New York Women’s Groups In A Heated Debate Over Senator Martin Golden’s Flub

Last week, The Brooklyn-Queens Chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW) endorsed Andrew Gounardes, the Democratic candidate for State Senate in Brooklyn’s 22nd district.

NOW PAC president Shirley Ranz said, “Brooklyn-Queens NOW is supporting Andrew Gounardes because he is on the right side of women’s issues and will work hard to defend and expand women’s rights. Since day one of his campaign, he has pushed for the passage of the New York Fair Pay Act, a bill his opponent voted against.”

Ranz cited the recent news about Golden’s etiquette class as another reason for the endorsement, “Marty Golden’s idea of how to help women is to give them an etiquette class to teach them to ‘sit, stand and walk like a model’ and ‘how to walk down a stair elegantly.’  So not only did Golden vote against the Fair Pay Act,  he insults us by holding an out-dated, sexist seminar straight out of Mad Men. Marty Golden is simply out of touch.”

A few days later, Mary Reilly, President of the New York State Federation of Republican Women, criticized Ranz.

“It is no surprise that NOW would endorse Senator Golden’s opponent since NOW is notorious for endorsing Democrats whether the person is qualified for the seat they are seeking or not.  In her endorsement, Ranz focused more on Senator Golden than she did on his opponent which leads one to believe that the press release was nothing more than a vehicle to take a cheap shot at Senator Golden,” said Reilly to the New York Daily News.

Reilly defended Golden further by citing what she believes to be some of his contributions for women’s rights.

“Senator Golden introduced legislation to toughen penalties for those convicted of domestic violence. For too long, victims of domestic violence suffered at the hands of their attacker and then again from a penal system that did little to protect them, she said. “Thanks to Senator Golden, New York State’s domestic violence laws are amongst the strictest in the nation.”

Reilly backs Golden because he is a “a hard working advocate for every New Yorker.”

It doesn’t seem like statements from Reilly’s offices were released specifically trageting etiquette-gate, which could be a missed opportunity for the women’s group, even of the same political party as Golden.