Republican candidate Bob Turner is ahead in the polls to fill the 9th Congressional District seat of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) who resigned in June after a text-messaging scandal.
Turner, a former television executive with no experience in public service, leads in the polls by six points over his Democratic opponent David Weprin, according to a Public Policy Polling (PPP) poll released Sunday. Weprin has served as a city councilman for eight years and a state assemblyman for one.
If Turner wins, it will be the first time a Republican will hold the seat in the heavily Democratic district, which covers Central Queens and South Brooklyn. Turner has 29 percent of the Democrat vote and only lacks 10 percent of the Republican vote. Turner has been leaning on President Barack Obama's dismal approval rating in the area.
“If Republicans win this race on Tuesday it’s real world evidence of how unpopular Barack Obama is right now,” speculated Dean Debnam, president of PPP, in a press release. In 2008, Obama won in the district with 55 percent of the vote. His approval rating sits at a mere 31 percent now, according to PPP figures.
On the campaign trail
Weprin has spent twice as much on his campaign as Turner.
According to the Federal Election Commission's most recent report on Aug. 24, Weprin spent $248,425 and still had $202,408 on hand. Turner spent $118,847 and had $93,785 on hand.
Weprin has the support of Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-Queens/Manhattan), who says she's on board to fight the “Tea Party right wing that wants to keep women down,” as she declared at a rally in Kew Gardens this weekend, according to the Gothamist.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo and former President Bill Clinton also jumped on the Weprin wagon. They have recorded messages of support for Weprin, now being sent out through an automated phone campaign.
The New York Times and Spanish language newspaper El Diario have endorsed Weprin, which might give him a boost within the Latino community. According to a Brooklyn Politics blog, in the 9th District approximately 100,000 of the 654,000 residents are Latino, 40,000 of whom are registered voters.
The Daily News and the New York Post stand in Turner's corner. Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani joined him for a final hurrah on the campaign trail on Monday. Former Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, has also expressed his support for Turner, citing his disapproval of Obama and Obama's Democrats as the reason.
Koch says a Republican win in a high-profile Democrat district will tell Obama he has lost support, especially on his American-Israeli policies. Koch is supporting Turner as his best hope for a pro-Israel candidate. Turner has been outspoken in his support of Israel.
Weprin is Jewish, has family in Israel, and says he has more power to sway Obama's policies as a Democrat. His opposition to Obama's actions in Israel won't be dismissed as partisan politics, claims Weprin.
In a debate with Turner on NY1 last week, Weprin said he thinks Obama's demands on Israeli forces are unreasonable, saying they should not be asked to withdraw from territory they have held for over 40 years. On “The Brian Lehrer Show” on Aug. 4, Weprin said that Palestinians should be asked to make the same concessions as Israelis.
Weprin has downplayed the importance of this issue in the race for the congressional district seat, but the district has one of the highest concentrations of Jewish people in the nation.
Weprin calls for the renewal of the millionaire's tax and closing corporate loopholes by taxing oil companies and companies that export jobs overseas. Turner was criticized for joking that he wouldn't close any tax loopholes, as he has never seen a tax break he doesn't like. He conceded that tax breaks on ethanol should be abolished.
Turner maintains, however, that cutting spending is the answer, not tax reform. He wants to see the federal Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture greatly reduced.
The 9th District congressional election may be center stage of a federal political battle, but the seat could be eliminated in 14 months by redistricting. New York will lose two congressional seats and the 9th District may be one of them.
Assembly Seats
Voters will hit the polls Tuesday to fill empty seats in the state Assembly. Upstate districts will elect two representatives for assembly seats in addition to four New York City representatives.
Next…54th District
