Dear Friends,
Over the last several months I have been humbled by the support that has come in for my campaign for Queens Borough President. Most recently, I have gained the endorsement of Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry. The Assemblymember has been a wonderful friend and colleague over the years, and I am very excited to have his support.
Below is an excerpt from the Queens Gazette regarding the endorsement.
Best,
Melinda Katz
New Move May Help Katz In Minority Areas
In a move signaling a further attempt by Melinda Katz to capture the black vote in her bid to become the Queens borough president, Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, the top political power in Western Queens' minority area for the past 40 years, has endorsed Katz in the race for Queens' borough president.
Several weeks ago, in a surprise move, Reverend Floyd Flake, the former congressmember representing the Southeast Queens minority area and a major community leader, endorsed Katz' candidacy. In the process, he bypassed three-term Councilmember Leroy Comrie, who is also seeking to succeed Helen Marshall as borough president. Comrie, who is black and has been a political power in the greater Jamaica area for about 25 years, was seen as the area's favorite to succeed Marshall.
So with Flake and Aubry now expected to provide some minority punch at the polls in the Democratic primary in September, and her major force of Jewish and women voters kicking in, Katz is suddenly looking like the frontrunner in the field consisting of Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr.; state Senators Tony Avella (Northeast Queens) and Jose Peralta (Jackson Heights); Barry Grodenchik of Flushing and Comrie.
Aubry called Katz "a triple threat", based on her service in the Assembly, the city council and as director of Community Boards in the borough president's office.In a contest with six candidates, each can be expected to depend on their core constituencies, thus making the voting outcome very close as each group balances out the other. In this scenario, the candidate that can find support from another voting source gets a helpful push toward the top and his or her chances improve appreciably.
Katz now seems to be in this favorable position and her opponents will have to work diligently to shore up their positions to keep them in contending positions. As we see it, Vallone is still a threat with a good chance to attract independent voters, drawn to him by the record he has compiled in his three terms in the council where he has headed the Public Safety Committee, creating or tightening up laws that needed it and advocating for more cops on the beat.
In Aubry's endorsement of Katz, where both served together in the Assembly for a time, Aubry called Katz "a triple threat", based on her service in the Assembly, the city council and as director of Community Boards in the borough president's office.
"On substance," Aubry stated, "Melinda is the best candidate to protect and ensure the continued growth of Queens."
Katz responded that she was "Honored to have worked with Jeff in the Assembly to strengthen our laws in the protection of women and children, legislation of which he is well known."
Aubry, now in his 23rd year in the Assembly, is one of the highest ranking African-Americans elected in the state, and his crowning achievement thus far was his legislation that "significantly reformed" the Rockefeller Drug Laws. He also legislated improvements for prison inmates.
Announcing other campaign news, Katz reported that she had raised an additional $100,000 in the last quarter of 2012; in only a few months, she said, she had raised approximately $409,000, and with matching funds her treasury amounts to $726,000.