With the resignation of Councilmember Dennis Gallagher after pleading guilty in a sexual assault case, a special election for the 30th District seat (Ridgewood, Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale, Richmond Hill) will be held on June 3. In a special election for city offices there are no primaries and no nominations, and all candidates are on the ballot as themselves alone, with no official party affiliation.
But...
Both parties have made it clear whom they are supporting. Of the three Republicans in the race, the party is supporting Anthony Como, a Board of Elections commissioner and aide to state Senator Serphin Maltese. Former Councilmember Tom Ognibene is running for his old seat (he was term-limited out in 2001). Also in the race is Joseph Suraci, who is pissed off at the party for passing over him for a Civil Court judgeship five years ago.
Read on for where it gets ugly...
The Democratic side features two candidates (apparently, 23 year old paralegal Michael Mascetti has dropped out). One candidate is Elizabeth Crowley, whose parents were both in the City Council and whose cousin Joe is both county leader and a member of Congress. The other Democrat is Charles Ober, President of the Ridgewood Democratic Club and longtime community activist. Guess which one the party is officially backing?
Now for the ugly part. Crowley is a member of the painter's union, and there are complaints that the union is using strongarm tactics of the Tammany Hall variety to require their members to work in support of Crowley. An excellent explanation is available at blogger David Quintana's site [1], "Lost in the Ozone" (he lives in Ozone Park).
One interesting sidebar -- the graphic in Quintana's blogpost showing how the Campaign Finance Board has looked at his site, used to be available in readable form, but mysteriously that link has gone bad.
More to come. It's going to be an interesting race.
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