Democracy in These Times: the Perils of Special Elections

What is the point of free and fair elections when political insiders determine their result? On June 15, Queens Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal, 32, announced his intention to resign six months into his two-year term of office to take a job with a non-profit. Rosenthal’s announcement triggers a September 12th special election. Assemblymember Rosenthal has served in elected office since 2017 following the death of his predecessor Michael Simanowitz. Simanowitz himself was elected in a special election in 2011 when his predecessor and then boss Assemblymember Nettie Meyerson retired after 28 years in the seat. In the neighboring 28th Assembly District, Andrew Hevesi, also assumed office in 2005 by special election after his predecessor, Michael Cohen, resigned, like Rosenthal, to take a higher-paying job in the private sector. Hevesi has sat in the seat for 17 years. Around one-third of state legislative seats are won by special election. Why does this matter?

Special elections differ from primary elections. In a primary election, voters decide which candidate will be the party’s nominee in the general election. In a special election, party nominees are selected by little-known party district leaders outside the view of voters. Rosenthal has endorsed recent law school graduate, Sam Berger, 26, as his successor. Berger’s campaign website notes his mother, Paula Berger, is one of the four district leaders charged with determining the party nominee. The other three district leaders are Facia Class, Simon Pelman and Assemblymember Rosenthal himself. According to a source familiar with what transpired, Assemblymember Rosenthal and Facia Class were in favor of nominating longtime public servant Jeff Kohn. Queens Democratic Party Chair and Congressmember, Gregory Meeks, however, according to the same source, deferred to district leader Simon Pelman, a nursing home executive, who has contributed many thousands over the years to the Queens Democratic Party, the campaigns of local elected officials, and fundraised for Assemblymember Rosenthal. Pelman reportedly struck a deal with district leader Paula Berger to give her son the party nomination. Sam Berger’s campaign website lists no community organizational affiliations, accomplishments, or community board service. Assemblymember Rosenthal has been making phone calls to labor unions to secure political support for Mr. Berger.

The careful timing of Assemblymember Rosenthal’s resignation is not atypical. Queens Assemblymember Brian Barnwell resigned last year while collecting petition signatures from voters for re-election. Rather than nominating the only other declared candidate, Ramon Cando, who successfully gathered the required signatures from Democratic voters to access the ballot, party leaders selected another nominee, current Assemblymember Steven Raga, through the same opaque process even though Mr. Raga had not gathered a single petition signature from a single voter. Mr. Raga went on to secure the same labor union endorsements Mr. Rosenthal is now working to secure for Mr. Berger.

In a moment when faith and trust in our political system have reached dangerous levels, secretive, exclusive and closed processes like those described only further inflame and exacerbate voter cynicism. Entrenched political systems lead to political power in the hands of the privileged and pre-selected few. Democracy for politicians, party elites, and aligned interest groups is not healthy at all. Reform of our state election laws reducing the prevalence of special elections is needed alongside a reduction of petition signature requirements for public and party offices. The barriers to candidate entry and ballot access are presently far too high. There has not been a contested election in District 27 being vacated by Assemblymember Daniel Rosenthal in ten years. An inclusive and open politics accessible to all is sorely needed and it starts from the bottom up.