NYC Public Advocate Special Election

[RTS CNG Command]

With Tish James successfully elected to become NY Attorney General, coming January, her former spot — NYC Public Advocate — will open up, resulting in a special election to take place at an unknown date. For those who don't know, this fairly-new position was created to advocate for the public, an outside check and balance on the Mayor in favor of the public, namely those underrepresented. Additionally, they're in charge of the NYC media division and are first-in-line to the Mayor.

Several candidates will likely line up for this, and you can find many examples here. Two of them are:

Jumaane Williams — who I voted for in the September primary — announced his intention to run for it on Twitter. Bet that much of his progressive policies will be among his platform.

Another not seen on much news is Nomiki Konst, a fiery, card-carrying Democratic Socialist. In her interviews on The Intercept and The Jimmy Dore Show, she has two platform positions (aside from typical progressive ones): free subways and a $30/hour minimum wage. She's also very outspoken of the dilapidated public houses along with the corruption from within, so I expect it to be included, too.

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So, are you going to follow the race? If so, who'd you like to be NYC PA?

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

$30/hr minimum wage? Free subways? Let's be serious now. Sure, they sound nice, but realistically, what's the chance of that happening (in the near future). 

[Via Garibaldi 8]

$30.00 minimum wage!??? LMAO I see somebody has been having too much of the stuff. I thought I was too half asleep to believe what I was reading... The joke of the night for sure...

[Interested Rider]

This is one of those elected positions that I hope that the city would take its time to call for an election, like having it in late spring 2019. I have no personal preference for any one of the names being listed as possible candidates as they do not represent my views. If anything, my views are more in line with many of the politicians of both parties who were running for office in middle America as compared with New York City and surrounding areas.

If the position is to be filled, it is best to wait to see how many legislators will call it quits after the first of the year. Once the governor picks a date for the election to fill that position, the city could add the Public Advocate position at no additional cost.

I would like to add as far as the failure of the scanners, let me say that I cannot remember ever having a two page ballot and I am going back to when the scanners were first introduced. It was always one page and it was a much smaller size (not 19 inches) and that it is my observation (For the record, I did not work this past election day) that this helped to create the problems with the machines shutting down. I remember the old photocopy machines and how often these would break down after heavy use such as what happened on election day. As far as water impacting upon the machines, just watch what happens when liquid is spilled on a computer. It is the same thing that happened  with the scanners. The next real, test will come in the 2020 election but there will not  an election for United States Senator  and there will not be changes proposed for the New York City Charter so there will a one page ballot.The same people who complained about the machines breaking down are the same ones who added the additional page to the ballot that caused the machines to break down.

[Union Tpke]

The Public Advocate has no real powers anyway.

[Interested Rider]

Agreed!