BY EDWARD YUTKOWITZ | With all eyes focused on the November presidential election, it’s easy to overlook the Democrat primary on Tues., June 25. But two of the candidates on the ballot are running in races that could have a big impact on the future of our community.
The Village Independent Democrats club’s most significant endorsement in the primary election is Daniel Goldman. For the past year and a half, Goldman has held the seat in New York’s 10th Congressional District, which encompasses Downtown and Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn. He distinguished himself as the lead counsel to the first House committee to impeach Donald Trump and is a frequent guest on MSNBC.
In the 2022 congressional primary election, Goldman beat a crowded field of opponents, including Yuh-Line Niou, Carlina Rivera and Mondaire Jones. The district represents Manhattan roughly south of around 14th Street, plus parts of Brooklyn.
During his tenure in office, Goldman has been a staunch supporter of Israel, as well as of a two-state solution. In April, he decried what he called the disturbing rise of anti-Semitism on Columbia University’s campus. Goldman is also a vocal advocate for increased gun control. He has been a watchdog on the U.S. Supreme Court, recently calling for Justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself from the upcoming Jan. 6 cases after “Stop the Steal”-associated flags were spotted flying on his property. At the end of last year, Goldman called for U.S. Justice Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from the Colorado Trump ballot case due to his wife Ginni Thomas’s “intimate involvement in the planning of the January 6th attack on the United States Capitol as well as efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.” In June, Goldman introduced the Supreme Court Ethics and Investigations Act “to restore accountability and transparency to the Supreme Court.”
Other candidates in the District 10 Democratic primary include Bruno Grandsard and Evan Hutchison.
Grandsard, who lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is managing director of Midori Sustainable Capital and Services, which focuses on working with climate change tech start-ups. He touts a “350-mile district walk” he has been doing to meet voters and discuss the issues with them.
Hutchison was the campaign manager for Paul Newell’s 2008 upstart Assembly campaign against then-Speaker Shelly Silver. The Mideast conflict is prominently listed as his top issue: His campaign slogan is “Peace abroad. Justice at home.”
The statement at the top of Hutchison’s Web page states: “I am a progressive Democrat running for Congress against AIPAC-backed Rep. Dan Goldman in NYC’s 10th Congressional District to advocate for an IMMEDIATE and PERMANENT CEASEFIRE in Palestine and Israel.”
As part of its commitment to judicial excellence in New York, V.I.D. is endorsing Harold Bahr for Civil Court in Municipal Court District 2, which includes parts of the Village and the Lower East Side. Bahr has compiled an impressive record in a variety of positions in New York City’s courts, including court attorney in Manhattan Supreme Court, support magistrate in Family Court, and principal law clerk for the chief judge of the New York State Court of Appeals.
Also running for Civil Court District 2 is Alice Tam Tien, another experienced attorney in the court system. A first-generation immigrant, Tien grew up in Chinatown. She has worked in New York State Supreme Court, Housing Court and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“We’re fortunate to have excellent candidates for Congress and the New York State Civil Court running in this primary,” said Jonathan Geballe, president of V.I.D. “Dan Goldman continues to be a force in the House, defending our Constitution and civil rights, while also stepping up to support us on a range of local matters. Harold Bahr has the integrity, experience and demeanor that will make him an outstanding Civil Court judge — qualities that will serve him well as our judiciary is being attacked by Donald Trump and Republican Party.”
Other candidates V.I.D. has endorsed do not have opponents in the primary and will not appear on the ballot. They include Kirsten Gillibrand for reelection to the U.S. Senate; Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Brian Kavanagh for reelection to the New York State Senate; and Deborah Glick for reelection to the New York State Assembly; Ilona Coleman, Allison Greenfield and Malaika N. Scott-McLoughlin for Civil Court; and Rachel Lavine and Benjamin L. Yee for reelection to the Democratic State Committee. These candidates will all be on the ballot in November, along with the Democratic candidate for U.S. president.
The primary election campaign is a prelude to V.I.D.’s full-court press to elect Democrats to Congress in the tristate area later this summer. As it has in the past, the storied club will send buses of volunteers to get out the vote in swing congressional districts on Long Island and in Upstate New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Close races that could decide which party controls Congress include New York District 4 (Nassau County); District 17 (Rockland and Putnam and parts of Westchester and Dutchess counties); District 18 (Orange and most of Dutchess and Ulster counties), District 19 (Catskills, Hudson Valley and Finger Lakes regions); District 7 (Hunterdon, Warren and parts of Morris, Somerset, Sussex and Union counties) and Pennsylvania District 1 (Bucks County).
Efforts to reach out to voters have already begun. Visit villagedemocrats.org to learn about phone banking and regional canvassing campaigns.
In-person early voting for the June 25 primary election runs from Sat., June 15, through Sun., June 23. June 24 is the last day to apply in person for an “early mail” or absentee primary election ballot. The polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Primary Election Day.
Dan ran as the anti-corruption “Trump prosecutor” yet is one of the few House Dems to vote in favor of sanctioning the ICC—a right-wing attack on international law. This district can’t do any better?
Dan Goldman sounds like a really nice guy except for his AIPAC endorsement and his calling any criticism of Israel antisemitic. When are people going to wake up? You’ve seen the photos. What do you think they mean? So many innocent civilians being torn to pieces or burned to death, and Dan Goldman will say it’s antisemitic to oppose that. You know what? It’s antisemitic not to oppose it, because it means you think Judaism stands for murder and mayhem and land grabs. I’m not Jewish, but I respect the Jewish religion very much indeed, and I know it does not stand for those things. That’s not an “Israel-Hamas war,” as the press likes to call it. It’s genocide. It truly is. The October 7th attack was horrible, but Israel’s attack on Gaza is not an appropriate response in any way.