Over the years I have cataloged the decline and then recovery of corrupt Party Boss Vito Lopez. His big ticket judicial candidates (e.g. both Surrogate Judge positions) lost to candidates backed by the reform movement that seeks to be Vito's nemesis, though probably is usually more of a nuisance to Vito because it serves as its own nemesis. Vito's prominent judicial race losses seemed to signify a decline in his fortunes. That decline seemed halted last year when self-nemesising reformers basically handed Vito one of their city council seats right in the heart of reform territory. Vito's boy Steve Levin seemed to lead a Vito comeback. Of course behind the smiles at Levin's win for the corrupt side was Vito's big loss when he tried to take out former ally turned independent-minded woman Diana Reyna. He lost that one and I bet it still rankles. His hatred for his former ally was so great he even endorsed the WFP candidate over the Democratic candidate (Reyna) even though he is SUPPOSED to be the Democratic Party leader. His hatred for Reyna was even so great he began to threaten other allies who didn't follow his lead against Reyna (like Lew Fidler) with challenges.  read more »

Last night Jo Anne Simon, my District Leader and unsuccessful candidate for City Council for the 33rd City Council district, had a party for the sole purpose of thanking those who supported her during her run for City Council.

I have been to victory parties on election day. They are kick ass.

I have been to parties on election day for candidates who lost. They are not so kick ass.

I have never been invited to a thank you party AFTER the fact where a candidate just plain wants to express appreciation of those who helped her out. Jo Anne Simon is a classy person who appreciates it when people help her out.

The race for the 33rd City Council district was a tough race. Several solid progressive reformers were running against one conservative and one corrupt candidate. In the end the corrupt candidate won and Brooklyn's supposedly most reform district has to face up to the fact that they just elected one of the most corrupt candidates around. And the reformers have to deal with the fact that they, quite classically, split the vote a thousand ways, sacrificing the good on the altar of the pure.  read more »

Next to the 39th City Council district, the 33rd district is also among the most closely contested races in the city. I personally know all the candidates in the 39th. In the 33rd I know some very well, have met another, and with one, Isaac Abraham, have only heard him speak, not actually met him. I want to discuss this race based on my own experiences with the candidates. This race is a critical one in the fight against corruption in Brooklyn, as outlined in the Village Voice. Brooklyn Party Boss Vito Lopez is trying hard to take this seat and reformers are divided. Here's what the Village Voice has to say about this race:

Power Plays by Party Boss Vito Lopez

The Lord of Brooklyn, a Democratic powerbroker who is flexing his
political muscles these days like a gym rat pumping the free weights

By Tom Robbins - September 01, 2009 - The Village Voice

Say this for Vito Lopez, the Brooklyn Democratic powerbroker who is
flexing his political muscles these days like a gym rat pumping the
free weights: He is not one to let a few silly scandals knock him off  read more »

Brief update on the 33rd Council Race: a note about Evan Thies, the guy I too often forget is running (not his fault!) followed by Jo Anne Simon's latest numbers.

I ran into Evan Thies, former Yassky staffer and current candidate for the 33rd City Council district, on the last day of petitioning. I never actually met him before, though I had heard him speak. At first I held his Yassky ties against him, but when I realized Yassky was throwing him under the bus and not endorsing Evan, it made me far more sympathetic to him. And the one time I heard him speak he came off well.  read more »

Two new endorsements have been announced for candidates I am supporting.

First, Democracy for NYC has endorsed Yetta Kurland for the 3rd City Council District in Manhattan. Here is their announcement:

Democracy for NYC is proud to announce that our members have voted to endorse Yetta Kurland in the Democratic primary in Council District 3. Voting opened on July 1st and closed on July 10th. Here are the results:

Yetta Kurland: 69%

Christine Quinn: 12%

Maria Passanante-Derr: 0%

About the vote:
We have been asking DFNYC members through our email newsletters, as well as at Linkups and other events, to suggest 2009 Democratic primary races in which DFNYC should hold endorsement votes of its members. (Please see this page at our website for more details: http://dfnyc.org/content/view/2398/15/) The responses thus far indicated that the DFNYC community is interested in Council District 3. DFNYC members who attended three DFNYC events in the past year were eligible to vote.  read more »