Locked in a four-way fight for a New York State Senate seat in a heavily Latino Manhattan District, first-time candidate Micah Lasher got a, blast of cash from the past, this summer in the form of donations from his old Bloomberg Administration team.
Lasher’s campaign has received nearly $20,000 from his Bloomberg-era colleagues since April. Of that, $14,000 came from Political Consultant Bradley Tusk and his wife, Harper Montgomery.
“Harper and I have known Micah for years, we have a tremendous amount of respect for his intellect, integrity and work ethic, and think his experience in the public and private sector and at all levels of government would make him an outstanding state senator,” Tusk wrote in an email.
Lasher and Tusk worked together under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and also collaborated at Charter School Advocacy group StudentsFirstNY, where Lasher was Executive Director. Lasher has sought to distance himself from his Charter School work during his Campaign.
The City Teachers’ Union has endorsed Robert Jackson in the race, which will essentially be decided in the upcoming Tuesday's Primary because the District is heavily Democratic. Lasher also faces former Union Organizer Marisol Alcantara and Community Activist Luis Tejada.
Alcantara is backed by the Senate's Independent Democratic Conference as well as by Rep. Adriano Espaillat, whose successful run for the Harlem-based House seat vacated by Charles Rangel opened up the Senate seat.
About 57% of the District's population is Hispanic, while just 28% is non-Hispanic white, although the discrepancy among voters in the Democratic Primary is likely to be much smaller. Still, the numbers suggest Lasher is an underdog.
Lasher was Executive Director of External Affairs for the City's Department of Education in 2009 and then served for two years as Bloomberg’s man in Albany as the Director of the Office of State Legislative Affairs. He left his post as Chief of Staff for State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to run for State Senate.
Other Bloomberg-era colleagues who came in to support Lasher doused the candidate with praise.
The Administration’s Corporation Counsel, Michael Cardozo, said he “did a great deal of work with him and was very, very impressed by his abilities."
And former Press Secretary Stu Loeser said that Lasher “hears rumblings of problems before anyone else does and is at least three quarters of the way to getting them solved before others even start to work.”
Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has largely stayed out of New York politics since leaving City Hall, is re-entering the scene Monday night with a fundraiser for former aide Micah Lasher’s State Senate bid.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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