Kavanaugh, Hoyt, opponents for 144th Assembly district nomination, are miles away from early amity
Assembly race brings out vitriol
There was a time long before the allegations of marital infidelity and illegal fundraising when Sam Hoyt and Barbra Kavanaugh were allies, even good friends.
Like in 1995, when Hoyt endorsed Kavanaugh for the Common Council.
“She is bold, honest and not afraid to be progressive,” Hoyt said as Kavanaugh stood at his side.
Not to be outdone, Kavanaugh called Hoyt a political inspiration.
“Sam Hoyt is one of the very few who do the job with enough integrity, dedication and purpose to convince me there is hope,” she said.
So what happened to these two old friends?
What tore these Democrats so far apart that Hoyt now blames Kavanaugh for spreading the allegations that he had affairs with two legislative interns four years ago?
And why would Hoyt, in turn, accuse Kavanaugh’s backers of being on the verge of breaking state election law.
“I always said I would never run against someone I would vote for,” Kavanaugh said recently. “When I realized I could no longer support Sam, the next obvious question was, ‘Are you willing to stand up?’ ”
In July, she did just that, announcing her campaign to defeat the 16-year Assembly veteran.
Hoyt claims Kavanaugh is a surrogate for two of his arch enemies — Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown and former Erie County Democratic Chairman G. Steven Pigeon, now a political consultant to Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano.
He also thinks her real motivation is a new job, possibly a city judgeship. “There’s a long history of this mayor rewarding people who run against his enemies,” Hoyt said.
In many ways, the Hoyt-Kavanaugh race has become a contest of relationships.
Kavanaugh will tell anyone who listens that the reason she’s running is because of Hoyt’s poor performance in office and lack of credibility among local leaders.
“As a legislator, his job is to work with people,” she said. “Sam will spin that as independence. But independence means you’re strong enough to work with everyone.”
Hoyt responds by suggesting the only leader he can’t work with is Brown, and he’s not sure why.
He reeled off a list of state and local leaders, from Rep. Brian Higgins to Gov. David A. Paterson, whom he says he can pick up the phone and talk to.
The Buffalo Democrat is quick to link Kavanaugh with Pigeon and suggest that Golisano will use Responsible New York, his new independent political committee, to dump upwards of a half million dollars into his opponent’s campaign.
“I expect it to be stealth,” Hoyt said of Golisano’s involvement, “and that’s what I’m gearing up for.”
Hoyt braces for smears
To hear Hoyt talk, Golisano will fund a direct mail campaign in the final weeks of the primary campaign that will smear his reputation.
He also thinks Kavanaugh’s relationship with Pigeon calls into question the “independent” nature of Golisano’s political committee, and one result could be felony election law violations.
Hoyt’s supporters also have linked Kavanaugh to recent allegations, so far unproven, that he had affairs with legislative interns.
“It’s sad that my political opponents have chosen to resort to the lowest tactics by dredging up a private matter from years ago just 21 days before an election,” Hoyt said in a statement last week.
Kavanaugh denies any involvement in the allegations against Hoyt and dismissed his claim that Golisano will bankroll her campaign.
“Not in any shape, size or form,” she said when asked if she expected that kind of money from the Sabres’ owner. “I met Tom Golisano once at a fundraiser and said ‘Hi.’ ”
Kavanaugh could certainly use Golisano’s help. Her campaign had only $14,700 in the bank in early August, and Golisano’s sole contribution to date is a check for $3,800.
Hoyt, by contrast, has an election-year campaign chest of more than $140,000.
When Hoyt and Kavanaugh talk issues, not politics, they tend to agree more than they disagree. One of the exceptions is their stance on New York’s growing fiscal crisis.
They both support Paterson’s urgent pleas for fiscal restraint but differ on how state lawmakers should respond.
Hoyt would like education spared the budget knife but, given the depth of the state’s money woes, thinks some reduction in aid to New York’s public schools and colleges may be necessary.
“I agree with him 100 percent,” Hoyt said of Paterson’s pleas. “Everything ought to be on the table.”
Kavanaugh said she shares Paterson’s urgency for acting now, not later, but parts ways with the governor on where the state’s budget cutting should start and end.
She doesn’t want to reduce Medicaid, education or aid to local governments, but thinks a tax increase on wealthy New Yorkers could be part of the solution.
“We need to look at the ability of the wealthier to take on more,” she said.
While going door-to-door in the 144th Assembly District, which stretches from the West Side north to Grand Island, Hoyt and Kavanaugh tend to talk about experience, not politics.
Kavanaugh cites jobs
Kavanaugh points with pride to her 11 years as a legal aid lawyer and her three years on the Buffalo Common Council, where she headed the Education Committee and helped pass the city’s Living Wage Law.
She later served as an assistant attorney general in charge of Eliot Spitzer’s local office and, more recently, as a law clerk to State Supreme Court Justice John F. O’Donnell.
“I keep hearing from people that 16 years is too long,” she said of Hoyt’s tenure in the Assembly, “I also keep hearing that 16 years without much to show for it is definitely too long.”
Hoyt proud of record
Hoyt says this year was his most productive ever and that his 16 years translates into seniority and clout, two valuable commodities in Albany.
When asked for an example of his influence, Hoyt took credit for helping to save Buffalo’s $1 billion school construction program.
“The veto pen was in hand,” he said of Paterson.
The governor, concerned about the program’s price tag, indicated he might veto a bill authorizing the next phase of Buffalo’s 10-year school construction project.
A last-minute compromise worked out by Hoyt and others — the state’s share was scaled back by a few million dollars — allowed the project to move forward.
“This was the most successful of my 16 years in office,” Hoyt said recently.
Democrats will decide next month if they agree or disagree with the veteran lawmaker’s self-evaluation.
