Last night was the monthly meeting of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats and was the evening when my wife and I got in all the petitions we were working on. Of course we could do more petitioning, but I think we will be taking a break from that to catch up on our regular lives. But something has struck me as I have petitioned in three separate Election Districts and talked to people petitioning in a good half dozen other districts. One candidate who I have been watching out for because he is running against a friend of mine seems missing.

As many people know I am closely following the developments in the Brooklyn 1st Civil Court race. This is one of those races that often get ignored. But since I personally know (and am friends with) one of the candidates, and have met the other candidate and heard him answer tough questions with astonishingly bad answers, I offer my opinion. The two candidates are: my friend, civil case lawyer, volunteer EMT, Community Board 6 member, and former head of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats versus mainly appellate and criminal case lawyer Roger Adler, possibly best known for the amicus brief he wrote for the Conservative Party opposing marriage equality.

Early on in this race one insider told me Roger Adler would easily get many of the top endorsements and beat Devin unless Devin got busy. This was an early prediction and was based on the assumption taht Adler was getting support from the Brooklyn Democratic County leader Vito Lopez. To date, and the game is yet young, I can find very little support for Adler and all endorsements I can find by simple Google searches so far have gone to Devin Cohen. I also know that Devin Cohen has been wearing out his shoes walking the district, talking to people and has been extremely well received. So far I have not seen Roger Adler petitioning and I have seen no one petitioning for him even though I have been out at street fairs and walking election districts myself. Where's Adler?

Devin Cohen has gotten the endorsements of the Independent Neighborhood Demcorats (IND), the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (CBID) and the Lambda Independent Democrats, as well as the endorsements of Assmbly members Joan Millman and Jim Brennan, State Senators Marty Connor and Velmanette Montgomery, and Councilmember Letitia James.

Who has endorsed Adler? Seriously, I can't find anything indicating endorsements for Adler.

I also have seen lots of people petitioning for Devin Cohen, but, so far, none for Adler. Now my personal sphere of observation covers only part of the district, so there could easily be areas where Adler is covering well, but if so, no one I know has seen it. Similarly, I have yet to find anyone who admits to supporting Adler. I have only HEARD OF two such cases: one case of a person who avidly and honestly supports Adler, and one case of someone who admitted only a half-hearted support of Adler. I have also HEARD OF support from Vito Lopez for Adler, but honestly that too seems hard to pin down. And people know that if I saw support from Lopez I would mention it. But Lopez so far seems to have not lifted a finger for Adler, so I wonder if the rumor was true or not. I had also heard a further rumor that a State Senate challenger was coordinating with Adler trying to bring in big guns for him. That has failed to materialize perhaps because those big guns had previously been opposed by Adler in a key election.

So who really is supporting Adler? Again, I can't find any info on this, so if anyone knows, let me know. I expect this to be a real fight, but so far it hasn't.

The lack of support, endorsements and even visible petitioners for Adler makes me wonder how seriously he is running in this race. Rumor has it he only decided to run once he wasn't handed another judicial plum making this race an afterthought. His lackluster run so far seems to support that rumor.

My original statements on this race remain: both Devin Cohen and Roger Adler are qualified, intelligent candidates and I just happen to prefer Devin. But increasingly Devin is coming off the stronger candidate with a better judicial temperment while Adler comes off increasingly uninterested in the race and, when he has appeared (at IND, though he didn't appear at CBID at all) he came off arrogant and irritable. Adler's Conservative Party ties aside it seems to me his personality just isn't suited to be a civil court judge even if his intelligence and skills are equal to Devin's. For now Devin is winning the endorsements and the fight for street recognition as far as I can see. But again, let me emphasize that I have not been observing the whole district.

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