Three years ago Marlene Tapper was one of two challengers against incumbent city councilman Hiram Monseratte; she came in second in that race. It was for the 21st council district (Queens). The following year Hiram challenged incumbent John Sabini for the 13th senatorial district, he was turned back. Marlene worked the streets very hard against Hiram and Sabini prevailed. The margin of victory was about three hundred votes. Marlene was rewarded with a job on Sabini’s staff.
The relationship between Ms.Tapper and Mr. Sabini went south very early. She said he fired her; and he said she walked off the job. She said that Hiram Monseratte also contributed to her firing. You see he had lodged a formal complaint against her, based on some frivolous bullshit that his staffers claimed she said, at a supposedly public meeting that never actually took place. Ms. Tapper says that Sabini took it much too seriously.
You see Ms.Tapper had the audacity to support Barack Obama, against the wishes of her boss Sabini -who supported Hillary Clinton. That didn’t help an already strained relationship. After the dust-up, she considered entering the race for the 13th SD (after all: payback is a bitch). However, Hiram was coming back to challenge Sabini, and since Tapper didn’t want to be responsible for either’s demise or success, so she decided to run for the 34th Assembly District instead, challenging a 32 year incumbent (Ivan Lafayette).
Of note in all these maneuverings is the fact that the demographics of this area has been changing steadily over the past decade; both of these districts are now what they call: “majority minority”. White voters have steadily been replaced by mainly Hispanics and Asians over time. A black woman like Tapper had a puncher’s chance of pulling off an upset in one of these districts, once she is capable of running an effective campaign. Lafayette’s base had eroded and he was vulnerable.
Relative to the senate seat: John Sabini took a job with Governor Paterson; this left Hiram Monseratte without a primary challenger. More than likely Hiram will be the next state senator from Elmhurst, Queens. More than likely there will be a run off for his council seat next February. That should be fun; expect a large field.
On the streets of the 34th AD, there were rumors abounding that the incumbent hadn’t lived in the district for years, plus many were feeling the need for a change from the same old same old. Many voters felt estranged from the incumbent, and as I said: the demographics had changed over 32 years. Many said that the district had been neglected for a long time. There was a suspicion that a residency challenge would be lodged against one Connecticut address or the other, and that this could be embarrassing for the incumbent. Ms. Tapper filed over 2000 signatures with the Board of Elections, only needing 500 to qualify for the ballot. She seemed certain to make the ballot for this upcoming primary.
A few days ago, Ivan Lafayette bailed out from running for re-election. He too took a job with Governor Patterson, for more money than he made as what some say he was: an absentee assemblyman. So you would think that Ms. Tapper was home free, right? Wrong. The Queen’s county political machine is now substituting Lafayette’s chief of staff (a white female) for his name on the ballot, and they are also going firmly after Ms. Tapper’s signatures. Welcome to hardball.
And so the question now is this: can Ms. Tapper find her way to Albany despite all these happenings? Tell Cousin Rocky what you think. And stay tuned-in folks.