The Working Families Party endorsed Oliver Koppell yesterday in his bid to unseat State Senator Jeffrey Klein in the Bronx’s District 34. Even though this election is significant statewide, there was virtually no coverage of WFP’s support of the political veteran — who recently left the Council after 12 years due to term limits (he also had been a 20-year Assemblyman, and a brief state attorney general).
Klein is co-founder of the Independent Democratic Conference, which often partners with Republicans on critical issues. Usually, the state Senate leader, the Assembly speaker and the governor control state political power, but Klein was added to the leadership when IDC partnered with the Republican side of the Senate. Essentially, Klein and Republican Dean Skelos are Senate c0-leaders.
Local races like this are rarely relevant for the entire Empire State, but if Koppell defeats Klein (still a tough uphill pursuit), that may help WFP disable IDC depending how each party fares in other key races. The primary is in September.
Aside from a brief mention of the endorsement (WFP’s support of Cuomo, following a party battle, dominated coverage) in Capital New York, there doesn’t appear to be another news source that covered it today.
