Democratic Primary Results
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with…
The Democratic primary, held yesterday, was, in many ways, about Democratic Party leader Vito Lopez—whether his hand-picked candidates would get pushed through to run for City Council on the party ticket. Steve Levin, from team Lopez, won in the 33rd District with 33.7 percent of the vote (Jo Anne Simon was his closest competitor, with 20.2 percent); Maritza Davila, endorsed by Lopez, lost in the 34th District to Diana Reyna, a former Lopez staffer who fell out with the party boss. Incumbent Letitia James won in the 35th District with 81.2 percent of the vote, and Brad Lander took the 39th District with 41.1 percent due to, he told The Brooklyn Paper, his stances on “affordable housing, livable communities, jobs, and good schools.” In the race for comptroller, Councilman John Liu of Queens came out 8 points ahead of Brooklyn Councilman David Yassky, but with 38 percent of the vote, did not have the 40 percent required to win outright. Thus there will be a runoff election held September 29. For more primary results, check out the Eagle’s coverage of the State Senate race.
33rd District: Levin Wins Handily [Brooklyn Paper]
35th District: James Steamrolls Yards-loving Foe [Brooklyn Paper]
39th District: Lander Crushes Four Rivals [Brooklyn Paper]
Liu and Yassky Headed for Runoff [NY Times]
State Senate Primary Results [Brooklyn Eagle]
“if you don’t want robocalls register as a Republican”
I’m not registered with any party.
Sadly my wife is registered as a Democrat so that seems to give them the freedom to harass us at home with impunity and smug self righteousness when we are both very very busy and we and the kid have been fairly sick.
Not, you understand, that the weasels walking around with clipboards and ringing doorbells give a crap about that.
I’m pretty sure after the last two weeks, I’ve convinced her to drop her affiliation with the party.
Rule 1 of getting people to support you: Don’t piss them off.
Al Vannished didn’t bother to show up for the candidate debate though all the others did. However he did have the chutzpah to have his people in Al Vann tee shirts stand outside and hand out flyers. If people still vote for him after that kind of disrespect, they’re morons.
“There are a lot of people who are not happy with Hizzoner. He can be very Robert Moses-like in his high handed treatment of those who are not rich and powerful, or well connected. He is stubborn, and doesn’t listen to opposing points of view unless they are accompanied by loud, expensive lawsuits. He’s also a sore loser.”
A-men. He’s certainly done some good things for the city (311 and traffic-calming initiatives come to mind), but he’s definitely overstayed his welcome in my opinion. The disingenuous term-limits fiasco was the last straw for me. MM is right about Koch – he was extremely popular with NYers the first two times around, but completely lost that status in his last try. I can only hope Bloomberg experiences the same fate. Too bad Jeter isn’t running!
Oh dear, and I thought it couldn’t get much worse than Yassky. Brooklyn Chicken is on the mark – the real winner in the 33rd is someone venal and retaliatory who is focused on absolute power. It’s telling that Levin (read Lopez) didn’t even bother to answer the HDC/League of Preservation Voter’s questionnaire – much less show up for many of the public debates. The only consolation this morning is the opportunity to vote against Yassky again in the runoff. I really think the Levin win is scarier than an absent councilmember.
First, the last article linked above is from last year (September 2008).
Second, if you don’t want robocalls register as a Republican, no one calls us outside of Presidential election years.
Third, Vann has been a waste of space for years. His agreement to swap his Assembly seat with the person holding the city council seat as a way to get around term limits was all but ignored by the media and his constituents when it happened. He’s basically trying to pad his pension numbers at this point. Showing up for anything is beneath him, and his staff is a joke. But yet again, he gets elected. Which is a sign that those in the know in the district are all about looking out for themselves and have no interest in what is truly best for the community.
Apathy. I am amazed that so few people votes. less than 350,000. You wonder why we get so poor politicians? Look in a mirror sometime….
I’m sorry, but Bill Thompson is not the Antichrist.
I’m not negating Bloomberg’s many accomplishments, but let’s face it, he does not have the common touch. He’s also filthy rich, and since he doesn’t have to answer to anyone, he’s a wild card, which can be both good and bad. He’s also an elitist, a control freak and very Manhattan (below 110th St) centric. I think he’s going to find out that 3 times is not the charm. Every politician who overstays their welcome, think Ed Koch, for example, finds that the good will and popularity they enjoyed before, evaporates fast.
There are a lot of people who are not happy with Hizzoner. He can be very Robert Moses-like in his high handed treatment of those who are not rich and powerful, or well connected. He is stubborn, and doesn’t listen to opposing points of view unless they are accompanied by loud, expensive lawsuits. He’s also a sore loser.
He’s also done some great things for the city, and is probably the right man for right now, and of course, would win against anyone running against him, unless that person was perhaps Derek Jeter. That doesn’t mean Thompson shouldn’t give it a shot, and shouldn’t be given the respect he deserves. He’s much more than just a “little angry man.”
I agree with you bupe except for the crazy wife part.
“Unfortunately, he’s been there so long, and is remembered by older Bed Stuyers, who make up a majority of primary voters, as the firebrand of his/their youth, they go on autopilot when they enter the voting booth.”
Vann also had strong support from municipal unions, including the teacher’s union. The other candidates will have to work harder to attract this type of support the next time around.