Bill de Blasio Has ‘Absolutely’ Asked Jeff Klein to Rejoin the Democratic Conference

Ross Barkan

Mayor Bill de Blasio claimed today that he already asked State Senator Jeff Klein–an ally in his fight to secure universal prekindergarten funding–to rejoin the Democratic conference.

Mr. Klein leads a breakaway faction of Democrats that govern the senate with the GOP–Mr. de Blasio wants this power-sharing agreement scrapped for Democratic rule. When pressed at an unrelated press conference, Mr. de Blasio said he “absolutely” asked Mr. Klein to return to the Democratic fold.

“I’m very happy he did [fight for pre-K funding] and I praised him for his efforts but we’re talking about a whole host of issues that are crucial to the people of New York City,” Mr. de Blasio, speaking about Mr. Klein, told the Observer. “Minimum wage, public financing of elections, women’s rights issues.”

Read more at http://observer.com/2014/06/bill-de-blasio-has-absolutely-asked-jeff-klein-to-rejoin-the-democratic-conference/#ixzz33bxxhk25