Elections were held across the nation today and my eye was focused on a couple of them.
The partisan in me worried about control of the Senate notes that Lincoln Chafee’s Republican primary victory makes it more difficult for progressives to take the upper chamber come November. But I remain convinced that America needs Republicans opposed to the war in Iraq and supportive of the environmental movement in the Senate. Rhode Island’s voters turned back Chafee’s conservative challenger and gave the incumbent’s progressive views a solid victory.
New York primary voters made a great decision today as they handed the democratic nomination for state Attorney General to Andrew Cuomo, the former secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. I had the opportunity to meet with Cuomo on several occasions when he served in the Clinton Administration and worked closely with some of his staff (including deputy assistant secretary Fred Karnas – the top federal official under Clinton working on issues of homelessness). Cuomo is an extraordinary individual deeply committed to issues of social justice. How many candidates do you know that even mention social justice as a concept in a campaign for public office? Andrew Cuomo will make a great Attorney General.
