With yesterday’s primary for state and judicial offices in Brooklyn complete, Kings County Politics compiled the following list of those people, organizations and ethnic demographics that came out looking stronger or weaker. So with no further adieu and in no particular order, here are the winners versus losers from yesterday’s primary outcome:
Winners
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries: Jeffries backed eight candidates in a particularly active primary season throughout Brooklyn, putting his political prestige on the line. In East New York, he went head to head with his rival Assemblyman Charles Barron in races for the state senate and female district leader. Jeffries backed incumbent Senator Roxanne Persaud, who won easily. He also campaigned hard for Nikki Lucas, who beat Barron’s handpicked candidate and thereby solidified the congressman’s political footprint in East New York. Elsewhere, Jeffries endorsed Tremaine Wright for an open assembly seat in Bedford Stuyvesant, and she handily defeated Karen Cherry, a long time staff member of former Congressman Ed Towns. Jeffries also strongly supported Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, who easily beat back a challenge from City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy, and endorsed Senator Velmanette Montgomery and the Pam Harris – Mark Treyger team in Coney Island leading to a clean sweep throughout the borough.
Kings County Democratic Party Chair Frank Seddio: Seddio campaigned hard and came up big on Persaud’s victory in the senate race, and he succeeded in getting the two opponent nominees for male and female district leader in his 59th Assembly district thrown off the ballot. Elsewhere, he successfully negotiated a deal with ‘reformer’ Democratic assembly candidate, Robert Carroll, to not also run for the district leader spot in the 44th AD, and to keep quiet about any possible reforms in exchange for his supporting Carroll for the assembly seat. Ditto for the growing Haitian-American political power team of Assembly Member Rodnyse Bichotte, District leader Josh Pierre and their cousin Sam Pierre, who quietly came back into the Seddio fold in endorsing Persaud over Haitian-American Mercedes Narcisse. While all county bosses have a target on their back from both media and insurgent politicos, Seddio’s style of ruling includes a level of autonomy in the various borough districts that bodes well among many of the district leaders.
City Councilman Mark Treyger: Like him or not, Treyger consolidated his grip on politics in southwestern Brooklyn. His overwhelming victory for the male district leader position, not only consolidates his already powerful influence in Coney Island and Bensonhurst, but gives him a new beachhead in Bay Ridge, where he will now play a larger role in the upcoming battle to find a Democratic nominee to replace term-limited City Councilman Vincent Gentile. Beyond that, there is already talk of Treyger running for Borough President in 2021.
Male District Leader Kevin Peter Carroll: As an ally of Treyger, Carroll was given a huge boost in his plans to run for Gentile’s seat.
Female District Leader Nancy Tong: As the borough’s only elected Chinese-American elected official, Tong gained through her male counterpart Charlie Ragusa’s victory over Chinese-American insurgent Billy Thai in Bensonhurst. Tong has been very busy of late showing up throughout the borough at various political functions and is well poised to run for several paid legislative offices including a possible challenge to her mentor Bill Colton for the assembly in 2018. A possible scenario could be to do a Tremaine Wright, who allowed her mentor, retiring Assemblywoman Annette Robinson one final victory lap, with the understanding that the district needs new faces in elected government and that 2014 would be her last term without a challenge.
Brooklyn’s Muslim and Arab-American Community: With a growing demographic throughout Southern and Southwest Brooklyn as well as neighborhoods such as Kensington, Muslim and Arab-Americans are increasingly becoming players in local elections. The Muslim Democratic Club of New York in particular is showing signs of strength and that radicals such as Linda Sarsour is not the only show in town. There are multiple Arab-American viewpoints throughout Brooklyn. Sarsour, by the way, is a board member of the MDCNY and co-founded the political club. Either way, future candidates, whether in next years Bay Ridge City Council race or in other districts, will get a lift with support from this voter block.
Losers
Bay Ridge Democrats:
This Democratic club consists of many fine blue-collar Democrats, for which Bay Ridge is known. They are knowledgable politicos with a good centrist feel for the community needs, but their often underhanded support for Kate Cucco to beat Harris for the assembly seat, and their support for Chris McCreight to beat Treyger for district leader hurt both the club and Bay Ridge as a neighborhood. To be sure, their support for McCreight, a member of the club, was admirable, and he beat Treyger by a 1,064 to 333 in Bay Ridge, but that considered, the turnout in Bay Ridge was dismal. On the other hand, Treyger won his Coney Island portion of his council district 92% to 8%. Making this even more noteworthy is Bensonhurst, not Coney Island was Treyger’s base when he won the council seat. The club now needs to regroup and get ready for next year’s citywide elections least Kevin Peter Carroll and Treyger run roughshod over some legitimate needs for the neighborhood. And make no mistake about it. Carroll and Treyger, now being a neighborhood district leader, are going after the club and will attempt to remake Bay Ridge’s fiercely independent Democrats to their liking. Come redistricting season, officials drawing the lines really need to reconsider if Coney Island and Bay Ridge belong in the same assembly district.
City Councilwoman Darlene Mealy: It wasn’t so much that Mealy lost to Latrice Walker for the assembly seat, but that she was blown out. Although, Mealy retained her female district leader seat, she has spoken before of retirement, and perhaps that moment is coming sooner rather than later.
The Boro Park Orthodox Jewish Patriarchy: Strike a chord of exuberance for Rachel “Ruchie” Freier, the female ultra Orthodox Jewish attorney who upset two other candidates in winning the Fifth Municipal District Civil Court bench seat. Freier, who previously started the all-women’s volunteer Ezras Nashim ambulance company, which the politically connected all-mens volunteer Hatzalah ambulance company views as a threat, continues to prove that you can remain a devout Jew and still succeed in a largely mens world.
Democracy: Once again voter turnout was low and nobody in the general public, outside of hard-core politicos even realized there was a primary election. Indeed, in some state assembly and senate races barely more than 3,000 votes was cast for the winners. New York needs to limit their elections and double up on city, state and federal election days.
