Visit our photo gallery with selected highlights from the 11th Congressional District special election here.
Our cameras were all over the District – we have lots more great shots here.
Category Archives: James Lane
Is A Vote For Lane A Vote For Donovan?
With Dan Donovan widely regarded as likely to win the 11th Congressional District special election tomorrow, supporters of Democrat Vincent Gentile fear that each vote for Green Party candidate James Lane is a lost, and wasted, potential Gentile vote. Here’s Lane’s view of that notion. We spoke as Lane campaigned outside the Whitehall ferry terminal.
Bay Ridge Debate
Democratic Party candidate Vincent Gentile and Green Party candidate James Lane participated in a candidate debate Wednesday in Bay Ridge. Republican/Conservative/Independence Parties candidate Dan Donovan was invited but did not attend. Hosted by the Bay Ridge Council on Aging at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center, the debate also included a self-described write-in candidate, Tom Weiss, despite the moderator’s efforts to limit the debate to Gentile and Lane. The candidates face a May 5th special election to fill the 11th Congressional District seat vacated by Michael Grimm.
Here is the full debate:
Why Are We Married To Staten Island?
So said one of the audience members questioning, and complaining about, the inclusion of a slice of southern Brooklyn in the Staten Island-dominated 11th Congressional District. It’s a reverse of the more common refrain from Staten Islanders who often feel politically neglected and marginalized.
Neither Democrat Vincent Gentile nor Green Partier James Lane quite got it right in their response, however. Gentile was reasonably close, noting that the state legislature, not congress, is responsible for drawing district lines. He omitted the fact that the current lines were actually drawn by a court-appointed expert as part of a federal lawsuit in 2012, however, and that the 11th district is a reasonable, coherent district. Lane lamented the process and effects of gerrymandering without appearing to know that it’s not an accurate description of how the current congressional district lines were drawn nor of the composition of the current congressional districts.
Photo Gallery: 11th Congressional Debate
Here is our photo gallery from New York’s most recent congressional candidate debate. The Bay Ridge Council On Aging hosted a debate this morning featuring candidates in the 11th Congressional District special election. The May 5th special election will select a successor to former Congressman Michael Grimm in a district which includes all of Staten Island and a crescent shaped slice of southwestern Brooklyn.
The debate, held at the Fort Hamilton Senior Center in Bay Ridge, included Democratic Party candidate Vincent Gentile and Green Party candidate James Lane. Republican/Conservative/Independence parties candidate Dan Donovan was invited but did not attend. His absence drew considerable condemnation from Gentile and Lane. A self-described write-in candidate, Tom Weiss, was not invited but nonetheless participated despite repeated objections from the moderator.
Click here for our photo gallery.
11th Congressional District Debate – The Full Story
The race to succeed Michael Grimm moved ahead Tuesday evening as three candidates met for a sharp, sometimes raucous debate. Democratic Party candidate Vincent Gentile, Green Party candidate James Lane and Republican/Conservative/Independence parties candidate Dan Donovan faced off in Bay Ridge in front of a crowd of more than 100 people.
The evening began with opening statements and then moved entirely to questions asked by the audience. Many were solid, meaningful questions even if they often made clear the questioner’s view on the answer.
Here are a few observations on the candidates and the race, with video of the complete debate at the bottom of this post.
Continue reading 11th Congressional District Debate – The Full Story
Debate Nadir (Updated)
The race to succeed Michael Grimm moved into a higher gear Tuesday evening as three candidates met for a sharp, sometimes raucous debate. Democratic Party candidate Vincent Gentile, Green Party candidate James Lane and Republican/Conservative/Independence parties candidate Dan Donovan faced off in Bay Ridge in front of a crowd of more than 100 people.
After opening statements the evening consisted entirely of questions asked by the audience. Many were solid, meaningful questions even if they often made clear the questioner’s view on the answer. Among the exceptions was this question, which generated the most raucous few minutes of an energetic gathering:
Update:
Here’s an additional clip from shortly after the episode shown in the clip above. The woman featured in the clip above moved to the back of the room, shouting and heckling the next questioner and the candidates. As this clip begins Green Party candidate James Lane is responding to the question in the prior clip.