Caroline Kennedy, who’s making her case to succeed Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, didn’t vote in several elections – including the 2005 mayoral primary and the 2002 general election, The Post has learned.
City Board of Elections records show the former first daughter also didn’t cast a ballot in the 1997 mayoral primary race and several other primaries since she registered at her current address as a Democrat in 1988, a Post review showed.
Kennedy did vote in the general elections in 2005 and 1997. She also voted in the primary and general races this year, as well as in 2006, 2004 and 2000 – the year of the contentious George Bush vs. Al Gore battle.
But she skipped the mayoral primaries in 1989, when Mayor Ed Koch battled David Dinkins, and in 1993, the year Rudy Giuliani took office.
And she missed the general election in 1994, when Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan – whose widow has expressed support for Kennedy – was running.
Some Democrats privately expressed surprise about the nonvotes. Kennedy has talked about her civic commitment as a reason why she’s seeking the seat Clinton is leaving to become President-elect Barack Obama’s secretary of state.
“Caroline Kennedy recognizes just how important it is to vote and has a very strong record of going to the polls,” said her spokesman, Stefan Friedman. “She has not voted on a handful of occasions over the last two decades.”
Kennedy did have some good news yesterday. The Rev. Al Sharpton all but endorsed her after the two broke bread at Sylvia’s restaurant in Harlem, where she described herself as a “Clinton Democrat.”
Last night, she stopped by the Queens Democratic holiday party. “It was fun,” she said afterward.
Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg – who The Post reported is quietly boosting Kennedy behind the scenes – told the ladies of “The View” that he thought the process should be changed so the governor doesn’t have the sole power to pick the Senate replacement.
Also yesterday, Democratic Assemblyman James Brennan of Brooklyn questioned the decision by the New York City Conflicts of Interest Board to exempt The Fund for Public Schools from a state law aimed at airing charities’ financial dealings. Kennedy is vice chairwoman of the nonprofit.
Additional reporting by C.J. Sullivan