Turner Plans To Run for N.Y. Senate Seat
Rep. Bob Turner, the freshman New York Republican who snatched Anthony Weiner’s old seat, plans to run for U.S. Senate, Politico reported.
Turner has reportedly told political allies that he intends to jump into the race to unseat incumbent Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in November.
The Queens-based seat that Turner won last year is likely to be eliminated during the once-a-decade redistricting process after New York lost two Congressional seats.
Turner defeated Democrat David Weprin, an Orthodox Jew, to take the seat, which stretches from central Queens into southern Brooklyn. It is one of the most heavily Jewish districts in the nation.
Turner rode a wave of dissatisfaction with President Barack Obama over the economy. He also blasted Obama over his perceived tepid support for Israel, and won the endorsement of pro-Israel hawks Assemblyman Dov Hikind and former Mayor Ed Koch.
Weiner, once an up-and-coming force in Democratic politics, resigned in disgrace last summer amid a scandal over inappropriate text messages he sent to women.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO