First, Marlene Tapper was running against Den Dekker for the Assembly seat vacated by Ivan Lafayette -- not that it matters much, as she was thrown off the ballot. Monserrate was virtually guaranteed the 13th district Senate seat when incumbent John Sabini was named to head up the Wagering and Racing Board (or is that the other way around?).

Second, Peter Vallone, Jr. does have a brother who is running for City Council next year, but not for the same seat. It seems that Paul Vallone lives in Bayside, so he's running in the 19th CD, the seat currently held by Tony Avella. Assemblyman Gianaris will take the seat Peter Vallone is term-limited out of, which will make for an interesting county committee meeting in early 2010. There are several people who will be jockeying for that spot.

There's another primary in Queens, for the 22nd AD. First-term incumbent Ellen Young is being challenged by Grace Meng. This is a fascinating race. In 2002, when the district was created, Barry Grodenchik surprised people by winning in a heavily Oriental district. Two years later, he was defeated by Jimmy Meng (Grace Meng's father). In 2006, Meng did not run for a second term, saying there were health issues. Ellen Young and Grace Meng (who was her father's chief of staff for two years) ran, but Meng was thrown off the ballot because she didn't live in the district, and Young won. Now, Meng has apparently satisfied the residency requirement, and is mounting a tough challenge. If she wins, that district will have had four different Assembly representatives in four successive two-year terms.

Oh yeah -- officially, there is also a Democratic primary for the 15th Senate seat, currently held by Republican Serphin Maltese. Although Albert Baldeo has announced his withdrawal from the race, it came too late to remove his name from the ballot, so he and Joseph Addabbo, Jr. are officially in a primary. Anyone wanna bet on this one? I'm laying odds.

Speaking of residency requirements -- there is no district residency requirement for Congress; you need only live in the same state. In fact, there are no congressional districts mentioned in the Constitution. All it says is how House seats will be divided among the states based on population, and that the members shall be "chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature." (Later, the franchise was extended to everyone over 18, except that states can bar people who have committed crimes.)

Moving away from Queens (or at least not exclusively Queens), word is that there are several possible candidates for speaker. Yes, Gianaris is said to be angling for it, as is Inez Dickens. (I'm hearing that Denny Farrell will take Robert Jackson's Council seat, and Jackson is probably going to the Assembly. I'm also hearing that Farrell will probably, though not certainly, support Dickens.) Dan Garodnick is also believed to be a serious candidate, and don't be surprised to see Sara Gonzalez's name in there as well -- after all, she will be the senior Council member. Rock, you know Brooklyn far better than I, so let me ask you -- what about Letitia James?