John Reddy

David Dinkins has been named campaign chairman for Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidate Milton Tingling. The campaign also announced that Charlie Rangel will serve as honorary chair. Ravi Batra (of Law and Order fame) is serving as the finance chair.

It just adds a bit more name recognition to this competitive, quiet race.

Tingling is running against Nora Anderson and John Reddy.

Michael Oliva, the campaign manager for Surrogate's Court candidate Nora Anderson, just emailed to say that Anderson won the endorsement of the Chelsea Midtown Democratic Club.

According to the campaign's tally, that makes 10 club endorsements for Anderson, although the other two candidates--John Reddy and Milton Tingling--have also earned club support in this competitive race. Tingling took the county endorsement.

All three Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidates won something last night when a number of different Manhattan Democratic clubs held endorsement votes, according to two people who work for different candidates.  read more »

The Village Independent Democrats voted last night to endorse Nora Anderson in the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court race.

After two rounds of voting she beat Milton Tingling, eleven to nine, according to Anderson campaign manager Michael Oliva. Another candidate, John Reddy, came in third.  read more »

None of the Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidates won big last night: two of three candidates each took an endorsement from a local Democratic club, while a third club opted not to endorse anyone.  read more »

Tomorrow, a few more Democratic clubs in Manhattan will hold endorsement meetings on a bunch of local races, including the quiet, but incredibly competitive, Surrogate’s Court race in Manhattan.

How competitive is that race? Judging by the hired guns the candidates have, very. (Especially since most folks haven’t even heard of it).  read more »

Here's how longtime political consultant Jerry Skurnik explained why anyone cares who wins the ongoing race for one of two positions on Manhattan Surrogate's Court: “Because a lot of lawyers make a lot of money at the courts."

In particular, he went on, trust and real estate lawyers, "many of whom are politically connected, get really high fees in Surrogate's Court."  read more »

Earlier this week, at its May 14 meeting, the Three Parks Independent Democrats, a club on the Upper West Side, endorsed Nora Anderson for Surrogate's Court judge, according to Anderson campaign manager Michael Oliva.

It's the latest political club endorsement in the race for the "obscure but powerful" open seat.  read more »