Cuomo cans special election for Bushwick
council seat, infuriating progressives
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
Gov. Andrew Cuomo cancelled
the June 23 special election
for the 37th Council District
seat in Bushwick via executive
order on April 25, provoking
criticism from progressive pols
who said the race was rigged in
favor of a party favorite.
“This is by far the most blatant
anti-democratic power
grab,” said candidate Sandy
Nurse in a statement. “Unless
Mayor de Blasio steps in to enforce
the City Charter and the
court agrees, there will only be
one candidate left on the ballot.
That is not democracy.”
Nurse was vying for the seat
against local district leader
Darma Diaz, who has the support
of the both Brooklyn Democratic
Party leader Rodneyse Bichotte
and former Councilman
Rafael Espinal, who abruptly
vacated the position in January
to take on a new gig heading the
Freelancers Union.
There were initially two separate
elections on two separate
dates — a non-partisan special
TO NOMINATE GO TO
18 COURIER LIFE, MAY 1-7, 2020
election to fi ll the seat immediately
that was slated to take
place on April 28, and a primaries
on June 23 to nominate a
candidate for the general election
in November.
The winner of the special
election would have served as
the district’s Council member
until January, when the winner
of the June and November
elections would have taken
over to serve the remainder of
Espinal’s term until the end of
2021.
In an effort to limit the
amount of times Brooklynites
headed to the voting booth in
the middle of the pandemic,
Cuomo initially moved the special
election to coincide with
the June 23 Council primary
and the now-canceled presidential
nominating contest.
Now, Cuomo decided to take
another turn, axing the special
election entirely, thereby simplifying
the ballot for voters —
while also kicking insurgents
out of the race.
Since Nurse only made the
ballot for the special and not the
primary election, that move effectively
removes her from the
contest and results in Diaz running
unopposed in the primary
and being all but guaranteed a
victory in the heavily-blue district
in November.
Cuomo’s decision to cancel
the Bushwick Council primary
on April 24 came a full day after
he called off other special elections,
like the race for Queens
borough president. Why Cuomo
waited an additional 24 hours
to nix the Brooklyn race is unclear,
and Cuomo’s press offi
ce did not return a request for
comment to clarify.
Without a special election,
the district — which also
stretches into Cypress Hills,
Brownsville, Ocean Hill, and
East New York — will go without
a dedicated legislative representative
for almost a year
from when Espinal resigned.
Council Speaker Corey
Johnson will continue to manage
the district for the rest of
2020, but Nurse — in a statement
signed by a host of progressive
electeds and political
clubs — accused Cuomo of depriving
a predominantly black
and Hispanic area of having a
full-time rep in the city legislature.
“By canceling the special
election yesterday, the governor
is saying that a high needs
African-American and Latino
community should lack representation
for nearly a full year,”
she said.
Diaz said Cuomo’s decision
came as a surprise but she supported
it. The district leader
was previously eager to get the
seat fi lled as soon as possible so
that the neighborhoods would
have a representative.
However, the politico claimed
that voters could be confused
by having to vote twice for the
same offi ce on the same day and
that — if they choose to vote by
mail — sending in two different
ballot sheets would further risk
spreading the virus.
“It was hard to explain that
it was two elections in one day
— that eliminated confusion
about that,” Diaz said. “If we
can wait till January 1 and save
one life, I want to save one life.”
“This is by far the most blatant,
anti-democratic power grab.”
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