I have often bemoaned the influence of big money in NYC politics, seeing as even more of a factor here, where the media markets are so expensive, than nationally. But this year's rather expensive and contentious CD-11 race seems to indicate I am wrong, at least in some cases.

At Chris Owens' New Brooklyn Leadership kick off party, Chris mentioned some interesting figures. If you look at what the four candidates in the Democratic Primary for CD-11, you see an interesting breakdown. Yvette Clarke and Chris Owens, the winner and the last place candidates, each spent just under $40 per vote they received, if I heard correctly. For Broolyn that sounds like a real bargain! It speaks well of these two candidates and, for Yvette, the power of union suppot, and, for Chris, the power of the Brooklyn grassroots when it can get itself going. Carl Andrews, third place candidate, endorsed by Eliot Spitzer and backed by Brooklyn's corrupt Democratic Clarence Norman/Vito Lopez machine, spent around $50 per vote received. You'd think with the backing of Spitzer and the machine Carl could have done better.

Democrats now have to unite to defeat Bush and to fight for a better America. We need to unite to win the NY-13 district from Vito Fossella and to win the State Senate. In CD-11 we have had a divissive primary, but now is the time to unite.

Morkfrombrooklyn in another diary made an excellent suggestion and I am trying to make it happen. He suggested an event where all camps in CD-11 unite. Here is my letter to as many people as I could think of who were involved in the CD-11 race:

The CD-11 district has just gone through a very difficult primary. Four good candidates vied for one spot, and congratulations to Yvette Clarke for her win.

I am a blogger for the Daily Gotham, and in the course of the discussion and venting over the primary, someone came up with a great idea: a Unity Rally for our district.

No matter our differences over who should represent the district, we all recognize that it is far more important that Democrats unite against the extremely dangerous Bush agenda. Now is the time to express that unity. Now is the time for all four camps to get together and express their vision for a better America. Too often Democrats have been divided in their fight to better America and to stop the Bush agenda. Let's stand up for the environment, for energy independence, for a fair deal for workers and small businesses and families, for education, for equality, for diplomatic solutions, and for fair and accurate elections. Let's stand up for America.

Oh my, oh my ... I think I will owe my future success as a political satirist to Ms. Yvette Clarke.

U.S. HOUSE - DISTRICT 11
Precincts Reported: 506 of 523

Yvette D. Clarke(D) 14306 (30%)
David S. Yassky(D) 12314 (26%)
Carl Andrews(D) 10443 (22%)
Chris Owens(D) 9210 (19%)
[via 7Online.com]

No winner has been called yet.

I blame Carl Andrews.

It's 10:24 pm

Precincts Reported: 207 of 523
David S. Yassky(D)5739 (31%)
Yvette D. Clarke(D)4844 (26%)
Carl Andrews(D)3954 (21%)
Chris Owens(D)3579 (19%)

[via 7Online.com]:

Joy and I have now covered several more Election Districts in Park Slope. Earlier I reported how surprised I was at how few people I was finding in the North and South ends of Park Slope, finding people open to all three of the other candidates. Only in Central Slope (my neighborhood) did I find solid Yassky supporters in any numbers.

Today we spent a condiderable amount of time in Central Slope, only a couple of EDs over from the one where we found many Yassky supporters. In that ED we found not a single solid Yassky supporter. Not one. We found solid Chris supporters, undecided and lean Yassky. Each and every person we talked to was very open to considering Chris.

What we have found after being in a good dozen EDs across the Slope is that Yassky has never solidified his base in the Slope and the Slope is up for grabs.

Don't get me wrong. Never underestimate what $1.2 million can do. But so far it hasn't sewn up the Slope.

Since we've decided to use YouTube and not host these ourselves, the process becomes a bit slow (it's not just as easy as dropping the file into a server). Check this post all throughout the day for clips of Beth Elohim Temple's CD-11 Candidates' Forum.

On greatest international threat to U. S.

On greatest environmental threat

Thanks to Liza for her Manhattanite view on CD-11. Those of us who have been probably too close to it appreciate the viewpoint from someone who is more distant from the race.

Joy and I also attended the very excellent forum. As did many others from the local circuit. The crowd was clearly divided roughly in three: devoted Yassky supporters, devoted Chris supporters and those who were still trying to decide. There was a sprinkling of Clarke and Andrews supporters, probably more of the former than latter.

Let me start by stepping back from the fray a bit. The first ten minutes or so I was able to simply listen to the candidates and forget about the behind-the-scenes stuff I know about each. I was able to listen as if I were judging the candidates each as if they were up against a Republican rather than up against eachother. I think one reason I was able to do this was because earlier in the afternoon I met State Senator Thomas Duane, who was in my neighborhood helping out Velmanette Montgomery flyer my local train stop. Senator Duane and I got to chat for a few minutes. I got some great perspectives on local politics I could share, but the key thing I left with was a reminder of what it is like for our State Senators and Congressmen trying so hard to fight against a Republican Majority and how so vital it is to win BIG in NY State this November.

[via YouTube - THE DAILY GOTHAM - Carl Andrews' opening remarks]

Apologies for the bad quality of my camera and the poor quality of the clip.

If you'd like us to do better vlogging,

Last night's forum was truly fantastic.

The people of Beth Elohim Temple ought to be commended for doing such a fantastic job. I did not get the name of the moderator, but he was superb. He kept things moving and made the whole evening enjoyable, even after the fight that broke out between Owens and Yassky. And I don't care what people say but his bumbling kept things relaxed. I enjoyed myself very much.

My quick impressions?

This race is going to be decided by two factors : where does the candidate stand on the war in Iraq (along with the impeachment of George Bush and a timetable for bringing back the troops) and, of course, where they stand on the Atlantic Yards development proposal.

Which is why last night Chris Owens may had squeaked out an edge from David Yassky. This race is definitely between the two of them.

Here's more

Beware of self-selected online polls, because they have little statistical relevance. However, in the absence of published polls, they may provide snapshots of sentiment; and with that express proviso, take a look at this poll that, for me at least, is unsurprising. Here are the results as of 7:56 AM:

Carl Andrews: 13%
Yvette Clarke: 11.2%
Chris Owens: 37.2%
David Yassky: 38.6%

It's been my considered opinion for a while that the race - following Yvette Clarke's meltdown stemming from her unfortunate habit of lying about stuff - is narrowing to a horserace between Yassky on the one side and Chris Owens on the other. Andrews isn't going anywhere, caught as he is in the stench of Clarence Norman's corruption.

There are many, many methodological reasons to scoff at a poll like this one, chief among them that the universe of poll respondents is generally not comparable to the population it claims to sample. That said, this one has the ring of truth to it: Owens is likely (common sense alone would indicate that, given the fatal flaws of his opponents) the leading black candidate, up against an ocean of special-interest money.

We'll know more in a week.