A Leading GOP Candidate Emerges in Race for Nadler Seat

Since Congressman Jerry Nadler announced that he wouldn’t be running for another term, at least 12 Dems have made known their intentions to seek the coveted seat.

On the Republican side, attorney Carolyn Shinkle appears to be the frontrunner. On Feb. 23, the Manhattan Republican Party endorsed her.

Among Dems, UES Assemblyman Alex Bores was the first, as I recall, to announce his candidacy. Then came the others, including UWS Assemblyman Micah Lasher followed by, in no particular order, Jack Schlossberg, a grandson of President John F. Kennedy; attorney and outspoken Trump critic George Conway; tv and radio journalist Jami Floyd; gay rights activist Mathew Shurka; civil rights attorney Laura Dunn; public health activist Nina Schwabe; co-founder and managing partner of Mercury Capital Advisors Alan Pardee; software engineer Chris Diep; entrepreneur/co-founder of electric vehicle rent-a-car company Joulez, Micah Bergdale; co-founder of the non-profit Helping Hands, Liam Elkind; and gun control activist Cameron Kasky.

Bores’s endorsements include the two Dem clubs in his Assembly district—Four Freedoms and Lexington Democratic Club—as well as former Congresswoman Caroline Maloney. Lasher’s endorsements include the West Side Democratic Club and Jerry Nadler.

Assembly members Lasher and Bores are believed to be the frontrunners for the Dems.

There are several other Republicans said to be in the hunt as well as three independents but it will be tough uphill battle for all of them.

Since 2002, when UES State Senator Liz Krueger won a special election against GOPer Andrew Eristoff, the electeds in Manhattan have essentially been Dems. That was after a reign of liberal Republican representatives including NYS Senator Roy M. Goodman and Rep. Bill Green, who was unseated by Carolyn Maloney in 1992.

Shinkle graduated from MIT with a degree in economics and earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School—where she was a classmate of Schlossberg—and worked at an international law firm. She is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television & Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). Shinkle is focusing her campaign, per her online literature, emphasizing the economy, “It’s ALWAYS the Economy.” Taking a line from Dem Party stalwart James Carville, although think Shinkle probably will probably not add Carville’s emphatic “Stupid” to the signature phrase.

Shinkle’s not alone on the Republican line. There are six other candidates and three Independents, according to ballotpedia.

Petitions began circulating on Feb 13th, but supporters did not really hit the sidewalks until this past weekend when they could finally see the sidewalks after the snow. It runs to April 3rd. The primary’s on June 24th. Election’s Nov 3rd.

Miscellany—First, Tudor City Steakhouse has the best hospitality (think owner Mirso Lekvic and staff) as well as the best Happy Hour and menu. When I was dining there with my forever friend Cindy Adams (we met before she became a legend at the NY Post when she wrote a weekly column for Our Town and I was her editor), everyone was talking about Olympian speedskater, Kamryn Lute, who is a Tudor City resident!

Second, I’d like to bring to your attention—maybe brag—about an email I received from journalist Bob Lape who was a WABC-TV reporter/commentator until the late 80s which is how I got to know him. He’s no longer in NY, but he still reads Our Town. After reading my most recent column about Virginia Maloney’s induction to the City Council at Hunter College and mention of former Councilman Carter Burden’s daughter’s recently published memoir, he emailed the following, slightly edited :

”What a superb account of the swearing-in of the latest Maloney line of public servants!

”It was a jackhammer punch to my memory vault of reporting Manhattan politics from the late 1960s to the present. Carter Burden to Julie Menin.

”Absorbing all this at 5 a.m. in the same day I devoured Cindy Adams’ delicious review of Liza Minelli’s memoir is almost too much for even a gourmet to handle.”

Ladies who launch—Imagine losing Saks 5th? Or Bergdorf’s? It’s easy to blame Amazon, online shopping and whomever/whatever gets the rightful blame. But what’s been overlooked and confounding to me is that the rich and famous, mostly females known for shopping the high-end shopping meccas, are spending their big bucks at consignment shops. Don’t be confused. There was a time when the ladies who were said to lunch are now the ladies who launch and are CEOs and in other high and mighty and monied careers and lifestyles. But now many of them them are buying their Pradas, Guccis, Balenciagas at consignment shops. Oy vey.