Split Over Maloney Primary

Members of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee, an influential women"s political empowerment group, are splitting over the primary race between Rep. Carolyn Maloney and her insurgent challenger, Reshma Saujani. Cathy Lasry, the group"s president and wife to billionaire hedge funder Marc Lasry, is actively supporting Saujani, serving as co-finance chair for the first-time candidate"s campaign. Other members have also expressed vocal support for Saujani, a hedge fund lawyer and political fundraiser. This is not sitting well with many of the group"s affluent members, several of whom are stalwart Maloney backers. â??Many of our board members are supporting Carolyn Maloney, said Judith Hope, the former chair of the New York State Democratic Committee and founder of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee. â??Our president, Cathy Lasry, is supporting Reshma. It"s created some controversy. Founded in 2001, the committee regularly issues â??campaign grants to female candidates running for political office based on their support for women"s rights. Saujani is a member of the group, as are many successful business owners, prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton"s presidential campaign, some state Democratic Party officials and a handful of state elected officials. Hope said that the divisions among board members have caused her some concern. â??Basically, there"s a difference of opinion, she said. â??We"re in the middle of that right now. The Maloney camp dismissed the split among the board"s members as insignificant. â??Most of the board members, almost entirely, are supporting [Maloney], said Maloney campaign spokesperson George Arzt. â??Reshma really has no support out there. But Lasry said her group was strong enough to withstand disagreements over candidates, especially when both are successful, pro-choice women. â??Some people come from a different place, she said. â??We can have disagreements. I"m very tough. Other Saujani supporters sought to play down the importance of the controversy, noting that the committee only supports candidates in state and local races, not federal races. Still, those who support the challenger say they are delighted that their group"s goal of seeing women become more politically involved seems to have been indirectly met in the context of the Upper East Side primary. â??Those of us who have worked for this are happy to see two women in a race against each other, said Rosina Rubin, treasurer of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee and another supporter of Saujani"s campaign.