The Politics of Parents

This election season has seen lots of positioning around the various troubles the city presently faces, but that positioning has often turned to issues surrounding the children of the candidates for public office.

Just today, a missive from public advocate candidate Eric Gioia’s campaign reached inboxes. "I wanted to share with you some exciting news – earlier this morning at just past 5:00 am, my wife Lisa and I welcomed our beautiful new daughter!"

Often the children of candidates have come up in campaigns, usually related to whether candidates have chosen to send their kids to private or public schools, as Gifford Miller learned in his campaign for mayor in 2005. 

This election cycle, Mr. Gioia’s rival, Bill de Blasio, received some flack for using his children in a commercial for his campaign.  Josh Skaller, running for Mr. de Blasio’s city council seat in Park Slope, also had a new edition to his family earlier this summer.  Mr. Skaller, along with his wife, campaigned at a neighborhood subway stop (above) with their newborn.

Mr. Skaller is running for a seat in the heart of baby bjorn territory, and on August 15, used the birth of his four day old daughter, Selah, to throw a campaign party at the headquarters of the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats.