New York Congressional District 7 candidate Dan O’Connor will submit these signatures to the Mayor after elected to office.

We already have over 500 signatures and have only just started.

Click here to sign.

Dan speaks w Amy Goodman of "Democracy Now" at Greenfest NY

“The premise of the war on drugs is fundamentally flawed,” said Campaign Manager David Rudnick. “These policies have contributed to a rapid increase of incarceration rates and currently the United States imprisons more of its own citizens than any other country in the world.”

Dan O’Connor is challenging sitting Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez in New York’s 7th Congressional District. Velazquez has been on the defensive in what one news outlet called, “The most difficult challenge of her career.”

“The war on drugs also has a serious impact on the families of minority communities,” said Dan O’Connor. “Minorities unfairly make up the majority of those incarcerated on non-violent drug offenses even though statistically they do not consume more narcotics than any other demographic. If there are to be any restrictions on drugs this should be decided by state and local governments, not the Federal Government.”

The moneybomb starts today and continues through April 30. Last month the O’Connor campaign held a successful “Moneybomb” that raised over $10,000 in less than two weeks.

Click here to donate to the Dan O’Connor for Congress campaign.

MANHATTAN, NY - Today NY 7 Congressional candidate Dan O’Connor announced he had collected well over three thousand signatures through an initiative to appear on the ballot in the June 26th Democratic primary.

“I believe this process was a test of strength for our campaign and our results demonstrate we have the organization in place to be a competitor in this race,” said O’Connor’s Campaign Manager David Rudnick. “We are confident our campaign will continue to build off this momentum as we head into the June 26th primary.”

The O’Connor campaign officially filed their signatures with the Board of Elections this morning.

“I am proud of the volunteers who spent so much time and energy helping us collect well over three times the legal requirement of signatures,” said Mr. O’Connor. “I look forward to finalizing my place on the ballot so I can continue to deliver my message of honest and accountable government to the voters of the 7th district.”

Once approved, the signature collection will present a tremendous achievement for the O’Connor campaign as he challenges incumbent Nydia Velazquez. In past years Velazquez has challenged the signatures of nearly all newcomers in an effort to ensure they were not placed on the ballot. So far the race has shaped up to present Velazquez with what many are calling her, “Most serious challenge in years.”

The announcement comes right after the close of the 1st Quarter fundraising numbers were disclosed. Dan O’Connor raised more than $33,000 in the first quarter, a tremendous amount for a first time candidate who receives most of his donations from individuals and not PAC’s or corporations.

For more information on Dan O’Connor’s campaign for Congress, visitwww.DanOConnor2012.com

Please click the link or image below to see the video.

Dan O’Connor Receives Key Endorsement

Within the past month, however, the boundaries for the district have been redrawn as a result of the 2010 Census.

It still includes Downtown Brooklyn, Lower Manhattan, Red Hook, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Manhattan’s Chinatown. But now it also includes Boerum Hill and part of Park Slope. And it no longer includes parts of Williamsburg, Greenpoint and Western Queens — these now belong to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney’s neighboring 14th District.

Such changes often bring new political factors and actors to the fore. In this year’s Democratic Primary, Velázquez now has two challengers, economist/businessman Dan O’Connor and Councilman Erik Dilan.

O’Connor is definitely the more atypical of the two. The Sheepshead Bay-born candidate works at a Manhattan firm called Green Energy and has never held political office.

The most unusual feature of his background is that he lived in China for six years. He studied Chinese and worked for an economic think tank in Hong Kong, and speaks both Mandarin and Cantonese fluently. “About 20 percent of the district is now Chinese,” he says, not only in the traditional Chinatown in Manhattan but also in Sunset Park.

“Most people agree that the longer politicians stay in office, the more distant they become,” he said. “That’s why I will be supportive of term limits for Congress people.

“The district is not being represented properly,” he adds. “I am running on an anti-corporatist platform against large bailouts. [Velázquez] supported these bailouts, and she gets much of her money from the same institutions that are now foreclosing on many homes in the district.”

On other issues, he said, “I’m one of the few Democratic candidates who acknowledges that the national debt is a severe problem. It’s the largest in world history.” He also wants to see more transparency and public accountability for the Federal Reserve system.

Asked about endorsements, he said, “The political process tends to support the incumbents. I’ve not pursued that route a lot.”

Dilan, the other challenger, who is a councilman from Eastern Brooklyn, did not return phone calls to the Eagle by press time. However, his website, dilanforcongress.com, stresses his service in the City Council.

It notes that Dilan has supported affordable housing, worked to create housing laws and policies “that benefit both owners and tenants,” sought successfully to restore senior citizens’ programs that had been cut out of the city budget, created more day care slots in established programs, and consistently votes in favor of rent regulations. Many of these are mainstream Democratic positions that are also supported by Velázquez.

According to opensecrets.com, a campaign contributions website, Velázquez’ top five donors were the American Bankers Association, Independent Community Bankers of America, Property Casualty Insurers of America, American Express and American Crystal Sugar.

All in all, she has raised $248,716. By contrast, as of early March, O’Connor had raised slightly more than $30,000, according to his website.

To see more images from the campaign trail, go here.