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Rent is Too Damn High Party Being Torn Apart!
By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 14, 2009
Modified Oct 14, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Oct 14, 2009
Modified Oct 14, 2009
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The Rent is Too Damn High Party just cannot catch a break. Besides being shockingly omitted from last night's debate, Mayoral candidate Jimmy McMillan has had to stand by and watch the Board of Elections cut the d-word from his party's name, stripping it of all its cachet. And now an internal rift in the party has forced McMillan to turn his back on the Rent Is Too Damn High nominee for comptroller—and instead endorse his Democratic rival.
Candidate Salim Ejaz, a retired Nassau County auditor, is still on the ballot as the party's nominee, but he has asked McMillan to remove his name from the "Damn High" website, because he believes McMillan wrote something anti-Semitic in a post about housing discrimination. McMillan tells the Daily News, "He knew it was there when he first asked me to put him on the Rent Is Too Damn High Party" ballot. He played this 'get me on the ballot' game and now ... he turns his back on us." Worse, Ejaz was reportedly happy the Board of Elections cut the "Damn" from the party's name.
Ejaz had originally campaigned as a Democrat, but allied himself with McMillan's party after comptroller candidate John Liu challened Ejaz's petition to get on the Democratic ticket. Now McMillan is endorsing Liu, who will face Ejaz in a debate Friday night. Liu campaign spokeswoman Juanita Scarlett tells the News, "[McMillan's] endorsement came as a pleasant surprise for our campaign. John, too, believes the rent is too damn high!"
Tagged
comptroller
election
jimmy mcmillan
mayor
nyc
race
rent too damn high
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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