Tag: Christine Quinn

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NYC: Mayoral hopeful Anthony Weiner drops 9 points in new poll

In the New York City mayoral race, some expected shifting in standing has occurred regarding the current Democratic candidates. Christine Quinn has improved her position from 20% to 25%, and Anthony Weiner has quickly dropped 9 points.

Talking Points Memo has the ins and outs of the first poll taken since “Anthony Weiner ‘sexting’ scandal 2.0” hit the news:

Weiner’s standing in the race has clearly slipped due to the scandal, though he’s not entirely out of contention. The poll showed him in second place in the Democratic primary with 16 percent compared to 25 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and 14 percent for both Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and former Comptroller Bill Thompson. Prior to the scandal, Weiner had been leading his rivals in multiple polls. The last Marist poll, which was released June 26, had Weiner with 25 percent, Quinn with 20 percent for Quinn, and Thompson with 13 percent. Weiner has dropped nine points since then.

By city election law if no candidate gets 40% in the primary on September 10th, the top two finishers go into a runoff on September 24th.

(h/t JMG)

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Christine Quinn says Justice Scalia should apologize for comparing being gay to murder

New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wants Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to apologize for remarks he made comparing anti-sodomy bans to laws against bestiality and murder.

“The justice should apologize,” Quinn told Chris Matthews in an appearance on Hardball on MSNBC, reports Azi Paybarah at Capital New York. “It’s offensive. Sexual orientation is who we are as people. It’s how we’re created,” she said.

Scalia made the comments Monday in an appearance at Princeton University. A gay freshman asked the conservative justice about his stance, exemplified in his dissent in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case that struck down anti-sodomy laws.

“I don’t think it’s necessary, but I think it’s effective,” said Scalia. He added that he was not comparing the acts of homosexuality and murder, but drawing a parallel between the prohibitions against them.

“It’s a form of argument that I thought you would have known, which is called the ‘reduction to the absurd’…If we cannot have moral feelings against homosexuality, can we have it against murder?” he asked. “Can we have it against other things?”

More at the Advocate.