State assembly candidate stances on marriage

One of my coworkers who lives here in the neighborhood sent emails to several state assembly candidates asking what their stance on marriage for same-sex couples is. This is a big issue for lots of us, and since legislation will likely be introduced soon because of the recent failure of the NY state marriage lawsuits, she wanted to know where they stand. Thought some of y'all might be interested in their responses.

Only three campaigns responded to her email.

Bill Batson (candidate for state assembly, 57th district):

Bill absolutely supports legislation granting same-sex couples the right to marry!

He's been very outspoken on this issue for years, and we are happy to have the endorsement of the Stonewall Democrats.

Hakeem Jeffries (candidate for state assembly, 57th district):

Thank you very much for your e-mail. Hakeem fully supports equal marital rights for members of the LGBT community. He has been endorsed by City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, the Lambda Independent Democrats and District Leader Alan Fleishman, and looks forward to working with Speaker Quinn, LID and Alan on marital equality and other important LGBT issues.

Anthony Alexis (candidate for state assembly, 20th district):

Mr. Alexis supports legislation granting same-sex couples the same right to marry.

This is great info, thanks - just as an FYI, Hakeem Jeffries is also a major supporter of a woman's right to choose and a champion for reproductive freedom.

Livetotravel wrote: This is great info, thanks - just as an FYI, Hakeem Jeffries is also a major supporter of a woman's right to choose and a champion for reproductive freedom.

Although I am a pro-choice voter, I wouldn't let this topic hold much weight for me in statewide positions. New York is a wildly pro-choice state and has been for a long, long time. People used to come here for safe, legal abortions many years before Roe v. Wade. I honestly cannot imagine a candidate from NYC trying to win and be anti-choice. For national offices, I think it's very important to ensure that the representitive reflects the state's historical committment to safe, legal abortions.

Of note, Chris Owens (running for U.S. House of Representitives in the 11th CD) has been involved with NY State NARAL (National ABortion Rights Action League) for many years.

Medusa wrote: [quote=Livetotravel]This is great info, thanks - just as an FYI, Hakeem Jeffries is also a major supporter of a woman's right to choose and a champion for reproductive freedom.

Although I am a pro-choice voter, I wouldn't let this topic hold much weight for me in statewide positions. New York is a wildly pro-choice state and has been for a long, long time. People used to come here for safe, legal abortions many years before Roe v. Wade. I honestly cannot imagine a candidate from NYC trying to win and be anti-choice. For national offices, I think it's very important to ensure that the representitive reflects the state's historical committment to safe, legal abortions.

Of note, Chris Owens (running for U.S. House of Representitives in the 11th CD) has been involved with NY State NARAL (National ABortion Rights Action League) for many years.

Not to beleaguer the point, but while your assesment of statewide choice politics is entirely correct regarding the NYS Assembly, the NYS Senate is another story - it has an anti-choice majority:
33 anti-choice senators (including 3 Ds); 7 mixed senators (4 Ds/3 Rs); 22 pro (2 Rs) (MIXED - The elected official supports restrictions on a woman's reproductive health options)

You can see more here:
http://www.ppnycaction.org/

Batson seems like a good guy. And if you are against the Atlantic Yards project, I'd vote for him. I think Jeffries supports it, albeit in a scaled down version.

What is their position on getting no-fault divorce passed in this state immediately.

It's also a destructive and immediate issue.

greenermjr wrote: What is their position on getting no-fault divorce passed in this state immediately.

It's also a destructive and immediate issue.

Don't know... but if they haven't made their stance publicly known on this, you can always do what my coworker did and send the candidates a voter inquiry yourself!

greenermjr wrote: What is their position on getting no-fault divorce passed in this state immediately.

It's also a destructive and immediate issue.

I'd be very interested to hear anything about this issue (not for personal reasons). It's something where it seems like New York is totally at odds with the rest of the US and I never hear much from anyone agitating about. Does anyone know of any attempts to get the legislature to change the laws?