New York Governor David Paterson has appointed one of our own to fill Hillary Clinton’s vacant Senate seat: Kirsten Gillibrand (pictured). Apparently, she’s quite an up-and-comer:
Since defeating Sweeney and taking a long-held GOP seat, in a district where Republicans outnumber Democrats 42 percent to 26 percent — Gillibrand soundly defeated challenger Republican Alexander “Sandy” Treadwell, who put more than $6 million into the race. Gillibrand’s lopsided win, with more than 62 percent of the vote, combined with her fundraising prowess, caught the attention of the Democratic party.
Gillibrand (Dartmouth, UCLA JD ‘91) was an associate at Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1991 to 2000. Most recently, she was a partner at Boies Schiller & Flexner. A Blue Dog Democrat, she’s reasonably popular with Republicans.
New York politics is thoroughly confusing and not for the faint-of-heart. The Village Voice has a pretty thorough recap of Gillibrand’s political background and the players involved. I wasn’t kidding about the incest. It’s both literal and figurative in New York.
The figurative incest: her father has “legendary” ties to Republican icons Joe Bruno, Al d’Amato and George Pataki.
The gross incest
Former George Pataki mouthpiece Zenia Mucha was said to be steamed when she heard that her former beau, Albany lobbyist Douglas Rutnik, was dating her former underling Gwen Lee. So Mucha is sure to be thrilled to hear that, according to friends, they’ve gotten married. Rutnik didn’t return a call. One source said the wedding took place in the British Virgin Islands – which has wags bruiting that Rutnik and Lee, who are second cousins, couldn’t legally marry in N.Y. state. In fact, cousins can marry. (Remember Rudy Giuliani and his first wife, Regina Peruggi?) No word on whether Rutnik’s daughter, Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, attended the nuptials.
Things could get spicy between Gillibrand and incumbent Chuck Schumer. The two haven’t seen eye-to-eye on much. Gillibrand scores a bullseye on the NRA political scorecard, and Schumer supports gun bans. Worse (for New Yorkers), is that for all her conservative background, she’s not so keen on big business (the lifeblood of NYC).
Schumer’s other signature issue is the care and feeding of Wall Street, and Gillibrand voted against both of the Schumer-supported financial service bailout bills last fall, which have delivered billions to New York, salvaging institutions like Citigroup.
HT: AmLaw Daily
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passed over dpw associate becomes a senator. there is hope for us all my friends!