If New York techies (yes, Adolfo, that word is okay) came to a technology policy forum in Queens Monday night expecting to be shown respect and consideration by people competing for their vote, they left wanting. (Two heavyweight candidates, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and former Comptroller William Thompson Jr., did not even show up.) Monday night, hosted by the Coalition for Queens and a smattering of local Democratic and technology groups, wasn't about showing which mayoral candidate knows the most about technology. It was about showing which candidate has the combination of temperament, intellect and leadership skill to work with the city's technology community and lead global a city in the 21st century. That's a test no candidate for mayor of New York has passed so far. Read More

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has hired a veteran of the Democratic organizing world Addisu Demissie to manage his run to succeed the late New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. Read More

The New Organizing Institute, a progressive nonprofit that trains campaigners and is no led by former Obama for America data director Ethan Roeder, is launching a new initiative next week aiming to "fix that" for local elections. NOI will announce a national network where local election administration officials can congregate to share solutions to common issues. It's a transition for a team at NOI that had previously been managing the Voting Information Project, which collects data on polling places, election districts and voter registration deadlines and prepares it for third parties in machine-readable format. In the 2012 election cycle, backed by the Pew Charitable Trusts and partnered with Google, VIP made information available in all 50 states. Read More