Eva Moskowitz - Elections

Elections

In the late 1990s, she volunteered in a local City Council campaign, and, in 1999, she was elected as New York City Councilmember for the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Since 2002, she chaired the Council Education Committee. She gained wide coverage for her positions on education and her hearings on the shortage of science classes, the seeming absence of toilet paper, and the teachers' union contracts. She also criticized contracts with principals and custodians. She is known as an aggressive advocate for education reform. She also tried to increase voter registration among young people through the schools.

In 2005, Moskowitz gave up her seat and entered the race for the Democratic party nomination to be the Manhattan Borough President to succeed C. Virginia Fields, emphasizing education issues. She raised the most money of any Democratic candidate, but finished second to Scott Stringer. The teachers' union campaigned heavily for Stringer and against Moskowitz, based on Moskowitz' hearings about the teachers' contract and on other education issues. The New York Times editorialized, "The Working Families Party, a union party, intruded in several Democratic primary contests, especially the very hot one for Manhattan borough president. The mission was clearly to defeat Eva Moskowitz, a City Council member who was not considered union-friendly." According to Francis Barry, the Working Families Party spent most of the approximately $100,000 it spent on the race "to attack ... Moskowitz, who had made her name by challenging the teachers' union." The United Federation of Teachers has supported a candidate against Moskowitz in every race she has run.

Also in 2005, she endorsed Bloomberg for Mayor, joining many Democrats in doing so over Freddy Ferrer, because of the start the Mayor had made in reforming education. In 2010, she credited Bloomberg and his appointee Joel Klein as schools chancellor with education improvements.

She stated her intention to run for Mayor of New York, with, Moskowitz said, a "70 to 80 percent chance" she will run in 2017, but not 2013. Previously, she had hinted at running, in late 2011 she left open the possibility of running, in early 2012 a rumor about her running was circulating, and in mid 2012 Republicans were considering supporting her if she runs and if one of the Republicans' first choices doesn't enter the race. In mid-2012, she said, "he field is not as strong as I would like it to be" and, according to reporter Colin Campbell, "Moskowitz argued that the leading 2013 mayoral candidates have failed to articulate an educational platform" and hinted that the teachers' union "may be the controlling interest" shaping campaign platforms. According to reporter Lisa Fleisher, "Moskowitz has been able to show wide support from among the parents who send students to the schools, and she recently helped fuel a rally of thousands of parents outside City Hall." A possible issue she may raise is tax relief to offset part of the tuition for parochial and private school students, although she did not favor a voucher program such as one rejected in early 2006 by a Florida court.