Brief update on the 33rd Council Race: a note about Evan Thies, the guy I too often forget is running (not his fault!) followed by Jo Anne Simon's latest numbers.

I ran into Evan Thies, former Yassky staffer and current candidate for the 33rd City Council district, on the last day of petitioning. I never actually met him before, though I had heard him speak. At first I held his Yassky ties against him, but when I realized Yassky was throwing him under the bus and not endorsing Evan, it made me far more sympathetic to him. And the one time I heard him speak he came off well.

Now that I have met him I am further struck by how nice he is. He basically strikes me as similar to Steve Levin (a Vito Lopez staffer) but without the corrupt ties and ongoing feuds with other politicians. Levin's main defect is he has too much baggage from his ties with Vito Lopez and one has to wonder how much Vito Lopez's corruption has rubbed off on Levin. Thies seems to have the same energy and friendliness as Levin but without the corrupt ties. As with Gary Reilly in the 39th City Council race I am hoping Thies sticks around in local politics. I think he has a lot to contribute, though probably not this time around.

Jo Anne Simon seems to be doing very well and may well be the front runner in this race. Here is her message regarding where her campaign stands at this point:

...we were able to surpass our goal and submitted nearly four times the amount of signatures required.

...we have raised over $100,000 dollars. We are the first in our race to cross that milestone and we did it without taking money from developers...

This past week brought other great news that we wanted to share with you. On Tuesday, Jo Anne was endorsed by the Women's Campaign Forum (WCF). WCF is a national, non-partisan organization committed to achieving gender equality in the political sphere and ensuring that qualified female candidates get elected to office. Of the endorsement, Jo Anne said:

"Though women have made great strides towards gaining acceptance and equality in many professional fields, there is still a striking gender imbalance in politics. In the New York City Council, only 18 of the 51 council members are women. I hope to help narrow this gap, and I wholeheartedly appreciate WCFʼs help in the process - not just in this election, but throughout the country. WCF has been working for decades to bring qualified, pro-choice women to political power. With their support, I hope to become its next successful candidate."

Along with many of you, Jo Anne has been enthusiastically following the Senate confirmation hearings of Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Jo Anne tried the landmark case of Bartlett v. NY Board of Law Examiners before Judge Sotomayor. This week, Jo Anne took a moment to share her reflections on the trial and about Sotomayor:

"As a former Bronx Catholic high school girl (St Barnabas), as a woman, as a lawyer, as a New Yorker, I watch the hearings with great interest and more than a little pride. As a lawyer who spent several weeks trying a landmark case in front of Judge Sotomayor, I watch with even greater interest. So, although my relationship with Judge Sotomayor is purely professional, I feel a great personal kinship with her and am excited to feel a part of this historic occasion."

The entire entry on Jo Anne's blog is well worth the read. [Editor's Note: this was, I believe, Jo Anne's first Daily Kos diary]

And a reminder, I mentioned Ken Diamondstone's numbers in an earlier article. Ken is also running in the 33rd City Council district.