An insurgent candidate for the 46th Assembly District’s female leader slot is finding out just how hard it is to buck the Democratic machine in southern Brooklyn.
Jeannie May, a registered nurse who moved to Bay Ridge from Texas by way of Wisconsin in 1999, decided to challenge incumbent Delia Schack, who also chairs the Shorefront Democratic Club.
The position is unpaid, but carries clout in terms of hiring election workers and other patronage jobs.
The 46th Assembly District includes Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Sea Gate, Dyker Heights and Bay Ridge.
May said she submitted 774 signatures to the Board of Elections to run in the September primary and only 500 signatures are required.
She was surprised to find Schack challenged her petition.
Schack said she submitted about 5,000 signatures on her petition, which also included the names of incumbent candidates running in the primary.
Collecting signatures for party-endorsed candidates is part of the district leader’s job, Schack explained.
Among the incumbents she collected signatures for were Rep. Jerrold Nadler, State Senators Diane Savino and Carl Kruger, and Assemblymember Alec Brook-Krasny.
But May contends that the district needs to be shaken up, and that too many decisions on who is running occur in back rooms behind closed doors.
“Like many of my neighbors and colleagues, I am fed up with the ‘business as usual’ of politics,” said May.
“My decision to run for office has been based on the frustration that is shared with so many in my community that has led to a distrust of the system with many opting out of voting entirely,” she added.
May said almost all the names she collected came from going door to door, standing outside places of worship and attending meetings about the fate of Coney Island.
In the end, May said that perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the names she collected are not registered Democrats who reside in the district as mandated to get on the ballot.
That still leaves over the 500 signatures, she said.
“I ask my opponent to withdraw her challenge and let the people decide who would better serve their interests,” she said.
But Schack, who was first elected district leader in 2003, said challenging petitions is also part of the process and by her count, May collected only 438 good signatures.
There were at least 50 signatures taken mostly on the Coney Island Boardwalk that came from Russian-Americans living in Starrett City,” said Schack.
Schack said other signatures on May’s petition came from Bay Ridge where many residents are registered as Conservative or Republicans, making them ineligible for the September Democratic Primary.
The Board of Elections is expected to make its decision late next week.
