I try to do a round up of the most progressive and reform-oriented organizations I can find. Here is my roundup for the September 14th primary. I put my endorsements first and follow with other organizations (we aren't all in complete agreement).

MOLE333 ENDORSEMENTS: (not meant to be comlpete list...just the ones of particular importance where there is a real competition)

State Attorney General: Sean Coffey or Eric Schneiderman (I haven't decided)

12th Congressional District: Nydia Velasquez

State Senate: (some of the most important races this year!)
SD 10 (Queens) – Lynn Nunes (D), Challenger
SD 11 (Queens) – Tony Avella (D), Challenger
SD 18 (Brooklyn) – Velmanette Montgomery (D), Incumbent
SD 22 (Brooklyn) - Michael DiSanto (D), Challenger
SD 32 (Bronx) – Carlos Ramos (D), Challenger

State Assembly:
AD 26 (Queens) – Steve Behar (D), Challenger

Brooklyn District Leaders:
50th AD Female District Leader: Kate Zidar
50th AD Male District Leader: Lincoln Restler
52nd AD Female District Leader: Jo Anne Simon
52nd AD Male District Leader: Chris Owens  read more »

One of the races I consider extremely important for reforming Albany is the primary between obstructionist, anti-gay, anti-choice Ruben Diaz and pro-choice, pro-marriage equality, reform candidate Charlie Ramos. Democracy for NYC (DFNYC, the local offshoot of Howard Dean's Democracy for America) has endorsed Charlie Ramos. This comes from DFNYC:

Ruben Diaz Sr. is the anti-choice, anti-gay Senator in the Bronx who joined the Gang of 3, and then the Gang of 4, threatening to caucus with the Republicans sending state government into a tailspin last year. (See this 1 minute video by MENY about Diaz: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytofJ35zqQY)...

Unfortunately, Diaz has typically gone unopposed in his South Bronx district. Until now!  read more »

This race has been off my radar (which has been largely focused on work and family these days), so I don't have anything specific to say about it. However, Democracy for NYC, the local branch of Howard Dean's Democracy for America movement that helped establish the successful 50-state strategy, has made a unanimous endorsement:

DFNYC Endorses Jeremiah Frei-Pearson for Assembly!

Democracy for NYC recently hosted a candidate forum and held an endorsement vote for the Democratic primary in the 36th Assembly District. All candidates were invited to participate and all DFNYC voting members were eligible to vote. Here are the results:

Jeremiah Frei-Pearson: 100%
Aravella Simotas: 0%  read more »

Two new endorsements have been announced for candidates I am supporting.

First, Democracy for NYC has endorsed Yetta Kurland for the 3rd City Council District in Manhattan. Here is their announcement:

Democracy for NYC is proud to announce that our members have voted to endorse Yetta Kurland in the Democratic primary in Council District 3. Voting opened on July 1st and closed on July 10th. Here are the results:

Yetta Kurland: 69%

Christine Quinn: 12%

Maria Passanante-Derr: 0%

About the vote:
We have been asking DFNYC members through our email newsletters, as well as at Linkups and other events, to suggest 2009 Democratic primary races in which DFNYC should hold endorsement votes of its members. (Please see this page at our website for more details: http://dfnyc.org/content/view/2398/15/) The responses thus far indicated that the DFNYC community is interested in Council District 3. DFNYC members who attended three DFNYC events in the past year were eligible to vote.  read more »

Awhile back I wrote about the Stella d'Oro strike (after I learned about it from Democracy for NYC) where nearly 140 workers spend 11 months on strike after a hedge fund took over the factory and tried to force 26% pay cuts on the workers. You can read some background to the strike in this earlier article. The strike has now ended after the National Labor Relations Board ruled in favor of the workers when the parent company, Brynwood Partners, refused to disclose financial information supporting their claim that the Stella d'Oro factory was not making a profit. That's the good news for union supporters.

From Democracy Now:  read more »