Brooklyn, NY – Lopez Strengthens His ‘Vito’ Power with ‘Loyal’ Lackeys

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    Brooklyn, NY – Democratic Party Chairman Vito Lopez has made a controversial move to bolster his own power base by packing an obscure, but powerful, state committee with unelected loyalists.

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    Lopez, who is also a longtime assemblyman from Bushwick, has appointed five “at large” state committeemen to an otherwise elected body that is comprised of two “district leaders” from each assembly district in the state.

    Lopez filled the new spots with longtime supporters, including former Assemblyman Frank Seddio (D-Bergen Beach) and state Sen. Martin Dilan (D-Bushwick).

    As a result of Lopez’s secret move, one longtime critic of the chairman who was planning to run for re-election as district leader dropped out of the race immediately.

    “These [at-large committeemen] have been put in place to dilute our position,” said Alan Fleishman, who has represented Brownstone Brooklyn for eight years and was just ramping up his re-election race against Stephen Williamson, a newcomer who is backed by Lopez.

    “It was bad enough that [Lopez] had complete control over every single move, but now there are five more seats loyal to him,” Fleishman added. “There’s really no democracy under Vito. It’s always been his way or the highway, but now you can’t even fight it because he’ll win every vote.”

    Lopez’s move to pack the state committee with loyalists needed the blessing of federal Department of Justice because Brooklyn’s history of electoral discrimination puts the county under ongoing federal oversight. Lopez has said he received the blessing last week, though that assertion could not be verified before our deadline.

    District leaders are unpaid party officials responsible for collecting candidate petition signatures, finding viable judicial candidates and hiring poll workers on Election Day, but their main job is selecting the party’s county chairman — a post that Lopez apparently wants to keep.

    As a result, this year’s contests are turning into a desperate battle for the soul of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party, with loyalists to Lopez squaring off against longtime incumbents, and insurgents preparing to pick off Lopez-backed incumbents. For example:

    • In the neighboring 50th Assembly District, for example, Lincoln Restler of the progressive New Kings Democrats, has challenged longtime district leader, and Lopez supporter, Steve Cohn. It now appears that Cohn has dropped out of that race in hopes of having his son succeed him.

    • And in the same district as Fleishman, another Lopez-backed newcomer, Hope Reichbach, is challenging anti-Lopez district leader Jo Anne Simon.

    • In Bay Ridge, Kevin Peter Carroll is savaging longtime leader Ralph Perfetto on the campaign trail, saying that Perfetto is too close to Lopez.

    Lopez wants to retain his job so badly that he’s stacking the deck in his favor, some say.

    “Nobody cares about [district leader] jobs except Vito,” said Restler.

    Fleishman’s departure from the race does not mean that Williamson has an easy path to victory. Former Council candidates Bob Zuckerman and Gary Reilly, former Congressional candidate Chris Owens and attorney Jesse Strauss have also said they are interested.


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    8 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    I have never seen such a curropted person in my life

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    we jews need to get this lopez out of the way

    kings county hillhorse
    kings county hillhorse
    13 years ago

    these developments are good for the political climate here in our midts. we welcome more VIN news in this regards.

    Ben
    Ben
    13 years ago

    “The Twisted World of Vito Lopez or how they say in Hungarian “LOPAT” ” is the eleventh episode of the the Cat with 9 lives that Vito had till now. But I think that this is it, now he has shown his true colors that he only cares about his ass not the constituents .

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Burich HaShem. He’s a good man, he loves ALL men, and is a man for true justice.

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Vito is in fact a very nice person on a personal level.but like ALL politicians ruthless with his political enemies

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    13 years ago

    Vito Low-Pez, kishmoi kein hi,