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Caroline Kennedy may be attracting all the national attention in the quest to replace Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, Governor (and CC alumnus) David Paterson has not limited himself to famous last names. Yesterday, according to City Room, Paterson interviewed local Assemblyman Daniel J. O’Donnell, adding O’Donnell’s name to a list that includes Kennedy, attorney general Andrew Cuomo, and various members of New York’s congressional delegation.
O’Donnell was elected in 2002 to represent the 69th district, which includes almost all of Morningside Heights. Perhaps more significantly, he was the first openly gay man elected to the State Assembly, and led the 2007 fight to legalize gay marriage in New York (though it passed the Assembly and was supported by then-governor Spitzer, the Republican-controlled Senate refused to consider the bill). Oh, and his sister is Rosie O’Donnell. Yes, that Rosie O’Donnell.
Up against such names as Cuomo and Kennedy, O’Donnell’s realistic about his chances – according to City Room, “he put his odds of getting the seat at about one in 10, or ‘about the same as the population of gay people in the world.'” Still, he’s representing the area better than some other politicians Bwog could name.
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@meh fuck this dude. he ran unopposed (as democrats tend to in NYC), and I still didn’t vote for him. he sponsored new york state legislation for the criminalization of salvia. you’d think that politicians would have figured out by now that criminalization is ineffective, expensive, and wasteful… tsk tsk.
@HELLO!!!!! Bwog, Swish has closed! Why??????
@Alum Not all gay men actually swish . . .
@ahahaha … no.
@Statistician Funny typo there:
probability –> probably
@Wait I know this is going to seem insensitive, but what are the chances that both Rosie AND her brother are gay?
@hahah i was just thinking that as well
@Statistician According to O’Donnell’s estimate and if you assume each sibling’s sexuality is independent, 1 in 100. (1/10 * 1/10). Not that unusual.
If you allow that sexual orientation might be determined by genetics which they might share, or if you’re a social conservative and think environmental factors might play a role, the probability that he is gay GIVEN that she is is probability much higher than 1/10 or whatever the true proportion might be.
@no'donnell Well, I think he’s significantly over-estimating the number of gays, and hopefully, his chances of becoming Senator as well.
@yeah Not that odd, even if 1/10 is an overestimate (and kind of assumes a strict gay/straight binary). Anecdotally, I know at least a few people in my immediate circle that are gay and have a gay sibling.
@i'd hit it.
@Alum Since you mentioned that Paterson graduated from the College, you might also want to mention that Kennedy graduated from the Law School.