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"Former Mayor Ed Koch is back on President Obama’s side and will be by his side during a fancy White House bash Wednesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Koch said he scored an invite to the swanky soiree in honor of Cameron and his wife, Samantha. Koch, a Democrat, raised eyebrows and ire last year when he backed Republican Bob Turner over Democrat David Weprin in the special election to replace disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner in a Queens-Brooklyn district. Koch said the cross-party endorsement was to send a message to Obama to be a better friend to Israel —...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 14, 2011 Mary Beth Hutchins or Elizabeth Ray at 703-683-5004 WEPRIN VOTE FOR GAY MARRIAGE COST HIM SEAT IN CONGRESS Washington –The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) today released a “flash” survey conducted yesterday among voters of New York’s 9th Congressional District which demonstrates that David Weprin’s support of same-sex marriage was a major factor in his loss to Republican Bob Turner. “This survey demonstrates what many people have been saying for a long time – David Weprin’s vote in favor of same-sex marriage cost him election to the US House,” said Brian Brown, president of...

Some Democrats are arguing that the NY-9 race doesn’t mean anything for Obama’s 2012 chances. But according to David Weprin, the Democratic candidate who lost the NY-9 race to Republican Bob Turner, Obama has “major problems” in New York. Weprin blamed Obama’s unpopularity and Israel issues for his failed bid during an interview with Washington Jewish Week’s Adam Kredo: My first question for Weprin was, “What happened?” His reply: “The media, my opponent somewhat successfully made it a referendum on Obama. I don’t know if it was just Israel, but Israel certainly was a major part of it.” Whether real...

When you tweet your meat Democrats get beat. It also didn't help that Obama's unpopularity dragged down Democrat candidate David Weprin in what should have been a slam dunk district for Democrats. Oh, and one overlooked factor is Weprin's wig which looks like it has a life of its own. In fact, rumor has it that Weprin's wig snuck off yesterday to cast a ballot for victorious Republican Bob Turner as revenge for Weprin subjecting it to constant humiliation by appearing in public with the ill fitting wig. Could the next stop for Weprin be the Hair Club for...

NEW YORK – Democrats here spent Tuesday in the final throes of a frantic, last-ditch effort to stave off a loss in the special election race to replace Anthony Weiner. Democrat David Weprin, trailing Republican Bob Turner in multiple polls, raced to half a dozen campaign stops, imploring voters at senior centers and subway stops to cast their ballots for him. Party officials say their best hope for winning lies on the shoulders of the vaunted Queens County Democratic Party machine, which kicked into high gear Tuesday. Inside its headquarters — which doubles as the Weprin campaign’s nerve center —...

Former President Bill Clinton and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo recorded robo-calls to run today and tomorrow to express support for Democrat David Weprin in Weprin’s race against Republican Bob Turner to replace disgraced former Congressman Anthony Weiner in New York’s 9th Congressional district. The Daily Caller reports the content of the calls: “I’ve known David for many years, and I’ve known him to be a leader who stands up for what’s right. In Congress he’ll stand up for middle class families and he’ll fight to preserve Social Security and Medicare. David will bring jobs to New York and get...

New York’s 9th Congressional District isn’t the likeliest place for a national political referendum. Vice President Al Gore won it with 67 percent of the vote in 2000, and Barack Obama carried it by 11 percentage points eight years later. It has been held by a string of high-profile Democrats — including Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and the late Geraldine Ferraro — for decades. And yet, the special election set for Tuesday in the Brooklyn and Queens areas between state Assemblyman David Weprin (D) and businessman Bob Turner (R) — a race occasioned by the scandal and subsequent resignation of...

With just four days to go until voters in New York's historically Democratic 9th Congressional District go to the polls, Republican candidate Bob Turner holds a six-point lead over Democrat David Weprin, according to a new Siena Research Institute survey released Friday. Among likely voters in the district, which comprises parts of Queens and Brooklyn, Turner (pictured) attracts 50 percent of the support while Weprin garners 44 percent. Six percent say they are undecided. The same poll taken a month ago showed Weprin with a six-point lead, indicating the race would be surprisingly close. Turner, who has received endorsements from...

Democratic congressional candidate David Weprin isn't denying accusations that his campaign volunteers tried to spy on his rival's headquarters to send back intel. In an interview with NBC New York, Weprin tried to change the subject, saying the story is a "distraction" and that he can't be responsible for all the actions of his campaign workers. "I don't know," Weprin said. "I'm the candidate. I can't control who goes to everything." The New York Post reported Friday that Weprin has sent people into Bob Turner territory pretending to be volunteers or college reporters. ... Weprin and Turner are facing off...

Voters in the traditionally blue 9th Congressional District of New York have less than two weeks before choosing a successor to Anthony Weiner, who resigned in June after admitting to inappropriate relationships with women online. To the surprise of many, the race has become competitive over the past month, attracting money and effort from the national parties, though several political experts in the state believe Democrats will ultimately squeak by. In recent days, however, Democratic candidate David Weprin complicated his party’s chances of holding on to the seat by committing a political gaffe and dropping out of a scheduled...

Nervous state Democrats are flooding voters with mailings blasting Republican candidate Bob Turner in the hotly contested 9th Congressional District, upping the ante in the closer-than-expected race to succeed disgraced ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner. With President Obama's standing in the polls in free fall, the state Democratic Committee's mailings to Queens and Brooklyn residents accuse Turner of being a "Tea Party extremist" who wants to dismantle Social Security and Medicare. Turner struck back with a "robo-call" from former Mayor Ed Koch yesterday, slamming Democratic rival David Weprin for lying to scare senior citizens. "Weprin should be ashamed of himself," Koch said....

Several readers have now forwarded this rather stunning piece of mail that slams Bob Friedrich, who will face off Tuesday against David Weprin in a special election to fill the Queens Assembly seat vacated by Weprin's now-councilman brother, Mark. The mail features a Swastika superimposed over a generic photo of police tape. It arrived in mailboxes in Glen Oaks, a 10,000-person co-op on the Nassau/Queens line that is heavily Jewish. As you can see from the mailer that appears in full after the jump, Friedrich himself was on the mailing list. The piece accuses Friedrich, who, like Weprin, is Jewish,...