and a leading bundler for President Obama's 2012 campaign, is hosting a fundraiser for New York's junior senator on March 31. Tickets will range between $1,000 and $2,700, price tags that Gillibrand defended on Fox News this week. "I think you do need to get money out of politics," Gillibrand [told Chris Wallace]( who brought up Sen. Elizabeth Warren's pledge to not hold big-money fundraisers. "Of course, I’m going to ask Americans all across this country to support my campaign." Gillibrand said that Susman, who's gay and belongs to a prominent group for LGBTQ corporate leaders, is a dear friend who supports her platform on gay rights and women's rights. ([CNBC]( Cory Booker Supports Legal Weed. So Do Many Other Democratic Presidential Candidates. The junior senator from New Jersey reintroduced a bill today that would end the federal ban on recreational marijuana, allowing states to make pot laws for themselves. The Marijuana Justice Act, which he originally proposed in 2017, would also expunge the criminal records of low-level marijuana offenders. With Republicans in control of the Senate, the bill likely won't go anywhere. But introducing it did prompt others to state their positions on legalization. Senators Bernie Sanders, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, and Kamala Harris all said they're a "yes." ([NJ.com]( Is There an Alternate Universe Where Michael Cohen Is in the City Council and Donald Trump Is Not in the White House? Cohen ran for City Council as a Republican in 2003 and lost to Democrat Eva Moscowitz, the former Upper East Side council member who now runs Success Academy charter schools. Then he ran for State Senate as a Democrat in 2010, losing in the primary to the Upper East Side's current senator, Liz Krueger. And he reportedly told the publisher of City & State that he was considering a run for New York City mayor in 2016. Tom Allon, the aforementioned publisher, wrote a brief history of his semi-friendship with Cohen, an "attack dog lawyer" who may have played a crucial role in helping Donald Trump with the presidency. ([City & State]( History Rhymes [Bernie Sanders] Sen. Bernie Sanders back in 1991, when he was in the House. (John Duricka/AP) Back in 1995, NPR's On The Media was hosted by a man named Alex Jones (not that Alex Jones) and Vermont's single Congressional district was represented by the self-identified democratic socialist Bernie Sanders. On this episode, recorded during the start of the 1996 presidential campaign season, Jones and Sanders discussed whether the media gives too much attention to rich guys with no political experience over elected officials who want to talk about substantial ideas. "Every year after every election, the press beats itself up thoroughly for not covering ideas," said Jones. "And then we have the same breast-beating." At the time, the rich guy in question was Steve Forbes, who ran for the Republican presidential nomination, promoting a flat tax. "The concept of a flat tax has been talked about for many, many years," Sanders argued. "The issue of Mr. Forbes is not his flat tax—the issue of Mr. Forbes is that he's said, 'I'm a multi-millionaire, and I'm prepared to spend tens of millions of dollars on the election.'" Sanders is holding [his first 2020 presidential campaign rally]( in his native Brooklyn on Saturday. [HEAR BERNIE SANDERS ON OTM IN 1995]( Take Action [Stay Informed]( [Listen]( [Read]( Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [Donate]( Copyright © 2019 New York Public Radio, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: New York Public Radio 160 Varick Street New York, NY 10013 [unsubscribe]( [update preferences]( [privacy policy](