Thursday, October 30, 2014

2014 Brooklyn GOP Election Roundup — The NYS Assembly Races Edition


For most of us Brooklyn GOPers, this isn’t our first election rodeo   —   But, for many of us, it might be our last roundup  —   Here’s one of the reasons why  —   The quantity and quality of the 2014 GOP County-wide Assembly slate...


Things aren’t yet as bad as they seem to be in Queens, where the GOP is running their Assembly slate boiler as stone cold iron with not even a warm cinder in the pit  —  But don't be smug, Brooklyn is getting close to that too...

Other than the Assembly Member shared with Staten Island, Nicole Malliotakis, the Brooklyn GOP doesn’t seem to have a single Assembly Candidate running in 2014 with any real shot at winning a seat in the Assembly



It was very difficult for me to even get the simplest information on some of these Assembly races. Most of the candidates had no websites, and the local press gave them little or no coverage whatsoever.

2014 Brooklyn Republican Assembly Candidates and some of their Democrat Opponents


In the 42nd Assembly District, Republican Matthew G. Williams is running against Democrat Rodneyse Bichotte.  This Republican candidate stands no chance, because the chances of any real campaign were undermined by the Brooklyn Conservative Party’s running its own candidate in this district.

In the 44th Assembly District, long time liberal Democrat James Brennan is being challenged by a Republican-Conservative candidate Mikhail [Mike] Yusupov. Maybe Mr. MY can get some votes in a part of the 44th where he might have some ethnic or religious appeal, against a long-term incumbent Jim Brennan, who is strong in most of the areas surrounding Prospect Park.

The 45th Assembly District features Steven Cymbrowitz, the incumbent Democrat, again being challenged in the general election by Ben Akselrod, a Democrat that ran against Cymbrowitz in the Primary. This time Mr. Akselrod is running as the GOP candidate because he won an OTB write-in primary for the REpublican line, being designated by the GOP voters to be their candidate. Although Akselrod is not receiving much support from the Brooklyn GOP Organization and is being hurt by a nominal Conservative on the ballot, he obviously has some Republican activists like social conservative Joseph Hayon working for him. His total Republican effort now includes the endorsement from former GOP Congressman Ted Turner, who represented a large part of the current 45th AD.

In the 46th AD, the Republican-Conservative candidate Stamatis Lilikakis came out of the GOP primary with much fanfare. That was heightened to some extent when Lilikakis picked up the endorsement of the LaGuardia Republican Club and its leadership. Nonetheless, it looks like another long-time Democrat incumbent, Alec Brook-Krasny, will cruise to another easy victory, since his power base in Coney Island and Brighton Beach outvotes any of the Republicans in Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights. Lilakakis  has received the endorsement of former State Senator David Storobin – who claims to have received a majority of the vote in the portion of a City Council District that overlaps with the 46th AD, let’s see how Lilikakis does in those EDs.

The 47th AD pits Republican-Conservative Joseph Baranello against the venerable William Colton.  There might be some GOP action in this race, because the 47th AD is one of the few districts with an active GOP organization in place.

The 48th AD is  vverrr-dy-indtherreztigg.  It’s not easy to tell who is wearing what hat(s) in this district, they all look so much alike. Nachman Caller is the nominal Republican and Dov Hikind is the Democrat-Conservative. Even though Caller is the GOP State Committeeman in the 48th AD, one would have to look long and hard to find anything “Republican” about his leadership. Nachman Caller was recently called out for trying to push some swag endorsements from Rabbis that later said they didn’t endorse him ( See “Caller Campaign Desperately Resorting to Lies” by Josh Fallik, 10/29/14, Community Voice NY [http://communityvoiceny.com/caller-campaign-desperately-resorting-to-lies/]).  Like I said, “Vverrr-dy-indtherreztigg !”

The new 49th AD looks like this: two round-eyes, Peter J. Abbate Jr. is running against Henry Lallave, in this Brooklyn Assembly District designed to be a Dim Sum for a certain growing community.  End this Open-Door Colonialism ASAP  —   Evan a Chi-Com could win in this district if he or she ran; the GOP should run a “Boxer Rebel” for crying out loud !  Henry Lallave... is that the future of the GOP in this district ?

There’s something new going on in the 50th AD.  A relatively young and new to Brooklyn GOP candidate, like Bill Davidson, is taking on an old warhorse Democrat, like Joe Lentol. Davidson’s small but feisty campaign might make a few waves on Election Day, let’s wait and see.

In the 52nd AD, John A. Jasilli, a lawyer, who has run as a GOP candidate for Brooklyn DA and Borough President in bygone days, is trying his hand at taking on Jo Anne Simon in a locked-in progressive Democrat Assembly District with an open seat. The wild card in this race could be Pete Sikora, who lost to Simon in the Democrat Primary but is still in the race on the Working Families line.

In the 54th AD,  Khorshed A. Chowdhury is on the GOP line against Democrat Eric Martin Dilan, the son of State Senator Martin Malave Dilan.   According to a report in DNAinfo.com,  Board of Elections campaign finance disclosures showed that Chowdhury has an “inactive” campaign ( See “Williamsburg State Senator Defeats Progressive Challenger in Primary” by Serena Dai 9/10/14, DNAinfo.com [http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20140910/williamsburg/williamsburg-state-senator-defeats-progressive-challenger-primary]). We all know how that works.

To Berneda Jackson and  Gamsey Lee Alston, running in the 55th and 56th ADs respectively:  good luck, hold out as long as you can  —   help is very likely NOT on the way.

Jeff Ferretti is running his own little campaign in the 59th AD against Democrat Roxanne Persaud.  —   Jeffrey Ferretti is in his first run for public office –  Assemblyman – on both the Republican and Conservative lines in the 59th AD in Brooklyn.  Mr Ferretti has been a small businessman and entrepreneur, as the principal of National Brokerage for past 35 years. Some say that Ferretti is a natural for the position of Member of the Assembly from Brooklyn – 59.   —   Thanks for the effort, Jeff.  There still should be a decent GOP vote in this district; let's see if it comes out for Mr. Ferretti.

And, then there is Leroy Bates, the GOP candidate in the 60th AD against Charles Barron the Democrat  —  at least the Bates folks filled the GOP line in a district that very much needed a Republican opponent to the incumbent Democrat bomb-thrower Mr. Barron.

In the 64th AD Democrat Mary Beth Melendez is in an uphill fight against the only GOP incumbent Member of the Assembly with any connection to Brooklyn, Nicole Malliotakis. With the trends and winds of the 2014 campaign season, it doesn’t look like Nicole will not have a tough time this time.

No repeat of 2010 results are expected in 2014 Assembly races


All in all, with national trends favoring the GOP, the local disorganization caused by a certain Republican-Conservative State Senator in Brooklyn, along with his supporters and paid staff, has completely paralyzed the Republican Party in Kings County.  Instead of a repeat of the 2010 experience when there were similar national trends, the Brooklyn GOP will be lucky to match the lower numbers obtained by their Assembly candidates in 2012. Nonetheless, several of this year’s Assembly candidates were affiliated with the Golden oriented “Republicans for Change” in 2013  —   it will be interesting to see how they do compared to all the rest on Election Day 2014.

21 comments:

  1. Gale, excellent piece, but as a former active member of the Brooklyn GOP, I believe you missed a few points. I agree that Golden destroyed the Brooklyn GOP, but it was not done in a fair manner - I was told it was done through veiled threats and manipulation of BOE employees and other backhanded ways. The Brooklyn GOP was very successful before that - we were winning races, Turner and Storobin for example - and we had great monthly meetings.....great dinners...and unity among the leaders all around Brooklyn.....he destroyed it all thru greed, ego and a desire to control everything. And the people he surrounds himself with...they make for a real motley crew...one loser after another...from Kassar all the way down the list....

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  2. RESPONSE: THE "THAT'S ANOTHER STORY" EDITION

    Thank you very much for your kind words.

    I wasn't trying to give a recent history of the Brooklyn GOP. If I were, I would have included much of your more detailed information about the attempted Golden coup and how it was carried out.

    This was just a report about the 2014 slate of Assembly candidates, along with some explanation as to why there aren't more and/or better active candidates.

    Another reason that I didn't mention was Chairman Craig Eaton's hand in this, or his lack thereof, which resulted from bad advice to keep things as simple as possible this year.

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  3. The local Brooklyn Republican/Conservative Party has absolutely no credibility. And what little respect it had was entirely destroyed by its fear-mongering race-baiting actions in last year's general election. And please do not try to take credit for Bob Turner. He is from Queens and to my knowledge has made very clear that the Brooklyn GOP is not a place where he would ever warm his feet by the fire.

    The first step in rebuilding is acknowledging what your Party(s) has done wrong. Instead when confronted, you double down - everyone's a mug who tries to challenge your tactics. Gee, that's a familiar tune in Brooklyn.

    Yet keep your Party - because everyone needs a place to . . . when Hugh Carey (the man who saved New York) was asked if Breezy Point should take down their gates he said no let them keep it because everyone needs a place to go and . . .

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  4. UPDATE: THE “BIG NEWS FOR THE GOP AND ALL VOTERS IN THE 45th A.D.” EDITION

    OMG, NOW HE’S DONE IT

    I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING ALONG WITH A CHALLENGING E-MAIL FROM RUSSELL GALLO EARLIER TODAY*
    _____________________

    I woke to find this “letter” attached to an E-mail from Russell Gallo in my in-box, along with a line indicating that it had been sent to Republicans in the 45th A.D. [* Due to a technical problem this comment was delayed about seven (7) hours ]:

    _______________________
    _______________________

    “Dear Friends and Neighbors:

    As a proud veteran of the U.S. Army and National Guard, I value honor, loyalty, and integrity above all else. As a proud Republican, I believe that our candidates should embody these values.

    On Tuesday, November 4th, we will vote for our representative in the New York State Assembly and I urge you not to vote for the name that appears on the Republican line. This individual is not a Republican. He is an opportunist who stands for nothing but his own self-interests. He has used an underhanded and corrupted process to deceive Republicans into believing he represents our values. He does not.

    As former president of the Kings County Young Republicans and a member of the NYS GOP Executive committee, I am endorsing and urging all Republicans of the 45th Assembly District to vote to re-elect Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz. Steven has served this district proudly for 14 years, understands our needs, and has shown commitment to our values. He has worked with both sides of the aisle to improve our district and has earned our support.

    Please vote for Steven Cymbrowitz on Tuesday, November 4th. Polls are open from 6 a.m. through 9 p.m. Remember that every vote counts.

    Sincerely,

    /S/

    Russell Gallo Former Republican State Committeeman”

    _______________________
    _______________________

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  5. And why, pray tell, would any Brooklynite with even an ounce of common sense heed the advice of this person above? He has zero credibilty in local politics and even less respect in matters of parochial Republican concern.

    A proud veteran, etc, etc, etc, that and a token . . . and so is Michael Grimm and even he has the good sense to stay away from this guy.

    Oh, I could go on but I'll stop - for now.

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  6. No respect for veterans, they have earned their rights. What have you done to earn yours? Freedom isn't free you know, or don't you know that. Yours can be taken in an instant.

    Lots of Republicans love and respect Russ Gallo, can you say the same? If not just shut the f--k up.

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  7. Actually, the Brooklyn GOP under Craig Eaton deserves the lion's share of credit for electing Bob Turner.

    Turner lost the Queens portion of the congressional district, and was only elected because of his landslide victory in the Brooklyn portion of the district.

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  8. You mean the Brooklyn GOP with Joseph Hayon as a member got Bob Turner elected.

    “I got to know Joseph a number of years ago in my race for the seat in the US House of Representatives”, he said. “I won as the Republican challenger against the favorite, Democrat incumbent, in a heavily Democrat electorate district, and Joseph Hayon was there to help me”, he continued “today I’m here to endorse his candidacy in acknowledgment of my debt of gratitude”.

    http://jpupdates.com/2013/10/18/bob-turner-endorses-councilman-greenfields-opponent/

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  9. The Brooklyn GOP did not get Bob Turner elected. The Orthodox Jewish community and Dov Hikind along with Ed Koch got Bob Turner elected.

    Bob Turner is a good and honorable man who would have nothing to do with the local Republican scoundrels who call themselves politicians. He particularly had disdain for the BYR's. And expressly advised a former Republican in his desperate attempt to hold on to his position to stay away from those groups.

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  10. BACKFILL: THE “NECESSARY BACKGROUND” EDITION

    TO GET THE FULL MEANING AND FLAVOR OF RUSSELL GALLO’S MOST RECENT MANEUVER ONE NEEDS TO SEE HIS EARLIER EXPRESSED THOUGHTS ON THE SUBJECT [BTW, I’M SURE OLE SARGE GALLO HAS BE FULLY SCHOOLED IN MANEUVER TACTICS, ALL WITHIN THE STRATEGY AND DOCTRINE OF MANEUVER THEORY – HE ALSO PROBABLY KNOWS A LITTLE ABOUT ASYMMETRIC WARFARE TOO]

    Shortly after Ben Akselrod succeeded in winning his OTB Write-in Primary to take the GOP line in the 45th AD, Russell Gallo wrote a full article about it on another Brooklyn Republican blog (See “Brooklyn's 45th Assembly District: Two Democrats on the Ballot and a Political Whore Run Amok” by Russell Gallo, 9/28/14, Behind Enemy Lines — Blogging-From-Within [http://www.behindenemylinesradio.us/2014/09/brooklyns-45th-assembly-district-two.html?m=1]). That particular post was also discussed on this blog (See my 9/30/14 post, “New Republican Blog Seems very Familiar with a Russ Gallo Attack on Orthodox Jewish Activist Joseph Hayon for Pushing Democrats as Republicans,” along with a few relevant comments [out of about 25 that are there], below on this blog).

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  11. Indeed the Orthodox Community, the Russian Community, Assemblyman Hikind and Ed Koch were extremely instrumental in the victory, but YOU NEED TO GET THE LINE in order to win. I was at several meetings with the Queens County GOP, the Queens Chairman and Chairman Eaton where Eaton pushed hard to get the line for Turner and that is what paved the way for victory. Without the opportunity to run, he couldnt have won....Remember the Queens GOP was looking to run Juan Reyes and even sent out a press release stating that he was the candidate. Then Eaton met with the Queens GOP and made Turner's candidacy happen..check your facts and you will see this is true...

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  12. UPDATE: THE “FLUX CAPACITOR” EDITION

    LET’S TAKE A QUANTUM LEAP FROM THE PAST HISTORY IN THE 45TH AD AND SOME OF THE AREAS OF THE OLD TURNER CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT INTO THE NEAR FUTURE IN MUCH OF THAT TERRITORY — SPECIFICALLY IN A SWATH THAT INCLUDES PARTS OF THE 41ST, 45TH, 46TH and 47TH ADs

    GREGORY DAVIDZON WEIGHS IN ON BROOKLYN GOP EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER RUSSELL GALLO’S ENDORSEMENT AND SUPPORT OF DEMOCRAT INCUMBENT ASSEMBLYMAN STEVE CYMBROWITZ IN THE 45TH AD

    Gregory Davidzon, described by many as a Russian-American media mogul in the Russian community in Brooklyn, was also one of those credited with helping the man called Bob Turner become Congressman Bob Turner in 2010. That’s just one of the reason’s why his opinion on things should matter inside the Brooklyn GOP. Another reason would be the GD influence on the selections for County and State Committee Members in the Brooklyn Republican organizational races in the 41st, 45th, 46th and 47th ADs in 2015; and following-on and flowing-from those selections, the probable GD influence on the 2015 Republican County Convention.

    One of the Baker Street Irregulars, who has a history of reporting good insider information on such things, reports that Gregory Davidzon was completely flummoxed by Russell Gallo’s letter of support for Democrat Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz. More important than anything else, Davidzon was outraged at the official sounding language that appeared in the letter, indicating to Mr. Davidzon that Gallo’s mention of the GOP Executive Committee was a sign that GOP Chairman Craig Eaton was involved in Gallo’s move.

    As a result, Gregory Davidzon has made this commitment to the Republicans backing the candidacy of Ben Akselrod, Davidson told one of their representatives that he intends that this will be the last term that Craig Eaton will have any influence over the Republican Candidates running in any of the Russian parts of Brooklyn. “Gregory Davidzon intends that this will be Craig Eaton’s last term as the Chairman of the Brooklyn Republican Party.”

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  13. "A tale told by an idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing." It appears the blog administrator is having his own Hamlet moment.

    The person to whom you refer has absolutely no credibility. Bob Turner disavowed him entirely for a few reasons but the one that sticks out from what I was told is that the person whom you are trying to rehabilitate is known to be anti-Semitic among other things. Turner would have nothing of that. The last thing Turner needed was some low-level anti-Jewish blogger in his midst.There is enough ignorance and hate in the world who needs more from some local wannabe.

    Both the Grimm campaign and Recchia wanted no part of his local Republican organization either due to his past statements and / or behavior.

    Now please there is an election coming up. Focus on races that matter.

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  14. Wow..Gregory Davidzon, the un-registered, non-voter, pay to play radio station owner who will support your candidacy if you advertise and pay $$$$$ to him for radio time....what a baffooooooon....someone should investigate his pay to play scheme..........

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  15. Who suddenly made Davidzon a "power broker" in Brooklyn politics? The Russians are outnumbered 2-1 by dems in Brooklyn and most Russians are not even registered to vote.

    He is pretending to be more powerful that he really is.

    I agree with Anonymous above. Maybe he should register. Become a member of the Republican Party and then people will listen to him.

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  16. Davidzon can barely speak and he wants to be King.

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  17. There's a lot of that around this blog.

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  18. Prediction,

    Gallo convinces republicans to not vote for Akselrod thus beating Hayon and Davidzon.

    2 birds with one letter.

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  19. Got mail Turner endorsed Akselrod. Who should average republican listen too Gallo or Turner? I'm with Turner

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  20. Got milk Gallo endorsed cookies. Who should average republican listen too Gallo or Turner? I'm with Gallo, since I like cookies too.

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  21. wonder if they told turner that akselrod isn't a republican, but rather a dem using absurd NY election laws to deceive voters...

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