In less than three years time, a democratic primary winner in Brooklyn will most likely become the borough’s next president. History shows that all of Brooklyn’s Borough presidents were white men (you can correct me if I am inaccurate); but is this about to change? Given the potency of Brooklyn’s black primary-vote, any viable black candidate in the upcoming race for this office will have a serious chance of winning; especially when you consider the victories of black judicial candidates in borough-wide races, over the past five judicial primaries in Kings County. With that in mind, let’s examine the possible black candidates in the upcoming primary.
Recently-in a surprising move that is sure to raise eyebrows- NYS Assembly-member Noah (Nick) Perry stated that he was intent on filing a committee with the NYC Campaign Finance Board, as a precursor to a run for this office. The last time we saw Nick, he was running for the vacated 11th Congressional District seat, as the fourth black candidate in the race, against one white candidate (David Yassky). Fortunately for Yvette Clarke, Perry withdrew from the running, since he was hitting at the same Caribbean-American voting-bloc that Yvette was counting on for victory. This time around, Nick expects to be the only candidate in the borough president race with umbilical links to the Carib-Am voting base; this could be helpful to his chances.
In political circles it has been rumored for some time now, that State Senator Velmanette Montgomery has designs on this race also; so too has Charles Barron of the NY City Council. Lately, Barron has been talking about challenging (again) for the 10th Congressional District in 2008. Even if he were to lose again in that race, it doesn’t preclude him from running back to back (2008 and 2009), given his tenacity and audacity. Montgomery, who successfully turned back the challenge of former city councilmember Tracey Boyland in the last primary, has good support amongst progressive-whites living in downtown Brooklyn; this could be helpful to her chances.
And then there is Leticia (Tish) James. Rumor has it that her eyes are really on the 10th Congressional also, but not before the initial rumors had her running for the borough presidency. It is said that Tish and Velmanette will not contest the same seat together-given their friendship- and as such we can expect a deal between these two. Note also that James is in a great position to become the first black speaker of the city council; this race is not crucial to her future political aspirations.
The latent players in all this are both NYC councilmember Al Vann and NYS assembly member Annette Robinson. Vann-who unsuccessfully ran for this office in 1985- is going to be term limited (out of office) in 3 years; what he does then is left to be seen. Many are hoping that he retires, but he just may want to fuck with everything by injecting himself as a player in this race. If he does that, then expect him to be pushing his ally Robinson for the seat, much stronger than he pushed her for county leader of the Dems.
The other viable players on the horizon, such as Darryl Towns, Kendall Stewart (who may just mess with/ challenge Nick Perry in 2008), Junior Boyland, John Sampson (DA race/again), Diane Gordon (expect her to be running from other prisoners soon), Eric Adams, Hakeem Jeffries, Kevin Parker, Roger Green, Darlene Mealy (who most everyone in politics claims to be an air head/ I am just telling you what I am hearing folks; I don’t know her well enough to make that claim) and Rev. Camara, all seem inclined to not enter this race. Beyond the elected officials, there are no black district leaders with the pre-requisite stature that makes this race enticing; likewise, any black activist/ personality in Brooklyn. Even Al Sharpton doesn’t fit; neither does Roy Hastick from the Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce.
What could be adversarial to the hopes and aspirations of blacks in Brooklyn (relative to this seat) however, will be the emergence of a Latino candidate which is not beyond the realm of possibility. If this occurs, then the chance of a black winning this race instantly diminishes.
Stay tuned-in folks.