The Brooklyn Paper had an article on the latest series of power plays by Brooklyn Party Boss Vito Lopez. The summary is in the headline:

Lopez strengthens his ‘Vito’ power with ‘loyal’ lackeys

Basically Lopez is stacking the District Leader positions in order to expand his hold on power. This is critical to his survival as a party boss because his record has not been very good recently in terms of winning contested races. So he needs to exert his authority. Rumor has it he tried doing so by threatening a rather strong willed City Councilman with a primary challenge because said Councilman hadn't toed the line enough, but was laughed at by that City Councilman. I suspect Vito is backing down on that one and satisfying himself with threatening district leaders. [UPDATE: hadn't seen Gatemouth's piece on this incident and other aspects of the 52nd race...for more on the Vito Lopez/Lew Fidler pissing contest and more rambling analysis of the 52nd, read about it on Room8].

A quick rundown of the races that will be closely watched by those handful of people who actually want a less corrupt, more effective local Democratic Party (from the above linked article):

• In the neighboring 50th Assembly District, for example, Lincoln Restler of the progressive New Kings Democrats, has challenged longtime district leader, and Lopez supporter, Steve Cohn. It now appears that Cohn has dropped out of that race in hopes of having his son succeed him.

• And in the same district as Fleishman, another Lopez-backed newcomer, Hope Reichbach, is challenging anti-Lopez district leader Jo Anne Simon.

• In Bay Ridge, Kevin Peter Carroll is savaging longtime leader Ralph Perfetto on the campaign trail, saying that Perfetto is too close to Lopez....

And then there is the 52nd district race where Alan Fleishman is using Vito's latest power play as an excuse to throw in the towel (wrongly I think and many of us are kind of pissed at Alan for this, but who can really blame him?):

Fleishman’s departure from the race does not mean that Williamson has an easy path to victory. Former Council candidates Bob Zuckerman and Gary Reilly, former Congressional candidate Chris Owens and attorney Jesse Strauss have also said they are interested.

I have heard the same rumors that the Brooklyn Papers has, but am working to confirm them. Let me correct the Brooklyn Paper: Gary Reilly is definitively NOT running. As for the others, I think they are. Williamson is Lopez's latest lackey (yes, Senator Squadron...that may well be the nickname I use for Williamson), along with "Vito's Last Hope" Reichbach, who, I have been told, doesn't even want the job but is running as a favor to Vito for past favors from him. If the reform movement wants to have any credibility at all, they need to get behind Lincoln Restler and Jo Anne Simon...and they need to find a candidate who actually can win against Williamson. I am seeing the same old circular firing squad where the reformers flail around beating on eachother allowing Vito's candidate to win.

Jesse Strauss seems to be overstepping himself here. No one really knows him and many I speak to have yet to feel they can trust him. There is something Biviano-like in him, making the assumption that all he speaks to will be so swayed by what he says that they will automatically fall in line behind him. That kind of sense of self-entitlement (a term used by two people I have talked to) is not encouraging. I think the fact that Chris Owens is running suggests that Strauss is failing to convince a large part of the reform progressives. He is a long shot and needs to run a particularly strong campaign if he wants the job. Zuckerman will get support from many who feel that the seat should remain with a gay man. Plus IND and Joan Millman owe him big time for the royal screwing they gave him last year. I think support for him in this race may be the crumb they throw him as an apology.

As for the Perfetto/Carroll race, expect it to be REALLY nasty. Perfetto is a tough, scrappy incumbent who has support from many reformers as well as, to some people's surprise, Vito Lopez. Lopez and Perfetto do not get along, but Carroll is such a loose cannon that Lopez fears him more it seems. I like Perfetto and would be fine if he wins. I know some real reformers who support him. But it may well be far more of a pain in Vito's ass if Carroll wins. Problem is Carroll is likely to be a pain in everyone else's ass too.

So far I endorse Lincoln Restler in the 50th and, somewhat by default, Jo Anne Simon in the 52nd female race. I am not yet endorsing in the 52nd male race because I think a lot has to shake out before a clear leader against Lopez's Latest Lackey emerges. In the Perfetto/Carroll race I also find myself neutral. I know I like Perfetto better but would love to see the pained expression on Vito's face if Carroll wins. Should that happen and should someone be in the room with Vito when he hears, please snap a picture. It will be priceless.

[UPDATE] It might be a lesson to the Brooklyn Papers to talk to candidates before saying they are running. I have discovered that Bob Zuckerman is also not running for the 52nd male district leader race, though he expresses disappointment that it will not stay an LGBT seat. So that race comes down to Lopez's Latest Lackey Williamson, upstart Jesse Strauss, and the familiar progressive candidate Chris Owens. As it stands I will probably be endorsing Chris but it is unclear to me, practically speaking, that there is a front runner in the race. Others I talked to had the same opinion I had on how it will break down: Vito will throw the machine and its connections behind Williamson, New Kings Dems and IND will probably endorse Jesse Strauss (I do wonder, however, whether the Scottos who run IND have been drifting closer to Vito on this one or not...), CBID will endorse Owens, and Lambda is a wildcard without Zuckerman but has an existing relationship with Chris Owens. I remain unconvinced that these will be the only candidates in the running though.