Anyone investigating the power of incumbency in New York State has a new case study.
Although state Sen. Martin Connor, who has represented Brooklyn Heights since 1978, faced a spirited challenger who outspent him nearly four-to-one and had the endorsement of the New York Times, he still won by 10 percent.
“We spent the retirement money,” said the challenger, Ken Diamondstone, who loaned his campaign most of the estimated $600,000 he spent to pick up 8,910 votes (that’s $67 per vote, by the way).
“Taking on an entrenched incumbent is hard.”
Naturally, Connor had a different post-mortem.
“Ken did well in his Brooklyn base,” said Connor. “But I have 30 public housing projects in my district, and voters there know me for a long time.”
The race was a mudbath from the start, when Connor — one of the state’s top election lawyers — challenged Diamondstone’s candidacy on the grounds that the challenger didn’t live in the district for the required one year. When the court ruled against Connor, he appealed it, draining Diamondstone of key resources.
Diamondstone then put out a series of mailings — at least two with egregious errors about Connor’s voting record.
Connor’s support in the larger Manhattan portion of the district, plus a landslide in the Hasidic community in Williamsburg, ultimately carried the election for him.
“Ken ran on the ‘Brownstone’ issues like Brooklyn Bridge Park, but it’s a diverse district,” Connor said.
Diamondstone’s spin: “Connor had the Lower East Side locked up, thanks to [Assembly Speaker] Shelly Silver, who controls the clubs down there,” he said.
