The Machinery Went To Work In Queens Yesterday

While we were all watching the returns of South Dakota and Montana, the speeches of McCain (if you can call it that), Clinton and Obama and the announcement of the Democratic nominee...the machine in Queens quietly hummed. A little over 7,600 people showed up for the special election in the 30th Council District and they split their votes mostly even between the establishment candidates and the ex-Councilman that occupied the seat. Charles Ober, the man who was worked for and in the community, endorsed by the Times and the progressive community barely got ten percent of the vote.

From The Daily Politics:

With 100 percent of the vote in, it appears the Republicans have just barely managed to hold on to the 30th CD seat that used to belong to former Councilman Dennis Gallagher, maintaining their three-member conference.

The unofficial results, according to the city Board of Elections, are as follows:

Anthony Como: 2,352, 31.71 percent.

Elizabeth Crowley: 2,282, 30.77 percent.

Thomas Ognibene: 2,031, 27.38 percent.

Charles Ober: 752, 10.14

UPDATE: There are 196 valid absentee ballots so far, according to board spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez-Rivera, and they can be received by the board up until next Tuesday.

I doubt 196 ballots can turn it for Crowley and it certainly won't help Ober or Ognibene. The two top vote-getters were the people the local committees were pushing. So with the split on the left, Como barely got a victory and maintains the three seat hold that Republicans have in the Democratic-dominated Council.