Diamondstone Will Run For City Council

Only a few short weeks since Ken Diamondstone bowed out of the SD-25 race to make way for challenger Daniel Squadron. Now he is diving right back in to the political action of Brooklyn by announcing his run for the 33rd Council District. The seat is currently held by David Yassky, but he is being term-limited out. Diamondstone will face quite a bit of competition with several candidates having already announced their intentions for CD-33. However, as Azi points out, things are looking good for Ken here in the Williamsburg/Greenpoint/DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights area.

From The Observer:

In the announcement, Diamondstone’s campaign said he will “make history by becoming Brooklyn’s first openly gay representative to any legislative body in New York State.”

He has reason to believe he can do it.

When he ran for State Senate in 2006, Diamondstone was seeking to represent a district that covers lower Manhattan and portions of Brooklyn. Diamondstone lost the Manhattan portion of the district to Connor by 2,163 votes, but he carried the Brooklyn portion by 1,384 votes.

The 33rd Council district overlaps with that area of Brooklyn.

With all of the good things Ken has done for his neighborhood and all of Brooklyn, voters will certainly recall his good name when they cast their ballots next year. The announcement was just made this morning, so there is no Council campaign site up yet, but you can still check him out at the original Diamondstone for Senate site.

Diamondstone Out In Senate District 25?

The race against Senator Marty Connor in Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn is about to change shape again, as Ken Diamondstone (who lost to Connor in the primary two years ago) is about to drop out, leaving the primary challenging ground solely to up and coming Dan Squadron. Ken did look to be in good spirits at DfNYC's Meet and Greet for Council candidates Josh Skaller and Steve Behar. Though he wasn't making any speeches, he was still announced as a candidate. Now according to press reports, that will be a thing of the past as the community organization wagons begin to close around Squadron.

From Gay City:

One nagging concern for Squadron and Working Families, however, has been the possibility that WFP's 2006 candidate, Ken Diamondstone, an out gay housing developer from Brooklyn, might once again enter the contest. Defeating an incumbent is difficult enough without having to split the opposition vote in two, Connor's opponents reason. In 2006, Connor beat back Diamondstone's challenge by more than ten percent.

According to Dan Cantor, who heads up WFP, Diamondstone, who did not respond to Gay City News' request for comment, was prepared as of April 9 to formally announce he would not make the race. Though his reasons are not known, Schumer's decision to back Squadron may not have been the only factor.

As he considered a run, Diamondstone sought indications of support from the Lambda Independent Democrats, a Brooklyn gay political club on whose board he sits. His efforts were opposed, however, by Daniel Tietz, a former LID president. Late last week, in an email that ran to nearly 1,900 words, Tietz laid out his rationale for why the club should support Squadron and not Diamondstone. Noting that Squadron is a serious candidate who is mounting a strong challenge - having already raised in excess of $200,000 from more than 350 donors - Tietz alluded to the fact that Diamondstone has run unsuccessfully in three past races. He also presented data from other primary contests demonstrating that even incumbents who lose typically don't fall below 40 percent of the total vote.

So if the Working Families Party endorsement and Chuck Schumer's non-endorsement endorsement weren't enough, this adds even more pressure for Diamondstone to step aside. Ken is still a great asset to the community and does a lot for New York City, but ultimately we want to take back the Senate....not only from Republicans but all long-term cronies like Marty Connor.

UPDATE (4/10 4:35PM): That non-endorsement endorsement is now officially an endorsement.