‘Who Cut Me?’ AB Steroids, Plus: McMahon’s Body Slam And Rell Q Poll

You gotta love City Council primaries. Vote cutting, absentee ballot bloating, one incumbent knocked off. The results are in and what does it all mean?

A good primary day for party-endorsed Dems, with one non-endorsed incumbent Maria Valle going down in the 137th District on the East Side due to absentee ballots.

Maria was competitive on the machine count but was swamped by the absentee ballots. This likely means the return of Lydia Martinez to the City Council. If you’ve never met Lydia she’s a hoot. Lydia and her running mate Manny Ayala received roughly one third of their votes via absentee ballots. Valle has a position on the Working Families line in November so is still a possibility for reelection.

Maybe next time Valle and her running mate Christina Ayala will work AB voters just as hard?

Quick recap:

District 135: Incumbents Warren Blunt and Richard Bonney defeat challengers Peter Clarke and Mary McBride Lee, and Isa Mujahid who ran solo.

District 136: Incumbents Angel DePara and Carlos Silva won handily over Mark Trojanowski.

District 137: Martinez and Manny Ayala defeat Valle and Christina Ayala, running up more than 100 AB votes.

District 138: Three slates here. Incumbents Bob Curwen and Rich Paoletto hold off two slates, Andy Fardy and Ann Barney, and James Morton and Tyreke Bird.

Fardy and Barney waged a close race at Hooker School, dominated by owner-occupied homes where taxes are a big issue, but the incumbents pulled away at JFK School, a traditional party-regular vote. It’s a voting area on the East Side where you can say vote for the endorsed incumbent Democrats and it means something. That’s the trick with these types of races. “Vote for the endorsed Democrats on the top line!” Translation: the other guys aren’t really Democrats.

And Curwen and Paoletto have lots of experience getting to know folks in their district.

All incumbents save for Valle won so does that mean there’s no discontent in the neighborhoods? Not necessarily. Curwen and Paoletto had a nice win, but just about an equal number of voters cast ballots for the other two slates combined. Nearly the same situation in the 135th District.

Also, look for the game within the game. Curwen runs ahead of Paoletto in the 138th District and DePara ahead of Silva in the 136th. That means some ticket splitting was going on. To me a win is a win, but candidates that run behind their partner (politics is a game of paranoia) will wonder why they ran behind. Who the hell was cutting me!

The results:

135th District: Warren Blunt 253, Richard Bonney 225, Isa Mujahid 46, Mary McBride-Lee 196, Peter Clarke 158

136th District:Carlos Silva 118, Angel DePara 143, Mark Trojanowski 60

137th District: Lydia Martinez 356, Manny Ayala 329, Maria Valle 303, Christina Ayala 275

138th District: Bob Curwen 294, Rich Paoletto 261, Andy Fardy 164, Ann Barney 158, James Morton 123, Tyreke Bird 78.

McMahon Mania

Now, in this corner, from Parts Unknown, or is it the Amazon Region of South America (as opposed to some other Amazon region?), or is it from the Stamford Region of World Wrestling Entertainment? Or, or, or … bring on the body slams, eye gouges, karate thumb thrusts and steel cage matches. Could Linda McMahon and a swan dive of cash be getting into the U.S. Senate race? Yup.

We already have enough Republicans challenging Democrat Chris Dodd to fill an over-the-top battle royal. What’s one more? Except this wrestling wife of WWE guru Vince McMahon can spend, what, $10 or $20 million of her own loot? Hey Linda, I used to be pretty good running campaigns, got a few people elected. You need a campaign manager. How about me? Yeah, what do you say? Linda? Linda? Linda!!!

Oops, Jodi

Rell Q Poll:

CONNECTICUT VOTERS SAY GOV. RELL COPPED OUT ON BUDGET, QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS; GOVERNOR’S APPROVAL DROPS TO ALL-TIME LOW
Connecticut voters say 56 – 34 percent that Gov. Jodi Rell “copped out” by her refusal to either sign or veto the recently enacted state budget, and disapprove 52 – 42 percent of her handling of the state budget, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Gov. Rell gets a 59 – 34 percent overall approval rating, down from 65 – 30 percent in a July 22 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. But she still does better than governors in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio, states where Quinnipiac University has conducted surveys in recent months.

And Connecticut’s Governor has a much higher approval rating that the State Legislature, which has a negative 35 – 55 percent score, its worst score since July 2003. Voters disapprove 61 – 28 percent of the way Democrats in the legislature are handling the state budget.

Voters split 45 – 44 percent in their approval of the way Rell is handling the job situation in Connecticut and disapprove 49 – 44 percent of the way she is handling taxes.

“By a hefty 22-point margin, voters think that by allowing the budget to become law without her signature or veto, Gov. Jodi Rell copped out,” said Quinnipiac University Poll Director Douglas Schwartz, PhD.

“Gov. Rell’s approval is down six points to 59 percent. She has hit an all-time low, although neighboring governors would love to have those numbers.

“Democrats can’t take comfort in these numbers, since their score on the budget is much lower than the Governor’s.

“But Democrats might hope that the Rell juggernaut finally has hit a pothole, which could set the stage for a competitive race for Governor next year.

“There was some thought that with Sen. Christopher Dodd’s reelection campaign dominating the headlines that nobody would pay much attention to the Democratic candidates for Governor, ensuring another landslide victory for Rell,” Dr. Schwartz added.

“If her job approval continues to decline, that could change.”

Connecticut voters disapprove 45 – 26 percent of the new state budget. On other budget-related questions the Quinnipiac University poll finds:
· Voters who disapprove of Rell’s failure to act on the budget say 54 – 34 percent that she should have vetoed it;
· Voters split 46 – 44 percent on whether more budget cuts should have been made or whether additional cuts would have jeopardized vital services;
· Voters feel 48 – 45 percent that state leaders should have kept working on the budget, no matter how long it took;
· 81 percent of voters are “very concerned” or “somewhat concerned” that the budget relies too much on borrowing.

Key elements of the budget receive wide voter support, including:
· 74 – 24 percent in favor of higher taxes for upper income individuals and families;
· 65 – 32 percent support cutting the sales tax from 6 percent to 5.5 percent;
· 68 – 30 percent in favor of raising cigarette taxes from $2 to $3 per pack.

But voters disapprove 66 -28 percent of cutting estate taxes for the wealthy. Even Republicans disapprove 52 – 36 percent.

“Among those who disapprove of Gov. Rell’s decision to not sign the budget bill, most think she should have vetoed it,” Schwartz said.  “Nearly half of voters think spending could have been cut more; two-thirds disapprove of cutting estate taxes for the wealthy and over 80 percent are concerned about the level of borrowing.”

From September 10 – 14, Quinnipiac University surveyed 921 Connecticut registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 3.2 percentage points.