Spin Cycle

As earlier posted here by James T. Madore, the Siena poll this morning reports what -- if accurate -- would be a remarkable surge for Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley in his efforts to unseat veteran state Sen. Caesar Trunzo (R-Brentwood). Observers are trying to figure out the basic question -- whether such a substantial John McCain/Brian Foley vote could be real or stand up at the polls. Remember, this is the Siena poll whose methods Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos challenged earlier in when it came to Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson's likelihood to beat GOP challenger Barbara Donno, and which the Siena folks defended. But on the ground, there's been special drama within the Islip GOP over Trunzo's party leadership, as an upcoming post will elaborate on. Meanwhile the same bank of polls shows Sen. Kemp Hannon over in Nassau looking like a very safe bet to win re-election. Here's a rundown of Siena's results in hot Senate races issued today, which you can comb over yourself by clicking here.

3rd. SD: Foley 56 percent, Trunzo 34 percent, undecided 9 percent.
6th SD: Hannon 56 percent, McElroy 30 percent, undecided 15 percent.
15th SD: Addabbo (D) 45 percent, Maltese (R) 43 percent, undecided 13 percent.

Upstate:
48th SD: Aubertine (D) 49 percent, Renzi (R) 38 percent, undecided 13 percent.
58th SD: Stachowski (D) 47 percent, Delano (R) 43 percent, undecided 10 percent.
61st SD: Ranzenhofer (R) 47 percent, Mesi (D) 42 percent, undecided 11 percent.

Just when you thought it was safe to pick up the phone, robo-calling is under way in Nassau’s perpetually-contested 7th S.D.

Our colleague Michael Amon notified us of a taped call to Port Washington that followed the attack script from Republican Barbara Donno, playing on her opponent Sen. Craig Johnson being in a law firm where an ex-partner was improperly receiving a school-district pension.

What followed, Amon said, was a robo-call from the Johnson camp — blasting Donno’s negative approach, with the pitch, “Sen. Craig Johnson has always been on your side and will always be fighting for you.”

Now, after today’s report on Carol Hoffman leaving the firm Jaspan, Schlesinger Hoffman LLP, from which she was a focus of the pension-abuse uproar — and where Sen. Craig Johnson is now “of counsel” — Johnson challenger Barbara Donno is slamming him again.

Last week she released an ad that reached beyond the facts as reported to tie the Port Washington Democrat to the mess, even though from all available evidence he joined the firm after Hoffman’s controversial activities had taken place.

In her latest news release on Monday, Donno charged: ““Carol Hoffman’s decision to leave before she was originally scheduled to retire in December is an obvious political maneuver designed to distance Craig Johnson and his law firm from the 'double dipping' scandal...While the offender at the middle of this scandal is gone, Craig Johnson continues to collect a paycheck from them and he has remained silent. Residents deserve an explanation and Craig Johnson should denounce his law firm and its involvement in this scandal.”

While the Jaspan firm has several Democratic Party contacts, the glass-house aspect merits repeating: This scandal has actually been quite bi-partisan. Denouncing Donno’s campaign as promoting lies, and saying "no one here ever double-dipped," Steven Schlesinger (in photo), a partner who is counsel to the Nassau County Democrats, has pointed out, for example, that state and GOP chairman Joseph Mondello is of counsel to the law firm Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, and Peddy. There, as Newsday reported, partner Gil Henoch was improperly reported for two decades as a school-district employee.

The Johnson camp last week called for Cablevision News 12 to stop running the Donno ads but was rejected. “First, Craig Johnson and his law firm tried to strongarm a media outlet
into shutting down free speech, and now has forced Carol Hoffman out for
political expediency," Donno said in her news release. "These attempts to hide the truth are disgraceful, and speak volumes about Craig Johnson’s character, judgment, and
temperament.”

Dan Janison

Slated to appear in Saturday's Newsday:

Nassau Senate rivals Craig Johnson and Barbara Donno agreed in a debate taped Friday that state spending on schools and health care should be shielded from cuts. But they clashed on who’d be more independent and responsive — and traded shots on who’d be a better advocate of lowering local taxes.

As economic distress dominates local and national campaigns, both emphasized the pressure that high taxes present for residents of the Seventh Senate District. Johnson (D-Port Washington) defended a three-part proposal for capping tax hikes, slicing mandated spending and a new “circuit breaker” system of breaks for older and poorer homeowners.

The debate airs Oct. 23 on Cablevision News12 Long Island, at 4 p.m. and at 11:30 p.m.
Donno, the Republican mayor of Plandome Manor, slammed Johnson’s preferred plan as “shallow,” costly and harmful to some beneficiaries of the current STAR rebate program. She challenged his claim to independence from the Democratic Party line in Albany, citing an instance in which he did not break from Gov. Eliot Spitzer on proposed health care cuts in 2007.

“Unfortunately, my opponent is running the continuous, same old, distorted, negative campaign we’ve seen in the national campaign as well as here,” Johnson said, countering her claim to be “not a typical politician.” They disputed his record on school funding.

Johnson won a special election for the seat last year, making him the only Democrat among Long Island’s nine state senators. That’s been a sore point for new Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), who’s backing Donno vigorously as he fights statewide this season to keep GOP control of the house.

Johnson said a Democratic majority in the Senate would “absolutely not” hurt Long Island — and Donno said it “absolutely” would.

To follow up on the results of the Siena poll that shows Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson way ahead of GOP challenger Barbara Donno, Newsday asked Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos after a Manhattan speech this morning if it was wise to target that race and pour in resources given the numbers. Skelos' reply: He doesn't believe these numbers.

"You know, I don’t believe that Siena's poll is correct," Skelos said. "We have our own internal polling, and polls that have been done within all of these different districts for the past 20 years, that indicate a lot different. They use the random digit dialing. Siena has never done a poll in Senate districts. And (with) random-digit dialing, for all you know all the phone calls could have gone into Great Neck,” which is one portion of the 7th S.D. where Johnson is expected to be strong.

But Steve Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena pollsters, said Skelos has his facts wrong. "Siena does not use random digit dialing. We use lists of registered voters," he said. And the sample is indeed designed to proportionally represent different parts of the district, Greenberg said.

One Johnson ally said privately that Johnson seems for Skelos to be the tragically elusive equivalent of Captain Ahab's whale. The GOP camp seems to truly believe that Johnson is nervous about his re-election prospects.

As is common campaign practice, Skelos is not releasing GOP internal polls, which are done for strategic reasons.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has endorsed Barbara Donno, the mayor of Plandome Manor, against Sen. Craig Johnson.

“I am happy to endorse Barbara Donno in her effort to represent the 7th Senate district on Long Island,” Bloomberg is quoted as saying in her campaign's statement. “I believe her unique set of qualifications give her the ability to truly understand the issues that impact her community and our state. I look forward to working with her when she is elected this November.”

Donno's quotes in the news release:

“Just like Mayor Bloomberg, I am not a career politician and I have no problem standing up to the special interests to help improve the way our government works. The Mayor and I also share the same strong commitment to improving our schools and enhancing the quality of life for hardworking families, so I am truly honored to have his support for my campaign.”

Bloomberg has continued to back a GOP Senate even though he quit the party last year.

With Republicans all but predicting Democratic Sen. Craig Johnson's political demise (see previous item) the pro-Johnson forces have issued these broadsides:

First we heard from Doug Forand, chief strategist for the Senate Democratic campaign committee, on the Senate Republican committee's assessment of the race:

"This only shows that Senator Skelos' peculiar obsession with Senator Craig Johnson continues to skew his political judgement. Clearly, Senator Skelos has not been able to move on from the embarrassing loss he suffered in 2007 and as a result continues to pour SRCC resources into Barbara Donno's quixotic campaign.

"Craig Johnson has been an exemplary State Senator during his first term, fighting tirelessly for property tax relief and delivering record levels of aid to schools in his district.

"It is certainly Senator Skelos' right to fiddle in Great Neck while the rest of his Republican conference's re-election plans burn, and we hope he continues to do so as it draws much-needed resources from threatened Republican incumbents. Regardless of whatever shenanigans the Republicans try to pull with their ballot access challenges, the voters of the 7th Senatorial District know a good thing when they see it, and Craig Johnson will be comfortably re-elected in November."

Reacting to today's judicial decisions, Working Families executive director Dan Cantor declared:

"Senate Republicans used the courts to circumvent the democratic process and the will of Working Families Party members in the 7th Senate District."

"Senator Johnson has been a champion of middle and working class values, and has worked tirelessly ...

The son of Barbara Donno, the Republican candidate running against Sen. Craig Johnson, was arrested for DWI and pot possession. His photo is on our DWI "wall of shame." Some of the early details are here.

IF this charge holds up in court: Relevance to the race? Impact? Should there be? Your take requested, since we have our doubts. But of course, it's in the news stream now...He appears in her campaign ad and has been active in the campaign.

UPDATE: Donno's statement, as also posted by the TU:

“My husband and I love our son very much, but we are profoundly disappointed by his actions and the serious mistake he’s made. He will take responsibility for his actions, is taking steps to get the counseling he needs, and we will stand by him in the days to come.

"Drunk or impaired driving is a serious offense, and it’s something that cannot and will not be tolerated under any circumstances in this or any other community.”

Was that really Gov. David Paterson’s top aide, Secretary Charles O’Byrne, and Deputy Secretary for Public Safety Michael Balboni, among the half-dozen seated one of the 11 tables at the famously exclusive Rao’s restaurant in East Harlem Thursday night? Even Madonna and Lance Armstrong are said to have been turned away from the place — which gained a morbid cachet five years ago with a fatal shooting on the premises.

(Photo of Balboni from St. John's Law School Web site where he's an alumnus.)

At around the same time tonight, just a few blocks apart, the state's Republican and Conservative parties will be holding separate dinners - a pretty glaring conflict given their overlapping sources of support.

Organizers say the simultaneous scheduling was accidental. But things sometimes play out that way for the Republicans and the spinoff Conservatives, who for 46 years have positioned themselves as the rightward conscience of the New York GOP.

Vice President Dick Cheney will address the Republicans, convened by state and Nassau Chairman Joseph Mondello, at the New York Sheraton in Manhattan. So will former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno - Republicans who have had their own famous collisions with the Conservatives.

For Conservatives, the headliner at the New York Athletic Club is Rep. Mike Pence (R-Indiana), the former chairman of the Republican Study Committee, a group of conservative House Republicans. Pence has called himself "a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order." The event is a tribute to the late William F. Buckley Jr., the national conservative icon.

Political intimacy creates a certain type of tension. For local endorsements, the strains - and intense negotiation - have been evident.

For starters, take a look here at Rick Brand's story on how Suffolk Republicans seem to have responded to prodding from Suffolk Conservatives and done an about-face on their judicial nominations.

And, in Nassau, as reported earlier, a frantic series of back-channel, multiway talks has lasted for several days between county Conservative leaders - who were balking at endorsing Republican Senate nominee Barbara Donno - and the Senate's Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre). Nassau Conservative Chairman Roger Bogsted said he expects to decide on a candidate today.

Mike Long, the state Conservative chairman, was asked yesterday if his organization was committed to keeping the GOP majority in the Senate. "Yes, we are," he said, "but we are saying the candidates have to be acceptable. And I have had some private conversations....

Dan Janison

Nassau Conservatives on Thursday interviewed Republican Senate candidate Barbara Donno, mayor of Plandome Manor, who’s challenging Democratic incumbent Craig Johnson. We've heard conflicting accounts of how she was received. Some said just fine -- others said the alienated third party wants someone else. Both Johnson and Donno face screening for the Independence nod this week. Last year Republican Maureen O’Connell got 4,168 votes from the ‘C’ and ‘I’ lines in the special election for the former Mike Balboni seat.

Dan Janison

For nearly five months Barbara Donno, mayor of Plandome Manor, has been mentioned as the prospective GOP opponent to state Sen. Craig Johnson - who as noted earlier today may first face a primary against fellow Democrat Joseph Hand. So far, there's been no announcement, and those who watch these things seem to be in suspense. Updates as we learn them.

Nassau County's Joseph Hand, who got 42 percent of the vote for state Senate in the 7th district against Republican incumbent Michael Balboni in 2006, now is looking to run a primary against the Democratic incumbent who replaced Balboni, Craig Johnson (left).

Hand has been away and unavailable for comment, but we hope to talk with him when he returns. Senate Democratic operatives supporting Johnson say they are not worried given the difficulty of petitioning onto the primary ballot without party organization backing.

Here is one of the palm cards for Hand that has been making the rounds.

State Sen. Craig Johnson's office has been advertising its success — in tandem with Assembly members Charles Lavine (left) and Michelle Schimel (right) — in getting what is called “bullet aid” for schools within his 7th senatorial district. It works like this: Many of Johnson's districts, such as Great Neck and Port Washington, are located along the affluent Gold Coast and were subject this year to aid cuts ($171,000 for Great Neck; $50,000 for Port Washington). Johnson, a Democrat, would not have access to the Senate's Republican majority for redress. So he collaborated instead with the Assembly's Democratic majority where they approved special grants to those districts as bullet aid -- along the lines of member items ($200,000 for Great Neck; $50,000 for Port Washington).

John Hildebrand

Apparently still smarting from last week’s public vow by State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) to take him out in November, State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) issued a statement this afternoon criticizing his GOP colleagues. He said they were wrongheaded to defeat a procedural motion that would have allowed a Democrat-sponsored bill to be debated.

The bill by Johnson’s friend, State Sen. David Valesky (D-Oneida), seeks to stop Albany from placing unfunded mandates on local governments.

The move by Johnson was unusual because though relations between him and some members of Long Island’s Republican senatorial delegation are frosty, he rarely blasts them publicly. Last week, however, the delegation leader, Skelos, confidently told reporters that Johnson would be defeated in the fall. His victory last year narrowed the GOP majority to two seats.

James T. Madore

Click continued bar below for Johnson’s news release.

One year ago, Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) won what had been a Republican state senate seat in Nassau even as the 1199/SEIU health-care union and the Independence Party backed his opponent. But at a recent fundraiser for the rookie Senator, the union bought a table and Independence county chair Bobby Kumar was on hand, Johnson allies report.

Dan Janison

Clinton communications czar Howard Wolfson is predicting a draw on Super Tuesday and says his boss will end the day with an overall lead in delegates -- largely thanks to her fierce lobbying for non-democratically-selected "super delegates" before the primary season started.

Unlike delegates apportioned by primaries or caucuses, super delegates -- often elected officials and party leaders -- are free to sign on with the candidates of their choice. Clinton has enlisted about 100 more than Obama.

In a striking departure from the campaign's optimism a month ago, when Clinton aides were staking all on Feb. 5th, Wolfson downplayed the 22-state results in a conference call with reporters.

"The results will likely be inconclusive...I don't think either side will win appreciably more delegates than the other but its possible either side could win more today...It's just another step on the road to Denver," he said.

On the same call, Clinton pollster Mark Penn predicted that Obama might win most of the primaries between now and March 4th, excluding Ohio. Penn said the raft of contests in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, "clearly favor Obama more than us."

The pair also demanded four more one-on-one debates with Obama -- while denying it was a ploy to get free media for a endangered candidate short on cash. Clinton has signed on for a Fox debate in D.C. on Feb 11, despite boycotting a previous debate sponsored by the right-tilting network earlier this year. She's also agreed to later one-on-ones sponsored by MSNBC in Ohio, CNN in Texas and an offer for an hour-long one-one-one conversation between the candidates from ABC's George Stephanopolous this Sunday.

Wolfson said Obama hasn't agreed to any of them yet; Calls are in to his campaign.

--Glenn Thrush

State players are bracing for a new fight over health-care cuts early next year as Gov. Eliot Spitzer prepares plans to close a $4.3 billion budget gap.

Months ago the new governor pressured state Senate Democrats into backing his effort to slice $1.2 billion from Medicaid. Much but not all of the spending was restored. Spitzer is widely expected to push anew for hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts.

But the tone if not the substance of the debate may have dramatically shifted. For one thing, several members of the Senate’s Democratic minority, hoping to win the majority next November, told Newsday they are now less liable to let the governor call the shots. For another, the big health care union 1199/SEIU is believed to be increasing its political action budget by millions of dollars just in case, for an ad campaign potentially as bitter as one that erupted last time.

“From the union’s perspective people were acting petrified of the governor, as if they had no choice,” said one source familiar with the union’s operations. “Now as time passes it’s clear the governor does not walk on water.” Despite a change of leadership at the union its longtime alliance with Senate Republicans under Majority Leader Joseph Bruno appears undented so far.

Just to refresh your recollection, a sample of the broadcast sluf-fest from earlier this year. And some more specific Long Island impact, after the jump:

Dan Janison

A new mailer by the New York Republican State Committee arriving in mailboxes of the 7th Senate District would have you believe that Sen. Craig Johnson supports Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to issue drivers’ licenses to undocumented immigrants. Johnson, however, already voted on a bill this year that goes against that plan — requiring social-security numbers for license applicants or alternative documents — thus breaking ranks with a number of fellow Democrats.

The mailer quotes Johnson (D-Port Washington) from a Politicker blog entry by Azi Paybarah. Last week Paybarah called Johnson to see if he liked the governor’s revised three-tier system of licensing. Johnson reportedly said he was studying the new plan.

According to the Politicker item, it seems as though Paybarah asked if the change would be “more amenable to lawmakers like Johnson.”

Johnson had responded, “Right now I’m focused on working my district, so I really don’t have much of a thought on that.” (Possible translation: he knows the issue’s a third rail that he does not want to step on, but is not in the business of denouncing the governor, who’s otherwise been his ally.)

The mailer focuses ....

Melissa Mansfield

Mike Fishman, president of the union 32BJ/SEIU representing janitors and building workers, has issued a letter stating it was "with great dismay" that he heard of Sen. Craig Johnson's opposition to Gov. Eliot Spitzer's change of drivers' license policies.

"Your main concern that a driver's license may create a presumption of legal residency is unfounded," Fishman wrote. "If it is celar that in New York state _ along with seven other states -- drivers' licenses will be issued to people regardless of immigration status, the driver's license should not create such a presumption."

Citing the desirre to "bring people out of the shadows and into the system" and make the system more fraud-proof, as well as lower insurance rates by increasing the pool of registered drivers, Fishman called Johnson's opposition "not productive."

The union's position on the issue is posted here.

Breaking from his ally Gov. Eliot Spitzer on a hot-button issue, rookie Democratic state Sen. Craig Johnson has essentially reinforced his earlier support for requiring either a Social Security number or substitute documentation for those applying for drivers' licenses. But he adds some bitter words for those he charges are attempting to manipulate the issue for political purposes -- and says by the way that the Bush administration has failed to "deal with our nation's immigration problems in a rational, balanced and fair manner." For Johnson's full statement, hit the "continue-reading" bar right below. (One note: 'non citizens' have always been permitted to apply -- the question becomes whether they have legal immigration status).

Dan Janison

The state Senate's Republicans have launched their first televised attack ad against Long Island's only Democrat in the delegation, rookie Sen. Craig Johnson of Port Washington. There's no Republican nominee yet, but the ad features a game-show host talking to a cardboard cutout of Johnson as "contestant" and peppering the life-sized likeness with slanted "questions" about his purportedly voting for moving school funds from LI to NYC, cutting hospital funds and imposing higher property taxes on "hundreds of thousands" of Long Islanders. The conclusion is his record is "unspeakable."

Not only does the Johnson camp respond that the contentions about his record are specious, they note he's also known to talk -- at some length on -- most things. The Johnson side also points out that supposed "grass roots" local committees are coordinated with the Albany-based GOP in linking Web sites to the new commercial. Here's the ad, which is of a piece with the earlier state Republican spots attacking rookie Westchester Democrat Andrea Stewart-Cousins:

The latest of the mailings has gone out in the partisan war over the state Senate. The election for the post at stake, held by rookie Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) isn't until November -- of next year.

Liz B. describes the color piece here and more is expected from the Johnson fans today about the Yom Kippur timing. But you can't beat somebody without somebody else, and we still don't have a clue as to who the Republican candidate will be.

UPDATE: A national organization of Jewish Democrats issued a condemnation of the mailing. Click below for an excerpt of the statement.

The popularity of introducing tolls for motorists entering Manhattan has slipped, according to Quinnipiac.

The furor over the fire-damaged former Deutsche Bank site brought Bovis representatives face-to-face last night with concerned community residents.

Gov. Eliot Spitzer and allies defend his administration's statements on that fake-logo GOP ad in the Nassau race a few months back, here and here.

After losing a fierce battle to Craig Johnson for Mike Balboni's former Senate seat last February, funded largely through the Senate GOP campaign committee, Republican Maureen O'Connell ended up with $359,582.88 left. It was transferred to the campaign account for O'Connell's post as Nassau clerk. Asked Friday about the prospect of another Senate run next year, she said, "I'm thrilled with my job as county clerk."

Former Republican state Sen. Michael Balboni, now the state's top homeland security expert, has not lost his electoral touch.

According to party sources in Albany and Nassau County, Senate Republicans in the past month conducted a poll in his old Nassau district showing Balboni would be what one local party official called a "slam dunk" winner over Democratic state Sen. Craig Johnson, who won the office Feb. 6 on the coattails of high-riding new Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

"It wasn't even close," said a second Senate source in Albany who declined to be identified. "Most people probably think Balboni's still the senator."

The poll also shows that even Nassau County Clerk Maureen O'Connell, who lost to Johnson, is "neck and neck" given Spitzer's slide in popularity.

Several sources say Senate Republicans are trying to woo Balboni back, saying that his new state job has put him in a financial squeeze and the job is lower-profile than expected. Skeptics say Balboni would never get Nassau Republican Joseph Mondello's blessing to return.

Balboni said he loves his current post. "The great thing about this job is I don't talk politics anymore," he said.

Rick Brand

And, here's an account of the Spitzer verbal poke with a bit more detail -- as filed by our James T. Madore:

Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) got a huge round of applause when Gov. Eliot Spitzer mentioned his name at today’s meeting in Albany of the Family Planning Advocates.

When the clapping died down, Spitzer left little doubt in what he expects from Johnson in a future vote on the state budget.

“You don’t know how glad I am you are there, Craig,” Spitzer said, referring to Johnson’s victory in a special election last month, and the GOP’s slim hold on the Senate majority.

Spitzer added, “We will be counting the votes very shortly. I’m not putting you on the spot.”

What a difference an election makes when it comes to concerns about good government.

Prior to the special election Feb. 6 between Nassau Legis. Craig Johnson and County Clerk Maureen O’Connell, news leaked out that County Comptroller Howard Weitzman was ready to release a critical audit of O’Connell’s office.

Johnson, a Democrat, repeatedly demanded that Republican O’Connell release the audit on her own “to clear the air.” Johnson’s Democratic colleague, Legis. Diane Yatauro issued a press release also calling on O’Connell to release the audit, saying “There is no excuse for blocking the public’s and the legislature’s right to understand....”
Then Johnson won and nobody demanded the audit anymore.

“Talk about political,” said O’Connell.

“We do not comment on our audit findings until we release the audit,” a Weitzman spokesman said, adding that the audit would be put out “shortly.”

Celeste Hadrick

New Nassau state Sen. Craig Johnson, sworn in Feb. 12, had to wait before he was seated in the chamber near his Democratic colleagues this week. There was some squawking and moaning from the Democratic side about the matter, as covered by Jacob Gershman in the Sun.
Apparently Sen. Kenneth P. LaValle (R-Port Jefferson) moved his seat to the former Michael Balboni space, pacifying the situation.
With his side accused of playing petty games, Republican majority spokesman John McArdle said of Johnson: "He got seated. He got a nice chair. But they're more concerned about chairs and measuring curtains than cutting property taxes."

Dan Janison

In the special election for Sen. Craig Johnson’s former Nassau Legislative seat, Democrat Wayne Wink, a North Hempstead town board member, has gotten the backing of the Independence and Working Families Parties.

His Republican opponent, Louis Chisari of Garden City Park, has gotten the Conservative Party line. The deadline for parties to file their candidates was Tuesday.

Rick Brand

The Nassau Board of Elections on Wednesday certified that Democrat Craig Johnson, who was sworn in as the 7th District’s state senator this week, did indeed win last week’s special election. After all the machines and paper ballots were tallied, Johnson beat Republican Maureen O’Connell by 3,637 votes.

Here is the breakdown by ballot line:

Johnson
Democrat: 26,103
Working Families: 1,529
Total: 27,632

O’Connell
Republican: 19,827
Independence: 1,800
Conservative: 2,368
Total: 23,995

-- Celeste Hadrick