It was the days after the 2017 citywide general election and all was quiet among the city politicians.
The winning city council members were nestled deep in slumber, dreaming of all the good deeds they will do the next four years, while the losers tossed and turned awake, licking wounds and playing in their heads all the things they should have done, but didn’t.
Indeed, there was nary a press release or proclamation to be had.
And with the races over, both on the losing side and the winning side, nerves were frayed, emotions were still taught and people had to vent. This was displayed both at some of the election night gatherings, and at KCP in the form of critical commenters, sore losers and gloating winners. We get that. People have to vent, expressing both their anger and their glee.
It is the nature of election season that they always start with high hopes and optimism. All kinds of people – both those that ran and those that supported those that ran – put their best foot forward. Millions of dollars are raised and spent. All kinds of strategic tactics are utilized – some above the belt, and other down and dirty.
That is the nature of New York City politics locally and American politics nationally. And we at KCP were not immune from getting our own hands dirty covering these races. We had many posts covering the elections. We got many things right and some things wrong. So be it.
But come election night, we at KCP completed our fiduciary duty to cover every race that we considered competitive in Brooklyn. We had five separate reporters covering what we thought were the five most interesting races. They included, and I name only the winners here, the Laurie Cumbo race in the 35th District, the Mathieu Eugene race in the 40th District, the Justin Brannan race in the 43rd District, the Kalman Yeger race in the 44th District and the Chaim Deutsch in the 48th District.
But now it’s over. Done. Finito.
It is time for the losers to lick their wounds, and if they still have the heart for serving as an elected official, to reevaluate their strategy and gear up for their next try at public office.
As for the winners, it is time to govern in the words of Abraham Lincoln, “with malice toward none, with charity for all.”
And in that spirit, we congratulate all the winners who will continue or acscend into the ranks of those that govern.
As such, we look forward to continue covering you as well as your legislative and in-district initiatives.
