The New York primary ended today, and it brought a squeaker of a win that should be celebrated by all reform-minded progressives. What's that you say? The primary was held last week? True, but one race that you never heard of stood at a 20-vote margin after the absentees were counted. A recount was held this week, and the final tally confirmed the original outcome.
Why should you care? Because a couple of kids, really, a few years out of school, took on a real machine politician, longtime Assemblyman Vito Lopez, and defeated his chosen candidates. Together, Lincoln Restler and Kate Zidar can start bringing real reform to Brooklyn's politics and support the kind of grass-roots organizing they tried to bring during and after the Obama Presidential campaign.
Why am I telling you this? Because Lincoln's part of my extended family. I had the pleasure of seeing this extraordinary young man grow up. I'm thrilled for him -- and you should be excited, too, because he's really one of the good guys. He's got a very bright future, and I know he represents "Change You Can Believe In".
The race? For State Committee, commonly known as District Leader -- in New York's 50th Assembly District -- the Fort Greene and Williamsburg sections of Brooklyn. Actually it's 2 unpaid Democratic Party positions -- one male and one female, running as a slate -- in each Assembly district. Together, the 42 State Committeepersons determine the Party's Borough leader, endorse judicial candidates and other candidates for local offices, and represent Brooklyn at the Party Conventions.
I know "insurgent" campaigns are all the rage this campaign season, but this one has real authentic roots and we should all applaud the victory. Here's the background story on this race, reported more fully last month in a Village Voice article, in a nutshell:
After the election, two local Obama organizers had a lunch meeting with Assemblyman Lopez to discuss their ambitious plans to create a more permanent grass-roots structure with a group they were starting known as the New Kings Democrats. They had a plan to grow a new generation of "small d" democratic Democratic Party leaders. The Assemblyman responded testily, calling the two Obama organizers "gentrifiers and newcomers", who weren't going to tell him "how to run the Party". His chief of staff suggested that the group members get involved in community-planning boards. The organizers said many in the group already were board members. Lopez insisted these people were not telling the truth about that. At this point, the organizers, now feeling very disillusioned and ambushed, got up and ended the meeting.
Assemblyman Lopez, who is also the Party's County/Borough Chairman has a well-earned reputation for jealously guarding the perquisites of his power. He boastfully showed his true colors to the New Kings Democrats and made some real enemies that day.
What kind of guy is Assemblyman Vito Lopez. A couple of days ago, the NY Post ran an expose on him (yeah, I know it's the Post, but they've got a tape). The story is based on recording of a conversation Lopez had with some elderly Hispanic female constituents about a judicial candidate he was backing. On the tape, Lopez explains he's backing his candidate, Ricardo Velasquez, to "balance" the power of the Hasidic Jewish community in nearby Williamsburg.
Lopez explained the ladies' support was crucial in the power-play between the local Hispanic and Hasidic Jewish communities.
"If no one respects my leadership, how do I fight the Hasidim?"
According to the Post,
"Lopez uses strong-arm tactics, repeatedly mentioning two upcoming taxpayer-funded trips he hosts, suggesting only supporters can go.
"I want to take people on the trip who really don't like me?" he says. "I mean, that's stupid, right? That's what I'm trying to say."
Following their calamitous meeting with Lopez, the New Kings Democrats (Brooklyn, a borough, is also Kings County), determined they needed to break Lopez' stranglehold on political power in Brooklyn, which he'd been using to reward family, friends and other cronies with all sorts of goodies, including judicial nominations. One chosen battleground: The State Committee race in a district adjoining Lopez' own 53rd district. The New Kings Democrats put up Lincoln Restler and his running mate, Kate Zidar, to challenge the Lopez-backed ticket led by Warren Cohn. According to the Voice story, Cohn's father, Steve, had held the position for 27 years, and leveraged it to get personal appointments form the judges he helped elect.
The New Kings Democrats also ran a direct challenger for Lopez' own State Committee position in the 53rd District. After surviving legal challenges by Lopez to get him thrown off the ballot, the challenger, Esteban Duran was trounced by the party boss on Primary Day.
The Restler/Zidar ticket, however, had a lot going for it, not least of which was the considerable personable appeal of Lincoln and his family. Let me tell you something about Lincoln and his family.
Lincoln's mother is my aunt's niece. Not a blood relative, since my aunt is a relative by marriage to my uncle, but family nonetheless. Susan Restler is as charming, positive and personable a woman as you'll ever meet, and has a smile that is infectious. She comes from a very accomplished family -- her father is a physician who became the first Jewish Cabinet minister in Quebec and had a central role planning the Montreal Summer Olympics; one brother is a noted lawyer and her other brother has served as publisher of leading newspapers in Montreal and Toronto. Susan's resume might not be as impressive, but when you meet her you can't help but be impressed with her poise and formidable intelligence. She raised her two kids in Brooklyn (Can Canadians have anchor babies?). Lincoln and his sister Victoria are as funny and as genuinely nice as anyone I've ever known. You can't help but like them, and you can't help but be impressed with them, too. In addition to her charm, the kids have also inherited their mother's considerable intellect, and maybe then some.
Lincoln, either unconsciously or not, has affected the nerdy, serious look of another son of Brooklyn, Al Franken. He wears the black horn-rimmed glasses that Al was famous for wearing on early SNL episodes, and he shares the Senator's wit and his deep devotion to progressive causes. He's been deeply involved in his community as a volunteer. He's also made a real mark in his brief professional career. He worked at the NYC Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic Development Initiative, a community and economic development program focused on generating economic opportunity in Brooklyn's infamous Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. Currently, he works in New York City's at the NYC Office of Financial Empowerment, where he is a Program Officer for Asset-Building and Financial Services.
Lincoln's campaign was always a long-shot, but his earnestness, sincerity and fundamental decency won a lot of converts to his cause. Rep. Nydia Velazquez endorsed his candidacy, as did several City Councilmembers. The New York media and blogosphere took notice, with the Village Voice article being just one example. The New York Times' local Fort Greene blog also covered the race. So did the New York Observer and Brooklyn's own The Brooklyn Paper. Perhaps the most impressive article was run by the NY Daily News, which featured Lincoln as part of a vanguard -- a new breed of reform candidates, "inspired by Obama".
In the end, though, even with all the favorable notices, Lincoln won by just 120 votes. I'd bet every one of those was hard-won by his doting parents who knocked on a lot of doors. I'm glad that, despite Lincoln's similarities to Al Franken, this recount won't drag out for months. Congratulations, Lincoln. Well-done, Restlers.
Keep an eye out for -- and an eye on -- this young man. I have a hunch he's going to do some great things for the people of Brooklyn. A real democrat grows in Brooklyn.