But that assumption may have been premature.
The Bronx Democratic Party, focused on refilling its depleted campaign coffers and coalescing around new leader Carl Heastie, has hinted that it will either sit out Espada’s race next year or even go so far as to back the feisty majority leader.
“So far, Espada’s been pretty decent,” one party source said. “I’m not so sure you’re going to find anyone willing to go up against him.”
Where the party stands on Espada will become clearer next spring, after Heastie has had the chance to survey district leaders in the neighborhoods that Espada represents and consider their viability as possible challengers. Party sources have indicated that a likelier target in 2010 will be Assembly Member Nelson Castro, whose district overlaps Espada’s and who has a host of legal problems of his own.
Another hint that the Bronx organization will most likely pass on challenging Espada is the Bronx senator’s close relationship with party consigliore Stanley Schlein, who represented Espada during the summer leadership negotiations. Although the two have had a volatile relationship, punctuated by a fistfight at the Bronx offices of the Board of Elections several years ago, some Bronx watchers assume that Schlein and Espada’s renewed alliance will curtail any potential party-backed challenges.
This does not sit well with some Senate Democrats, who are still stinging from Espada’s party-swapping dance in June, the month-long shut-down of the state government and the downward spiral of the Senate’s approval numbers. In the immediate weeks following the coup, there was talk that Espada’s Senate colleagues would take full control of the effort to oust him, going so far as to recruit a qualified candidate and raise the necessary millions to fund the campaign.
But one-by-one, potential challengers have fallen by the wayside.
Lilliam Perez, chief of staff to State Sen. Eric Schneiderman, floated the possibility of her candidacy in the fall, telling a Columbia Journalism School newspaper, “this is not about whether I want to run. … If I am the one who has the best chance of beating him, I have no choice.”
But she has since stepped back. “I said some people wanted me to run and that I was very upset at the time since I was interviewed the week of the coup,” Perez wrote in an e-mail. “At the moment, I am not running for office.”
Haile Rivera, a community activist who soon after the coup started talking about running, has also taken his name out of contention, and even predicting that any attempt to run against Espada in 2010 will backfire.
“The Espada seat is not something I’m looking at anymore,” Rivera said. “He is my senator, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
What speculation there has been has circled around a few well known names in the area: Carlos Gonzalez, the son of former State Sen. Efrain Gonzalez (whom Espada defeated in 2008 and who now is facing prison time stemming from a corruption conviction) and Council Member Joel Rivera, the son of deposed party boss José Rivera. But though both are occasionally mentioned, neither have given any real indication of interest in the seat.
Espada recently made news by breaking with his Amigo colleagues— Ruben Diaz, Sr., Carl Kruger and Hiram Monserrate—with his vote in support of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. Following the bill’s defeat, Espada told reporters that the coup and the 31-day stalemate paved the way for the bill to be brought to the floor for an up-ordown vote. He has also championed the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act, which would extend legal protections to thousands of the state’s undocumented farm workers.
Espada has always operated outside of the county party’s purview, declining to take sides in late 2007 when Heastie and his cadre of “Rainbow Rebels” successfully overthrew Rivera, and relying instead on his own network of non-profits, tenant groups and third-party allies for support.
In a recent campaign finance filing, which are few and far between, Espada reported having over $158,000 on hand, while the Bronx Democratic Party reported having less than $17,000.
The Bronx Party’s efforts to raise money for an Espada challenge may be hampered due to the ongoing and controversial effort to develop the Kingsbridge Armory. Labor sources warn that if the plan to turn the armory into a shopping mall is killed by the City Council, then the building trade unions will not only cut the party off financially, but will actively support primary challengers against the Bronx delegation, forcing the depleted local party will have to spend precious resources to protect their members.
Meanwhile, Espada appears unconcerned with his own fundraising. And with Steve Pigeon, a former aide to Buffalo billionaire and coup-bankroller Tom Golisano, staying on as Espada’s counsel, the Bronx pol appears to have at least one financial backer willing to spend his millions on politics.
Espada responded to a request for comment by sending an e-mailed statement, in which he said focusing on his re-election at this moment “would be a disservice to the poor, middle class, elderly, children and working families who are counting on me and the Senate Democratic leadership to help them through these difficult times.”
The new county leadership is still recuperating from the hard-fought Council victory of Fernando Cabrera over Rivera ally Maria Baez. And with Nelson Castro fully in the leaders’ sights, most observers predict the party will be spread too thin if it tries to take on Espada too.
“The party is broken up into pieces,” said Israel Ruiz, a former Bronx state senator. “I don’t think they want to pick a fight with Espada.”
This is not to say that Espada will get a free ride for the rest of his career. With redistricting looming, there are some who speculate that Espada’s district could be redrawn to include larger portions of the predominantly white neighborhood of Riverdale, which could hurt his future chances of re-election.
Others are holding out hope that indictments for Espada could be coming in the months ahead, either from Attorney General Andrew Cuomo or Bronx District Attorney Robert Johnson. Espada is reportedly the subject of multiple investigations into questions regarding his residency and personal finances. He was indicted in 1998 but acquitted two years later.
Ruiz argued that despite Espada’s exalted status as majority leader—a position he traded for his loyalty to the Democratic conference—a well-funded challenger could still pose serious problems for him.
“I think he’s vulnerable, given all the bad publicity he’s gotten,” Ruiz said. “Anybody who can go out and tell the folks that they would do things differently would probably have a really good chance at beating him.”
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