An Endorsement for Gustavo Rivera; Fernando Tirado on The Perez Notes

We're a few days late on this. Gustavo Rivera, one of several candidates looking to unseat State Sen. Pedro Espada, Jr., has been endorsed by Bill Samuels and his organization, the New Roosevelt Initiative.

"Rivera is simply the strongest candidate to challenge Espada and I urge everyone who wants [sic] a better legislature to unite behind him," said Samuels in a statement.

Samuels, a businessman, activist, and, until recently, a candidate for lieutenant governor, also pleaded with the other candidates - Daniel Padernacht, Desiree-Pilgrim Hunter, and Fernando Tirado - to step aside and unite behind Rivera. (So far, none of them have.)

The New Roosevelt Initiative has already committed at least $250,000 towards ousting Espada, so its decision to endorse Rivera is a big plus for his campaign.

In other news concerning the 33rd District Senate race, Tirado recently appeared on the political radio program, The Perez Notes. We've yet to listen to it, but topics of discussion include the Kingsbridge Armory, and, presumably, Tirado's campaign. 

As for Espada, he's holding a press conference today outside the Bronx Board of Elections to address his future as a Democrat, following the State Democratic Committee's attempts to remove him from the party.  More on this later.