I love primaries, especially in safe seats. Comfortable office-holders are not, generally, a good thing, and the sovereign people deserve choices.

Primaries in swing districts - or, as in the Presidential race, national primaries - can be a mixed blessing, especially if they go negative. Consider, for example, Mitt Romney's scathing attacks on John McCain, which have party strategists salivating with the possibilities of a vast realm of footage culled from Romney's attack ads should he get the Veep nod.

In the key race in the Third Senatorial District, withdrawn contender Jimmy Dahroug is now doing his part to calm the waves. Full statement, via email, after the jump.  read more »

Peace at last: Jimmy Dahroug endorsed Democratic candidate for SD-3, Brian Foley, today.

Jimmy Dahroug Endorses Brian X. Foley for State Senate

Democrats Unite to Fight for the Working Families of Islip and Brookhaven

HOLBROOK, NY - Jimmy Dahroug today endorsed Brookhaven Supervisor Brian Foley for State Senate. Suffolk County Democratic Chair Rich Schaffer and Islip Democratic Chair Ivan Young joined Dahroug at the Holbrook event to show their commitment to Party unity and their support for Foley.

"I am proud to endorse Brian Foley for State Senate," said Jimmy Dahroug. "It is time for change and I encourage all my supporters to join me in supporting and actively helping elect Brian Foley to the State Senate."

Foley, a lifelong resident of Brookhaven, has spent the past 15 years working on behalf of those in his community both as a member of the Suffolk County Legislature and in his current position as Brookhaven Supervisor. He has a proven record of fighting for fundamental reforms and fiscal responsibility. As Brookhaven Supervisor, he cleaned up a notoriously corrupt town government, ended no-bid insurance contracts that cost taxpayers millions, protected open space and put the Town in its strongest fiscal position in decades.

"The Democratic Party is united and ready to fight for the change our working families so desperately need," said Suffolk County Democratic Chair Rich Schaffer. "Brian Foley will be an independent voice for change in the Senate, not someone beholden to the special interests in Albany."

Islip Town Democratic Chair Ivan Young added, "We are united in our support of Brian Foley and look forward to actively helping elect him to the State Senate."

Foley formally announced that he would run for State Senate in the Third District at the end of May. He has been running an aggressive campaign over the past months and continues to gain momentum and support throughout the Brookhaven-Islip area.

"I thank Jimmy and our Democratic leadership for their support. Only together, united, can we end the stranglehold of special interests in Albany. It is time for change and I look forward to continuing my campaign for the working families of Islip and Brookhaven," stated Foley.

Awesome. That seat just moved appreciably closer to a switch.

On the web: Brian Foley for Senate

Breaking via Albany Project: Jimmy Dahroug just filed a stipulation in a courthouse in Suffolk to have his name removed from the September primary ballot in the Third Senatorial District.

I've been quite open about my disenchantment with Jimmy's campaign, but I'd also like to note that he's a smart guy with a compelling story who could very well play a role going forward. It's in everyone's interest to groom young talents, and that's exactly what Jimmy is; so I'm looking forward to seeing what his next steps are.

In Brooklyn I am used to the period of petition posturing, where each candidate compares the size of their petitions and challenges the validity of the other's petitions while screaming foul over any challenge to their petitions. It is all part of the game. This election is the first time I have observed the process taking place elsewhere (though I knew it happend) partly because some of the posturing has taken place here on DG. There has been considerable discussion over the 1400 signatures collected by Jimmy Dahroug vs. the 3000 signatures collected by Brian Foley in a race that requires 1000 signatures. The assumption has been that 3000 signatures was unchallengable while 1400 was going to be challenged and Dahroug would get kicked off the ballot because he hadn't collected enough signatures to cover his petitioning ass.

I made two points in this whole discussion. First: neither number is all that impressive to me since I know people who, using petitioning as a chance to meet the voters and get their name out, collect 5000 door-to-door, unchallengable signatures in a race that only requires 1000. Neither Jimmy nor Brian have much to brag about by Brooklyn standards.  read more »

Let me preface this post with a brief announcement: I am a consultant to Red Horse Strategies, the firm advising the DSCC on its efforts to take back the State Senate. This consulting involves web strategy and branding. It does not involve stuff like, say, them sending me dirt and ordering me to post it. However, if you're thusly inclined, you should treat anything I post on the State Senate as influenced by this association. I'm personally reasonably certain it won't be, which is why I'd also suggest you treat whatever I write on the subject as reflecting my own opinions, not those of either Red Horse or the DSCC. They are most certainly not consulted by me with regard to what I write. Our engagement represents probably the biggest investment in the netroots by a party committee ever. That's pretty awesome, when you think about it.

And with that out of the way - we're going to follow up at some point soon with more - let me comment on some astonishingly good theater emanating from a Senate campaign I happen to disfavor. If that campaign hadn't seemingly cut me off from its press release distribution list, I probably would have posted this earlier, because it's hilarious. From Newsday:

"Democratic State Senate Candidate Jimmy Dahroug responded to objections to his petetions [sic] by backers of Brian Foley (as reported in Newsday). "This is clearly an act of desperation by Foley's campaign. He failed to secure our party's nomination at the convention. Now Brian and his backers are nervous about facing me in a primary. So his backers are using underhanded and shady tactics to run away from a fair fight."

"Dahroug issued a direct challenge to Brian Foley: "I'm publicly calling on Brian Foley to stop the undemocratic and underhanded actions of his campaign backers. Brian called for a positive, high-minded race. If he truly is committed to the standard he set, he'll back up his words with action."

"Dahroug's campaign filed 1,408 signatures with the Suffolk County Board of Elections, a cushion of over 40% more than the required number. This is about the same number of signatures the Dahroug campaign filed for in its successful 2006 primary race. All signatures were gathered at the homes of registered Democrats by trained Democratic committee members and volunteers. Not a single signature gatherer was paid." [Emphasis added]

That's really rich on a number of levels. Just start with the fact that they misspelled "petitions" in a press release about "petitions".  read more »