Pete Grannis

Pete Grannis resigned from his Assembly seat on the East Side more than a week after the Senate confirmed him as the state's new DEC Commissioner. As of a few minutes ago, the governor has not called a special election to fill that vacancy.

Not that there's much of a race at this point.

But still.

A reader emailed to say Pete Grannis has officially resigned today -- finally -- from his Assembly seat on Manhattan's East Side.

His resignation was delayed because of the prolonged process of confirming Grannis as the state's DEC Commissioner. While that process unfolded, the list of Democrats vying for his seat swelled, then shrunk. The list of contenders now reads as follows: Micah Kellner.

I'm told that several Republicans have expressed a vague interest in the race, but none have committed to running yet.

A date for the special election should be announced shortly.

-- Azi Paybarah

Susan Chamlin, the aide to Senator Liz Krueger who was running Assemblyman Pete Grannis's not-yet vacated seat, has sent out a letter to say she's dropping out.

From the letter:

Upon Pete Grannis' confirmation to head the state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), Governor Spitzer will call a special election to fill this vacancy. However, until Governor Spitzer calls a special election, there is no race. Yet it appears the race has already been decided.

The Democratic nomination now pretty much belongs to Micah Kellner, who most elected officials are backing.

If only the seat would open up.

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer announced today that special elections will be held on March 27 for the vacancies created by the election of Assemblyman Tom DiNapoli as state Comptroller and by the death of Assemblyman John Lavelle.

Which leaves us to wait on the possible announcement of an a third election -- to succeed Assemblyman Pete Grannis of Manhattan. It's a contest that seems to be well underway despite the fact that Spitzer's nomination of Grannis to be the state's environmental conservation commissioner still hasn't been approved by the Republican-controlled state Senate.

-- Azi Paybarah

Okay, so maybe there is a real race on the East Side.

After a number of stalwart East Side Democrats have rallied around Micah Kellner for Assembly, Senator Liz Krueger is announcing an endorsement of her aide Susan Chamlin, who is running in the Democratic primary but hasn't ruled out running on a third party line if she loses the nomination.

"She was the first person my Cheif of Staff and I hired," Krueger wrote in a letter to supporters and forwarded to me. "Susan's long record of accomplishment makes her the ideal candidate to fil the very big shoes of Pete Grannis."

Krueger cast Chamlin as the reform-outsider in the race. "I need a colleague in the Assembly who will work with me to advance an agenda of real reform."

The full letter is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Council member Jessica Lappin today endorsed Micah Kellner, providing another indication that the race for Assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis on the East Side may not turn out to be much of a contest at all.

Kellner also has the backing of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, and a prospective Democratic opponent, Barry Klein, has already dropped out.

The biggest obstacle for Kellner right now seems to be that, officially, there is no race yet.

Grannis has not yet been confirmed as the Spitzer administration's Environmental Commissioner, thanks to the Republican-controlled Senate.

-- Azi Paybarah

Democratic candidate Barry Klein, who is Assemblyman Jonathan Bing's chief of staff, is about to drop out of the race for the Pete Grannis Assembly seat, according to a source familiar with the campaign. -- Azi Paybarah

Upward-aspiring Democrats in Manhattan have long had to navigate between rank-and-file party loyalists and good-government reformers.

The candidates running for the East Side Assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis were given a chance over the weekend to express their theoretical willingness to go against the party leadership in Albany by revealing which comptroller candidate they would have voted for if they were already in the Assembly.

At a closed-press event for Democratic leaders and candidates this Sunday, three Democratic candidates came up with three different answers, according to someone who was there.

Barry Klein, chief of staff to Assemblyman Jonathan Bing, said that he, like his boss, would have voted for the winner, Tom DiNapoli.

Susan Chamlin, an aide to Senator Liz Krueger, said that she, like her boss, would have voted for Martha Stark.

And Micah Kellner, an aide to NYC Comptroller Bill Thompson, said he thought that his boss would have been perfect for the job, but that he would have voted, if given the opportunity, for Howard Weitzman.

Remember, the Democratic nomination is voted on by county committee members (regular Democrats) but in Manhattan, everybody loves a reformer. So we may not have heard the end of this.

-- Azi Paybarah

City Hall News has a wrap-up of the East Side Assembly race I, and you, have been obsessing over.

Among the names the paper adds to the mix is former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, who "would have a free ride to the Democratic nomination if he wanted it, has not closed the door entirely." On the Republican Side, City Hall News floats the names of Nick Viest, who ran for City Council there and lost; and Joel Zinberg, the doctor with a law degree who lost his Council race to Jessica Lappin.

But most interesting is the line the departing Assemblyman Pete Grannis, who said he doesn't think his own chief of staff, Tony Morenzi, will enter the race.

"For his part, Grannis said he will probably back a candidate eventually, and--though he believes Morenzi will pass on the race--would probably back his chief of staff in the race."

-- Azi Paybarah

Take a deep breath: another candidate is thinking of joining the race for the East Side Assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis. And this one's a Republican! (Yes, they still exist in Manhattan, I'm told.)

Meet Kenneth Moltner, a Community Board 8 member and an attorney by trade.

"I'm seriously considering it," Moltner told me yesterday. "It is not a yes. It is not no. I'm seriously considering it." He declined to get into what factors would sway his decision.

His potential candidacy does prompt a practical question: Who would a Republican Assemblyman in Albany turn to for help with, well, anything?

"When we speak of allies, if I run, I would be there to work for the people of my district."

Moltner said he'd fashion himself in the mold of former lawmakers John Ravitz in the Assembly and Roy Goodman in the state Senate.

Brave.

-- Azi Paybarah

An aide to Senator Liz Krueger just confirmed to me she's entering the race for the assembly seat being vacated by Pete Grannis on the East Side.

Susan Chamlin, a legislative aide and senior health policy person for Krueger since 2002, said she'll be filing campaign paperwork shortly.

The race for this seat, usually a sleepy, micro-Democratic brawl, is taking place in a pivotal time in the legislature's evolving relationship with the governor.

I asked Chamlin whether the ability to maintain good relations with Eliot Spitzer and the executive branch would be a campaign issue.

"I don't have a crystal ball, I can't be sure," Chamlin said, "I do know that both Shelly Silver and Eliot Spitzer are both Democrats and are committed to all the progressive points of change that they both want to accomplish. I would think that they would work this out [and be] on the same page for legislative initiatives."

-- Azi Paybarah

Here is the schedule of comptroller interviews taking place in Albany starting at 9:30 tomorrow: Tuesday, Session I

Bill Mulrow David Hancox Alphonse Fletcher Pete Grannis Andrew Eristoff

Tuesday, Session II Martin Connor Arthur Bechoefer Philip La Tessa Joe Morelle Wednesday, Session I Tom DiNapoli Richard Brodsky Martha Stark Andrew SanFilippo Wednesday, Session II George Nadel James Laroccaa Felix Ortiz

The committee will vote on whether to interview James E. Cheney, who submitted his application late.

Mulrow, once considered the early favorite, is first up, which should set the precedent for how later candidates are questioned.

NYC residents can watch the excitemtn on Time Warner (channel 156) or on Cablevision (116). Or, if we're lucky, catch the highlights on YouTube.

-- Azi Paybarah

With a number of Assembly members vying for the comptroller position, it's hard see how one is substantially more qualified than the others.

It's safe to say that from the point of view of the reform-minded governor, independence from the legislative leaders ranks high on the list of qualifications. One way that could have been demonstrated, apparently, was to buck the Assembly leadership two years ago by signing on to a resolution written by former Assemblyman Scott Stringer supporting some rules changes recommended by the Brennan Center.

That's what Joe Morelle of Monroe County did, and he was later rewarded with a letter of support from the Brennan Center folks Jeremy Creelan, a lawyer now in private practice but who earlier helped put together the Brennan Center's report.

The changes were designed to democratize the legislative process by empowering rank-and-file members and reduce the power of the Assembly Speaker. A risky move in the pre-Spitzer days.

The other most often-mentioned comptroller candidates - Richard Brodsky, Tom DiNapoli, and Pete Grannis - didn't sign on.

Update: Creelan was in private practive by the time he sent his letter in support of Morelle. The Brennan Center does not support any candidates.

-- Azi Paybarah