Gotham Gazette

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Keith Wright

Keith Wright

  • Max Politics Podcast: Black Political Power in New York, with Keith Wright

    Keith Wright endorses Eric Adams (photo: @ericadamsfornyc)


    February 22, 2023 - Max Politics Podcast: Black Political Power in New York, with Keith Wright

    Manhattan Democratic Party Leader Keith Wright, a former Assemblymember and longtime New York political player, joined the show to discuss Black political power in New York — past, present, and future.

    Listen to the conversation and let us know what you think, on Twitter @TweetBenMax. You can listen to the show through the embedded audio below or download the episode wherever

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  • City Council Considers Manhattan Board of Elections Nominee Who Ruled in Ranked-Choice Voting Case

    City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/NYC Council Media Unit)


    Some members of the New York City Council continue to have questions about ranked-choice voting, the new voter-approved system that went into effect in 2021 for party primary and special elections for city government positions. Council members aired those concerns at a hearing on Wednesday as they questioned a nominee to become a commissioner at the New York City Board of Elections. The nominee, Carol Edmead, is a State Supreme Court judge who once ruled against a City Council-led

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  • Manhattan Democrats Just Elected New County Party Reps, But Their Voices May Not Be Heard Until 2021

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    (photo: Demetrius Freeman/Mayoral Photography Office)


    This past Thursday, the Manhattan Democratic Party announced its bi-annual “Organization Meeting” for this coming Thursday, October 3. This gathering of the party’s over 2,000 County Committee members is a critical moment when those newly elected representatives of Democratic voters set the course for the Democratic Party going into 2020.

    Or so everyone thought.

    Disregarding the exceedingly short notice, which is sent by mail and won’t reach most County Committee members

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  • Manhattan Democrats Drop Lawsuit Over Nominee to Board of Elections

    Corey Johnson Mark-Viverito City Council

    Speaker Johnson and former Speaker Mark-Viverito (photo: William Alatriste/City Council)


    The Manhattan Democratic County Committee is dropping a lawsuit against the New York City Council over a nomination for a commissioner to the Board of Elections.

    In December, the Manhattan Democratic Party, led by Chair Keith Wright, filed a legal challenge against then-Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito’s attempt to confirm her preferred candidate to a Manhattan BOE commissioner seat over the county party’s choice. A lawyer for the

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  • Extraordinary District Leader Ballot Feud Escalates to State's Highest Court

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    The State Court of Appeals (wikicommons)


    District leader races typically receive scant media coverage or scrutiny from the state’s Board of Elections investigative division. Disagreements over candidate petitioning for the unpaid, party position are typically settled by borough Board of Elections officials and occasionally advance to a county-level Supreme Court. However, this week, a dispute over the validity of what amounts to 12 signatures for a pair of Harlem district leader candidates -- an incumbent and a newcomer sharing a slate -- is headed to the

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  • In Manhattan, District Leader Maps Redrawn Last Minute and Hard to Find

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    Kim Moscaritolo and Adam Roberts, district leaders for Manhattan's Assembly District 76, Part B


    While much of the media and public’s attention is focussed on New York’s mayoral and City Council races, lesser known elections are also slated to take place this fall.

    On primary day, September 12,

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  • Democratic Club Calls On Wright To Choose Between Party Leadership & Lobbying Job

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    Manhattan Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright (photo: Governor's Office/Flickr)


    A Manhattan Democratic club is calling on Assemblymember-turned-lobbyist Keith Wright to either resign from his role as chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party or give up his lucrative job at the lobbying firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, arguing that the dual role creates a conflict at the “very top of our County Democratic Party.”

    A letter sent last month by the Village Independent Democrats (VID),

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  • Holland to Challenge Perkins in Primary for Harlem Council Seat

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    Marvin Holland (Photo via Holland's campaign)


    Union organizer Marvin Holland, the runner up in Tuesday’s special election for the District 9 City Council seat, has confirmed to Gotham Gazette that he will mount a challenge against the winner Bill Perkins when the seat is up for grabs again later this year.

    The District 9 seat in Harlem was recently vacated by Inez Dickens, who was elected to the state Assembly, leaving just one year left in the term. A nonpartisan special election for the seat was held on Feb. 14 with nine candidates on the ballot. State Senator

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  • Now a Lobbyist, Democratic Power Broker Faces Restrictions in New Job

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    Keith Wright, left, & Gov. Cuomo photo: (Kevin P. Coughlin/Governor's Office)


    A Democratic power broker from Harlem has been hired by a prominent lobbying firm to join its efforts to influence city and state government. Formerly state Democratic Party chair and a member of the state Assembly, Keith Wright is joining Davidoff Hutcher & Citron LLP, but under state law he must avoid matters before both chambers of the state Legislature for two years after leaving office.

    Wright, who has been involved in New

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  • Special Election for Harlem City Council Seat Kicks Off

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    Council candidate Marvin Holland, right, with Sylvia Tyler (photo via Holland on Twitter)


    It’s going to be a sprint of an election -- though it’s not clear how many candidates are running or how many voters will participate -- with ballots likely to be cast sometime in February.

    The election of New York City Council Member Inez Dickens to the State Assembly creates an open seat in Council District 9 in Harlem, and a number of contenders have thrown their hats in the ring. As soon as Dickens officially vacates her Council seat, Mayor

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  • Keith Wright Weighs Options Amid Uptown Power Shifts

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    Keith Wright and Inez Dickens (photo via Wright's Assembly page)


    Before Assemblymember Keith Wright had conceded to Sen. Adriano Espaillat in their congressional race, speculation had already begun about which seat Wright would seek next if not victorious. Wright eliminated one option when he pledged in the heat of the race to replace retiring Rep. Charles Rangel that he would not seek reelection to the Assembly seat he has held since 1992. Wright challenged Espaillat to do the same

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  • Rangel’s Replacement Decided, Other Uptown Races Take Shape

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    Espaillat & co at unity press conference (photo via @EspaillatNY)


    After 46 years and 23 terms, voters in the 13th Congressional District in Harlem have chosen someone other than Rep. Charles Rangel to represent them. The retiring 86-year-old, a legendary figure in Harlem’s political scene, appeared to want to extend his legacy by keeping the seat he had held for decades in the hands of an experienced politician of his choosing, but changing community demographics, a 2012 redistricting, and a crowded 2016

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  • New York Congressional Primary Results; Espaillat, Teachout Among Winners

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    Adriano Espaillat (photo: @EspaillatNY)


    New York voters chose congressional candidates in 13 primaries across the state on Tuesday, with seven of those contests taking place within New York City—all of which were Democratic. New York has 27 seats in the House of Representatives.

    While the current New York City congressional delegation consists of 11 Democrats and one Republican, a makeup that is unlikely to change this year, results from key primaries in three swing districts outside the city have set the stage for races that could factor

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  • New Yorkers Vote in Congressional Primaries June 28

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    Rep. Charles Rangel is retiring (photo via Rep. Rangel on Flickr)


    While many voters and most media are focused on the race for President, this year will also see all 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and 34 of the 100 U.S. Senate seats on the ballot. New York’s 27 seats in the House and one of its two Senate seats - the one held by Senator Charles Schumer -  will be voted on during June 28 primaries and the November 8 general election.

    In an odd - some say counterproductive and undemocratic -

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  • Wright Runs for Congress as Tenants Champion, to Mixed Reviews

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    Keith Wright, Charles Rangel, and others (photo via Wright's campaign)


    New York Assemblymember Keith Wright’s congressional campaign has flooded inboxes declaring him a “champion” for tenants. Many see it as an appropriate description for the housing committee chair - his campaign touts the support of “100 tenant leaders” and he has a long history of advocating for renters, starting in the 1980s as the head of the tenant association in Harlem’s Riverton Houses, where he still lives. Wright and his fellow tenants recently settled a lawsuit with their landlord for $2 million after

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  • Major City Issues at Play in Politically Charged, Post-Budget Legislative Session

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    Gov. Cuomo announces the budget deal (photo via The Governor's Office)


    Governor Andrew Cuomo dismissed the idea of extending state government's legislative session this year to tackle ethics reform during an appearance in Binghamton on Wednesday. "We have a relatively light agenda because we did so much work in the budget," the governor said. "We passed the minimum wage increase, we passed paid family leave, we passed a great package for the middle class, we passed a great package for upstate New York, more education

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