By Stephen Witt (Special from Our Time Press)
For much of Central Brooklyn the upcoming Nov. 4 election next Tuesday is more a mandate than a competitive vote between two candidates.
That’s because several incumbents are running unopposed or have only marginal opposition. Those running unopposed include State Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, a 30-year incumbent and freshman Assemblymember Walter Mosley.
Mosley said when voters pull the lever for him they should consider his hard work both as a legislator on bills and his accessibility to constituents
“I’m a respected legislator on both the assembly and senate side and I work every day to protect the working-class men and women in my district,” said Mosley. “It’s a struggle out there and even with the worst part of the recession being over people are still hurting and they look toward us (elected lawmakers) for help.”
Mosley noted that although he is only completing his first term, he came to the office knowing the ropes somewhat having worked as a staffer in both the state senate and assembly. He is a law school graduate from Howard University.
“Although I knew the job somewhat going in, I never realized as a principle in the office how much work you really have to do,” he said.
Mosley’s 57th District includes Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, and parts of Crown Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant.
Those facing minimal opposition are Bedford-Stuyvesant Assemblymember Annette Robinson and Crown Heights Assemblymember Karim Camara.
Robinson, a 12-year incumbent is facing Republican Garnsey Lee Alston. Camara, a nine-year incumbent faces Cartrell Gore from the Conservative Party.
“The issues that motivated me to run for office are the same ones driving me today,” said Camara, noting those issues remain receiving an excellent education regardless of income, increasing the minimum wage and helping seniors with both services and staying in the neighborhood.
Camara said his latest achievements as a lawmaker have been working to ensure an additional $400 million was put in the education budget to strengthen public schools, and sponsoring a bill to allow New York City to set a higher minimum wage than the rest of the state.
“I would be honored if the voters of the 43rd Assembly District re-elected me on November 4,” said Camara. “I look for forward to working together with the entire community to make this state and this district an even better place to live.”
One Democratic District Leader source said one reason for the lack of opposition on state races is because there is no public matching funds making an insurgent candidacy that much harder to run.
Secondly, there is always that underlying thought they are up against an incumbent, who has all the support and money, the district leader said.
But newly elected Democratic District Leader Geoffrey Davis said competition in both the primaries and the general election is extremely important to a healthy democracy.
“Competitive races keep incumbents on their toes as opposed to being lazy and often on vacation,” said Davis. “Competition in elections is important because it ensures the incumbent needs to stay working hard.”
