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.

Election Day In Queens Today

Most of the national media will be focused on South Dakota and Montana today, but here in the five boroughs, there is a special election in the 30th Council District (Ridgewood, Middle Village, Glendale) to replace the disgraced Dennis Gallagher who made a deal to resign so that he wouldn't have to face a full trial that included an alleged rape. Now that he's gone and whittled the Republican delegation in the 51 seat body down to two, Democrats are looking get that much closer to a one party Council.

From The NYT City Room:

Most of the Democratic establishment in the borough is supporting Elizabeth S. Crowley, a developer of educational programs for nonprofit agencies. Ms. Crowley ran for the Council seat in 2001 and lost to Mr. Gallagher.

She is a cousin of United States Representative Joseph Crowley, the Democratic Party chairman in Queens. She is also the daughter of Walter and Mary Crowley, each of whom once represented many of the same Queens neighborhoods in the City Council.

Meanwhile, the candidate who is also considered to be highly formidable is Thomas V. Ognibene, who was Mr. Gallagher’s predecessor in the Council, having served from 1992 until 2001, when he was barred by term limits from running for re-election. He was also the Republican leader of the Council.

Another candidate is Anthony Como, a former Queens assistant district attorney and commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections. He is also a longtime aide to State Senator Serphin R. Maltese, a Republican. Mr. Como has been endorsed by the Republican Party organization in Queens.

The fourth candidate is Charles J. Ober, a financial executive and community activist who has worked on neighborhood initiatives against prostitution and graffiti.

The NY Times and many community activists Charles Ober and for many good reasons. Not only does Ober challenge the establishment (something that is going on all over the place) but has proven himself in his neighborhood and will do a great job representing the 30th CD.