Anyone who has loyally followed my columns over the past three years -Room Eight New York Politics (www.r8ny.com) and the Daily Gotham (www.dailygotham.com) -will be aware that I have been considering another run for public office for some time now. And if you missed part one of these columns then you need to go back into my archives on either website. It should be of no surprise to any of you that I gone beyond the exploratory stage, and has now formed a fundraising committee (Friends of Rock Hackshaw). Yes, I am still angry enough about the term-limits extension vote (amongst other factors), to make another run for public office: this time for city council and not the Assembly (as I did in 1998).
I am intent on running for a seat on the New York City Council later this year. I am a Democrat, and as such I will be entering the Primary Election (Tuesday 15th September, 2009) against the incumbent of the 40th council district (Mathieu Eugene). So far there seems to be about six or seven other potential challengers, and although conventional wisdom will suggest that this is favorable to the incumbent, there are no real candidates until the Board of Elections and/or the court rule(s) one on the ballot.
Very often, names are floated as potential candidates to discourage others from getting into the race: this could be happening in the Brooklyn’s 40th district. Thus I intend to move my candidacy forward, despite my earlier prognostication that I don’t want to be a candidate when there are four or more challengers to the incumbent. That may not be the ideal situation for a challenger, but in my estimation it isn’t fatal to one’s hopes and aspirations: especially if the tactics for voter-persuasion are solid as a rock.
When Eugene initially ran and won this seat in a special election, there were more than a dozen names floating around as potential candidates; when it was time to file petitions only eleven did. After the court challenges were expedited there were ten names on the voting machine. In that election he garnered about thirty percent of the low turnout; only twelve per cent of the registered voters turned out to vote in someone to replace Yvette Clarke (Congress).
My position is simply this: “If I run, I may lose; but if I don’t run, I will lose”. No matter how many candidates show up at the starting line, I intend to run and win this race. My confidence is buoyed by the fact that many people seem willing to support me in this endeavor.
I know that I am up against the incumbent, plus former councilmember Una Clarke, her daughter (Congresswoman Yvette Clarke), Local 1199 trade union, other unions, many other electeds and some of their many supporters; but I am not deterred. The last time I ran in this area (Assembly) I left near 2300 votes here; Mathieu Eugene did not get to this number in two special elections in 2007. In the general election that November he failed to push more than four thousand votes (as a Democrat).
I believe that my prospects go beyond the proverbial “puncher’s chance”; and as such, I am intent on raising all the money needed to max out on the public campaign finance program (CFB). So I am here asking those of you who have promised to contribute to my next run for public office, to send me your contributions at the following address: Rock Hackshaw; P.O. Box 250638; Brooklyn, New York, 11225. Please be sure to include your full name, phone number and address with your contribution; my fundraising team will get back to you. Please fill out your check or money order to: Friends of Rock Hackshaw. You can also reach me on the internet via Room Eight New York Politics (www.r8ny.com), or by e-mail (rockhackshaw@gmail.com).
My goal is to raise at least fifty thousand dollars on the internet. I would like to do this by getting two hundred people to donate two hundred dollars each. Then another one hundred people to donate one hundred dollars each. That will achieve the immediate goal. I am hoping that some of my fans here will rise to this challenge. I need five hundred people who are hoping to impact the quality of next year’s city council membership, to come to my assistance.
For those who might be interested in my platform and such, you will have to wait a bit, since that’s still in the developmental phase. I could only say that you can read some of my previous columns to get a sense of where I am on the political spectrum.
I am aware that there are rumors floating around, that I have decided to forego this year’s race for the 40th city council district, in order to concentrate on running for the 42nd Assembly next year; please ignore them. It is true that both options were on the table for me; however I have chosen to run this year. I hope I can count on your support.
Stay tuned in: please. And thanks in advance to those who will choose to contribute to my campaign.