A Brooklyn judge has rejected a long-time state pol’s lawsuit to knock his challenger off the ballot.
Kings County Supreme Court justice Edgar Walker — the same judge who threw out a Republican candidate’s attempt to snatch the Working Families Party line during a heated Council election last year, and who also ordered the Brooklyn Republican Party redo a contentious vote for its county chairman the year before that — ruled against state Sen. Martin Malavé Dilan (D–Bushwick), who wanted to kick Julia Salazar off the ballot for the September primary, claiming she has not lived in the district long enough.
Dilan, who has held his seat since 2003, told Brooklyn Paper Radio on Aug. 14 that he’s appealing the decision, which Salazar’s attorney says only shows the lengths Dilan is willing to go to avoid a primary, said.
“This failed lawsuit shows just how desperate Sen. Dilan is to deny voters their right to choose who they want to represent them,” said Renée Paradis. “Thanks to the court’s ruling today, voters will have the opportunity to elect a true progressive to represent them in Albany.”
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A political outsider who identifies as a “Teddy Roosevelt Republican” is challenging a state pol whose district spans both Brooklyn and Manhattan.
Manhattanite Anthony Arias, who owns two private businesses — one in government contracting and the other in financial services — wants to oust state Sen. Brian Kavanagh (D–Brooklyn Heights) in November.
Arias, who has $3,912 in his campaign coffers, according to state records — and says he did not vote for President Trump — said he has no relationship with Kings County’s only Republican state senator Marty Golden, but is now working his way around the Brooklyn side of the district knocking on doors and meeting his would-be constituents before the election.
Arias, who says he disagrees with how Kavanagh got elected after Brooklyn’s Democratic Party boss, Frank Seddio, negotiated a back-room deal last September, says his campaign is focused on mitigating chaos from the looming L train closure, affordable housing, and the cleanup of Newtown Creek.
Arias will face Kavanagh, who has $174,975 in his war chest, in November for the general election in a district that overwhelmingly leans to the left.
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The Army veteran and Democratic nominee for the Bay Ridge congressional seat has left the campaign trail for military training.
On Aug. 5, candidate Max Rose — who won the Democratic primary in June and now goes on to face Rep. Dan Donovan (R–Bay Ridge) in November — left on Aug. 5 for two weeks of training with the National Guard, during which time he’s forbidden from campaigning, talking to the press, engaging on social media, or raising money for his political bid.
But Rose said his sense of duty to his fellow soldiers meant it was an easy decision to make.
“Serving in the Army and now the Guard has been an incredible honor, and I would never put the campaign before my fellow soldiers,” said Rose, a Purple Heart recipient. “In fact, the problem with Congress today is that politicians are putting their re-elections ahead of our country, and that’s not who I am.”
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The Democratic state Senate candidate challenging a sitting pol who once caucused with the Republicans as part of the now-defunct Independent Democratic Conference picked up a major endorsement last week when Mayor DeBlasio threw his support behind him.
Hizzoner announced he is backing Zellnor Myrie in his campaign to oust state Sen. Jesse Hamilton (D–Crown Heights) on Aug. 8, saying Myrie is the candidate the district needs, who won’t turn his back on his constituents — just a few weeks after Hamilton allegedly sent out a slanderous e-mail about an Albany colleague after she also threw her support behind his challenger.
“This is a time for bold, progressive change,” said DeBlasio. “With Zellnor Myrie in the state Senate, what you see is what you will get — a committed progressive who will fight for working people from his first day in office. We need to elect Zellnor to hold a true Democratic majority in the state Senate. A fairer future for Central Brooklyn depends on it.”