Many of you, even those who aren't New Yorkers, may remember last year's coup de sleazeball in the NY State Senate: Two "Democrats"--Pedro Espada, whose non-adherence to election law would make Tammany Hall green with envy, and Hiram Monserrate, who was concurrently on trial for slashing his girlfriend in the face with a broken glass--defected to the Republicans for a month, tying the entire state government in knots, then defecting back, getting more power in exchange for actually letting the government semi-function again.
What most of you probably don't know is that a recent investigation by Attorney General Cuomo concluded that Espada had likely attempted to defraud both the state government and his own constituents for millions of dollars. It was at this point that the New York State Democratic Committee decided to throw down, and has now filed suit to have Espada forcibly ejected from the Democratic Party, on the grounds that they can remove someone from enrollment who is "not in sympathy with the principles of such party." And there was much cheering, including from Cynthia Appleton, a real Democrat running for the State Senate on a reform platform:
I fully support the effort to remove Pedro Espada from the Democratic Party. With New York State in a fiscal and economic crisis, we need to restore confidence in state government, and the first step toward that is getting rid of those who are in government to help themselves, instead of helping New Yorkers. State legislators must be held to the strictest ethical standards, and Pedro Espada has repeatedly failed that test, putting his own interests above the public interest. His conduct regarding the use of taxpayer money and his disregard for even the most basic requirements of election law (for instance, filing financial reports) have made it clear that he regards the political process as his path to enrichment rather than a way to ensure the best government for New York.
One of our most important goals to get New York State back on track has to be implementing strong reform measures in the State Senate itself, to ensure transparency, openness, and accountability for legislators, rules which are effective when followed and enforcible when they are broken. There can be no tolerance in this party or in New York State government for corruption and abuse of position. That is why I will support strict ethics laws for the state legislature. One thing Pedro Espada has demonstrated is just how powerful a single Senator can be in a body as closely divided as the current State Senate; that makes every election this year one that can potentially make a real difference to New York. I intend to make such a difference by standing for real reform of our broken state government.
Ladies and gentlemen, New York State needs legislators like Cindy, people with a firm commitment to ethics reform and bringing state government back under the control of the people. But as always with politics, we only get to accomplish this if we win, and to do that Cindy needs your support. July 11th is the deadline for campaign contributions to be counted in the next filing period, and the state party will be deciding who to back based on what campaigns raise enough money to be considered "viable." I'm asking you to chip in and help clean up New York.
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