New Kings Democrats is still a relatively new player in Brooklyn politics and has been expanding the reform movement against the corrupt Vito Lopez machine. This has been greatly needed as a formerly reform club, IND, has sunk into its own bizarre world that focused on preventing effective clean up of the Gowanus canal before development but now seems oddly aimless and centered only on maintaining the club itself as a private domain of a particular family. Of course I saw something similar almost happen to CBID, but CBID managed to avoid that fate. IND has not.

Which means New Kings Democrats (NKD) is a much needed shot of new blood into the reform movement in Brooklyn. And they have been doing their best to give the Vito Lopez machine some headaches by running reform candidates for District Leader in areas dominated by Lopez. This is a nice balance to the fact that Vito Lopez is running his candidates (e.g. Vito's "Loyal Lackeys" Hope Reichbach and Steve Williamson running in the 52nd Assembly District) in traditionally reform districts. From NKD's latest Press Release:

After a month of legal challenges, Vito Lopez failed to bully his opponent, Esteban Duran, off the ballot. Thousands of taxpayer dollars and government resources were wasted on a political strategy aimed at limiting voter choice and depleting a would-be challenger's time and money. In an opinion released Friday afternoon, Kings County Supreme Court Judge Carolyn Demarest rejected Vito's last ditch effort to prevent a competitive primary on September 14th for the position of State Committee, commonly known as "District Leader," in the 53rd Assembly District.

Esteban Duran, a lifelong Brooklynite and Community Board 1 member, filed more than 2000 signatures on July 12th for the unpaid volunteer Democratic party position although only 500 signatures are needed to qualify. Vito Lopez, Chair of the Kings County Democratic Party and previously unchallenged incumbent, has spent the last 4 weeks relentlessly trying to kick Duran off the ballot. First Lopez filed Specific Objections with the Board of Elections shortly after Esteban turned in his petitions last month. After the Board conducted a line-by-line review, they confirmed that Mr. Duran had well more than enough signatures. Lopez shortly thereafter filed suit in Kings County Supreme Court rehashing the same objections the Board of Elections previously rejected. The judge ordered a Special Referee to conduct a re-review of the petitions, which resulted in another confirmation that Duran deserved to stay on the ballot. Lopez also alleged that Duran and the other candidates on his petitions committed fraud and then tied up the candidates for two more weeks with a trial totaling 5 days in court.

Staff members from Lopez's State Assembly office and employees of the non-profit he founded, Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizen's Council, were present at the trial assisting Lopez's lawyer, Carl Landicino. The petitioners on whose behalf the law suit was filed were Lopez Assembly staffer William Harris and RBSCC employee Ana Moreno-DeJesus. Assembly staff members present at the trial included his Chief of Staff, Allison Frost, as well as his community liaison and Andy Marte, an intern, among others. RBSCC staffers including Maria Viera were present to assist as well. Jeff Feldman, the former executive director of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, who agreed in 2007 to testify against former county leader Clarence Norman (who went to jail for selling judgeships) in exchange for having the Brooklyn DA drop similar charges against him, was also in attendance to lend his support to the cause. Duran was represented by Leo Glickman of the Brooklyn based law firm Stoll, Glickman & Bellina.

In the end, Judge Demarest found that although Lopez called over two dozen witnesses, he failed to show that Duran's petitions contained any fraud. The judge noted that at least one petition signatory's testimony was not credible because she admitted during cross examination that two men from Lopez's team told her to say that she signed the petition for a man rather than a woman. Lopez also subpoenaed Brian Honan, Director of NYC Housing Authority's Intergovernmental affairs, who testified on Friday. On the stand, Mr. Honan admitted that Lopez called him personally to bring in copies of the leases of Duran's campaign volunteers.

Duran asked: "Why is Mr. Lopez so afraid of letting the people decide who should represent the district? A public servant should be held accountable and answer to the people, not use legal scare tactics to prevent voters from having more than one choice on the ballot. I will be spending the rest of this campaign reaching out to those who want a more honest and transparent democratic party. I'm committed now more than ever to help change the way politics are done in this Borough."

About Esteban Duran:

Esteban Duran, a lifelong Brooklyn resident, is a candidate for State Committeeman in the 53rd Assembly District. Esteban's parents emigrated from the Caribbean in the early 1970s, and settled in the south of Williamsburg. Esteban's family stressed dedication to community service, and became leaders at Transfiguration Parish. Esteban went on to graduate from Transfiguration Catholic School, La Salle Academy, and then got his BA from the University of Connecticut. After graduating from college, Esteban went to work as a youth organizer for the El Puente after-school program at MS 50.

In 2003, Esteban was selected to join the National Urban Fellows program and had the opportunity to work in the Chicago Public Schools. After successfully competing his assignment in Chicago, which included working with Arne Duncan, the current U.S. Secretary of Education, Esteban graduated with his Masters in Public Administration from Baruch College in 2004. In 2005, Esteban worked for Council member Diana Reyna and helped in her successful reelection bid. In 2006, Esteban joined the NYC Council as a Policy Analyst and then worked for the NYC Department of Education as an Education Council Specialist. In that role, Esteban helped train parent volunteers across New York City on how to access quality education and help advocate for their children's needs.

Esteban has been a member of Community Board 1 since 2005, serving as chair of the Education and Youth Committee. He is also a founding member of New Kings Democrats, and the Chairperson of Churches United for Fair Housing.

Not too many local organizations endorse in District Leader races, but here are a few reform organizations that have and their recommendations:

LAMBDA INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS: one of NYC's strongest and most active LGBT clubs.

41st AD Male – Lew Fidler
44th AD Female – Lori Citron Knipel
44th AD Male – Jacob Gold
50th AD Male – Lincoln Restler
52nd AD Female – Jo Anne Simon
52nd AD Male – Chris Owens
57th AD Female – Olanike Alabi
57th AD Male – Walter Moseley
60th AD Male – Ralph Perfetto

CENTRAL BROOKLYN INDEPENDENT DEMOCRATS: (if you got to their website you can read the questionaires each candidate filled out)

44th AD Male District Leader: Jacob Gold
44th AD Female District Leader: Lori Knipel
52nd AD Male District Leader: Chris Owens
52nd AD Female District Leader: Jo Anne Simon

NEW KINGS DEMOCRATS: A new reform club that grew out of the local 2008 Obama Campaign

Female State Committee District Leader- District 50: Kate Zidar
Male State Committee District Leader- District 50: Lincoln Restler

Female State Committee District Leader- District 52: Jo Anne Simon

Female State Committee District Leader- District 53: Barbara Medina
Male State Committee District Leader- District 53: Esteban Duran