Since the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act we have been witnessing a new wave of voter suppression that closely parallels the Klan terror of the 1870's with its "legal" accompaniment of eight-box laws, poll taxes and literacy tests. This time we see polling places and registration sites closed amid a ginned-up terror about "voter fraud" for which there is absolutely no substantiation.
But what about the states which were not covered by the Voting Rights Act? Are they paragons of democracy, encouraging participation? New York is an example of a state with a long history of arcane maneuvers to keep power in the hands of local clubs by discouraging voting and by controlling the outcome of primaries. After the New York presidential primary I wrote about the state senate votes in my district and in one in another part of the Bronx and about how the clubs control the vote. Next week is another primary election, the second of three this year (?!) in New York. We will be selecting party candidates for Congress and I think this is a good time to revisit the question of club control.
I live in New York's 16th Congressional District as the lines are currently drawn, which includes the North Bronx and southern Westchester. We are represented by Eliot Engel, a mostly unexceptional Democrat who is known for always managing to appear on TV shaking the hand of the president after the State of the Union address. He taught at IS 52 from 1969 to 1976. He declared his Maryland home as his primary residence for tax purposes. But what about elections?
Engel initially won his seat by beating Mario Biaggi in the 1988 primary. Biaggi had already been convicted on 15 counts of bribery and obstruction of justice in the Wedtech Scandal. Engel was seriously challenged only a few times since then. He beat trombonist Willie Colón 1994 and City Councilman Larry Seabrook in 2000. Seabrook is currently in federal prison for corruption convictions including a $1.5 million slush fund and no-show jobs for his mistress and siblings. Otherwise, Engel has faced easy sailing in his elections.
What about the primary election next week? I can find no evidence that there is any candidate in this election in our district other than Engel. I don't mean no other Democrat. I mean no other candidate. Last time around, in 2014, Engel ran unopposed in the general election. He was the candidate of both Democrats and Republicans. He nevertheless found a compelling need to raise $1.2 million for his campaign. In scanning the FEC reports I see lots of postage and office supplies. There are plenty of meetings at the Blue Bay Diner, Generico's Pizza and Liebman's Deli... all of which are within a couple of blocks of the Benjamin Franklin Democratic Club on 231st Street near Tibbett Avenue. All of it seems totally above board.
This time around, with no sign of an opponent, and with three months to go before the election, Representative Engel has already raised over a million dollars. Where is it being spent? After the postage and the office supplies and the neighborhood restaurants in Kingsbridge some other patterns emerge. One is the cost of the fundraising itself. In the 2014 election cycle the FEC reports show regular payments to a DC fundraising firm totaling about $100,000. So if you want to run a campaign, roughly 10% of the cost of that campaign will be paying people to get the money you need. Then there are the tickets and journal ads. Black Democrats of Westchester? Congressman Engel supported their dinners to the tune of $1000. Eastchester Irish Americans, again $1000. Allerton Homeowners? Another $1000. That pattern repeats itself.
In low-turnout primaries a candidate can rely heavily on the support of certain well-organized groups. The candidate can get that support by supporting them financially. This actually explains the cost of a non-existent campaign. A well-funded war chest makes the cost of challenging the incumbent prohibitively expensive. The candidate distributes the funds in that war chest to likely primary voters, thereby -- again -- creating a near-insurmountable hurdle to the challenger. All of this is legal if pedestrian and tawdry.
Where does the million come from, though? A pro-Israel PAC. The teachers' union. A for-profit university in Grenada. Defense contractors. Beer wholesalers. Also cryptic individuals: A housewife in California ($5400). A hedge fund CEO in Boston ($2700). A real estate developer in Boca Raton ($2700). A "home maker" in Texas ($2700). You get the picture. Most of this is undoubtedly disguised lobbyist donations, but all legal if (as I said) tawdry.
The practice of returning incumbents is well established all over the United States. It means you get experienced constituent services. It means your representative builds up seniority and can leverage that for local funding from federal services. I am just deeply skeptical that we have been unable to find a more inspiring Congressman from this district for the last 26 years. And I know that little tricks like suppressing voter turnout by separating primaries are helpful in ensuring that insiders control outcomes.
The cost of taking back our politics is on-the-ground organization that counters that of the clubs. For every Mt. Vernon and New Rochelle synagogue, a tenants's council. For every precinct clergy coalition, a coalition against violence. And more: instead of soliciting funds from unions, providing support to rank-and-file workers' organizations. I do not know how these disparate groups unite around a single candidate. I suspect it gets done at the City Council and State Assembly level before attempting a Congressional campaign. I am certain, though, that we begin with these goals before wee attempt to unite around one presidential candidate
I found reading through Eliot Engel's FEC filings profoundly depressing. I would like to see a very different politics.
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