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Smikle v. Perkins
May 5th, 2010

The Daily Politics is reporting that people looking to oust State Sen. Bill Perkins (also know as charter school supporters) have settled on political strategist Basil Smikle as their standard bearer in the Democratic primary.

In an interview with the blog, Smikle said he was running as an insurgent. Whatever his strengths, that’s a bit of a stretch: On his own web site, Smikle says he was a top aide to Hillary Clinton. He also served as a consultant for Joe Lieberman’s ill-fated presidential bid (back when Lieberman was still kind of a Democrat).

But Smikle’s most important — and certainly richest — ally could be Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Smikle worked for the mayor’s re-election campaign last year, receiving about $145,000 including what appears to be a $24,332 bonus in December.

Perkins has emerged as the State Senate’s most outspoken critic of charter schools, a hot issue in a district where charters have established a strong foothold. Smikle recently was reported as hanging out with charter school supporters at a screening of a movie about the public funded privately operated school

Smikle told the Daily Politics, “Ed reform is a galvanizing issue in Harlem right now and upper Manhattan,” but that he would “focus on other things as well.” Perkins has come under attack in some quarters for publicly criticizing U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel and Gov David Paterson — both residents of his Harlem district — and was one of the few New York politicians who did not support Hilary Clinton’s 2008 presidential bid.

But education seems likely to top the list of issues for the campaign. With charter supporters reportedly gearing up to spend $10 million on state races this year, it will be interesting to see how much of that Smikle gets — and how much come from Bloomberg. And, of course, how much the teachers union and its allies ante up on the other side.

By Gail Robinson on May 5, 2010, 4:59 pm
In category: Albany, Education, Electoral Politics, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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