Whatever Happened to the 2013 NYC Mayoral Candidates?

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Since this column was published I have received some strong responses from or on behalf of several of the 2013 mayoral candidates. Somehow I managed to omit Randy Credico and George McDonald. Credico continues to tilt at windmills by recently running for governor and is planning a U.S. Senate run in 2016. McDonald continues to do good by restoring men’s lives through opportunity and work at the Doe Fund.

But the biggest furor came as a result of my observation that former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn did not vote in the 2013 general election. Her former communications director, Mike Morey, unleased a flurry of tweets claiming that Quinn and her spouse Kim Catullo voted that election. A subsequent review of the poll book from Quinn’s election district showed that she didn’t sign in although a poll worker’s initials and voter number are recorded next to her name. Absent a signature, the Manhattan Board of Elections could not give Quinn credit for voting. And even if the voter card turns up with Quinn’s name on it, by law, the BoE still can’t give Quinn credit for casting a vote. Perhaps I can take Quinn at her word that she voted in November 2013, but the BOE can’t. And perhaps a team of wild carriage horses kept Quinn from casting a vote for her nemesis Bill de Blasio.

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The reluctance of Gov. Andrew Cuomo to debate any of his Democratic, Republican or Green Party challengers makes me wistful for the seemingly interminable 2013 New York City mayoral debates.

You remember: The host of pols auditioning to succeed Michael Bloomberg seemed like cast-offs from TV’s Survivor.

The Apostates tribe was composed of long-shot ex-Democrats Adolfo Carrión, a former Bronx borough president and White House cabinet member; Malcolm Smith, a deposed state Senate majority leader flirting with Republicans; and Tom Allon, co-owner of this publication and GOP convert.

The Wannabes were led by Christine Quinn, the then-incumbent Council Speaker who sought to make history by becoming the Big Apple’s first female and openly gay mayor; Bill Thompson, the Dems’ 2009 loser to Bloomberg; John Liu, the affable and peripatetic city comptroller; and Bill de Blasio, the gangly public advocate and progressive evangelist.

The most entertaining and unpredictable cast of characters were the Goonies: billionaire malapropist John “Catsman” Catsimatidis; the impish reverend, Erick Salgado; the unrepentant sexter, ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner; and Joe Lhota, the sacrificial GOP bull.

When it was all said and done, the tribe had spoken: Bill de Blasio had outplayed, outwitted and outlasted all of the others. But what happened to those voted off Manhattan Island?

There was a rumor that Adolfo Carrión had re-enrolled as a Democrat in anticipation of a future run for Congress. However, contrary to the gossip, he’s still enrolled as a “blank.” As a result, like millions of New Yorkers, he was unable to participate in the recent primary elections for federal and state office. Since the election, Carrión has busied himself growing his consulting business. Presently he has a contract with the New York City Housing Authority, advising the agency on resiliency.

Tom Allon, on the other hand, did quietly re-enroll as a Democrat in December 2013, because, as he puts it, he “wants to vote in elections that matter.” He wistfully notes that his “heart is really in the Liberal Party” and pledges to help that party, which has been without a standing ballot line since 2002, become a force for moderation in state and city politics. In the meantime, Allon is building City & State into the “go-to” multimedia powerhouse for pols, policymakers and voters statewide.

Malcolm Smith’s days as a state senator—and perhaps as a free man—are dwindling since he lost his re-election bid last month. He now awaits a new federal trial on corruption charges stemming from his aborted run for the Republican nomination for mayor. Smith’s unbroken voting record and voting privileges hang in the balance of his case’s outcome.

Affable Greek tycoon John Catsimatidis is now the host of a radio show on AM 970 that he claims “gets better guests than Meet the Press.” Catsman says he is in negotiations to take his show nationwide. Reflecting on his mayoral run, Catsimatidis says he enjoyed the experience and prays for Mayor de Blasio’s success. He last voted in the 2013 general election, presumably for his rival, Joe Lhota, who seems to have retired from public life after taking a senior VP position at NYU Langone Medical Center.

After months out of the limelight, Chris Quinn has re-emerged as a board member for a nonprofit battling homophobia in sports, and a vocal Cuomonista vouching for the governor’s conservative running mate Kathy Hochul and touting the new Women’s Equality Party, which is running few female candidates. According to city Board of Elections records, Quinn skipped the 2013 general election (guess she couldn’t vote for either de Blasio or Lhota), although she found time recently to vote for her new patrons, Cuomo and Hochul.

Also-ran Bill Thompson Jr. returned to the private sector and took on the plum unpaid side gig of serving as one of the five members of the governor’s casino siting commission. The Harlem resident voted in the 2013 primary, runoff and general elections, as well as in the recent congressional and state primaries.

A former Brooklyn pol described John Liu as the “Energizer bunny of New York politics.” Another wag noted that after losing the recent Democratic primary for state Senate to the incumbent, Tony Avella, Liu would likely next run for dogcatcher, if only it were an elected office. By all accounts, Liu is a long-distance runner who sees opportunity over the next hill. He’s not done.

Rev. Erick Salgado seems to have fallen off of the political map. After last voting in 2013, Salgado skipped the recent primary election.

Since getting his clock cleaned in 2013, the irrepressible Anthony Weiner continues to maintain a media presence. This self-deprecating Mets fan has emerged as a columnist with BusinessInsider.com and the New York Daily News, as well as earning a spot in the Inside City Hall Wise Guys rotation. Though he is a regular voter, he skipped the 2013 runoff election.

Lastly, Bill de Blasio, who emerged as the sole Survivor, is now being touted as a candidate for governor. His every “historic,” “transcendent” and progressive pronouncement is recorded, sliced and diced.

Last year it seemed that every new week brought two or three mayoral debates or fora in every borough and neighborhood across New York City. Those fora served our democracy and gave city voters a sense of investment and involvement. By contrast, the major party candidates for governor have yet to participate in a single joint debate anywhere in the state. As result, democracy statewide is ill served.

Former Assemblyman Michael Benjamin (@SquarePegDem on Twitter) represented the Bronx for eight years.