: The Race Is On: Some Surprises As Boro Political Season Begin

In the nervous spring leading to an election year, speculative chattering about possible candidates often fills political backrooms and newspaper columns. But come July, when petitions and campaign finance reports are due, rumors become either reality or hype as candidates must make their intentions official.

Election filings for Queens races mostly went as expected over the past week, but were not without a few surprises. Although more than half of the state Senate and Assembly races will be uncontested this fall, a handful of districts have competitions that will be, if not competitive, than at least interesting to watch.

10th Senatorial District

In the face of fresh allegations of misconduct, state Sen. Ada Smith (D-Jamaica) prepares to defend her seat against a field of three Democratic challengers – Liz Goldsmith, Shirley Huntley, and former Councilman Allan Jennings – in what promises to be a clash of eccentric community characters.

While Goldsmith and Huntley declared their intentions months ago, Jennings’ plans remained unclear until he filed his petitions to appear on the Democratic ballot line. He had made inquiries into receiving the Republican Party nomination, but those attempts were quickly quashed, with the honor instead going to perpetual candidate Jereline Hunter.

During a brief phone call Monday, Jennings said he was too busy to speak at the moment. He did not return several subsequent calls for comment.

Jennings was the sole City Council incumbent to lose his seat last fall, being beaten by former councilman Tom White. He gained a notorious reputation after being accused of sexual harassment and censured by his colleagues for ethical violations.

“His track record speaks for itself. Jennings was rejected by the voters last year, and he’ll be rejected by voters again,” said Evan Stavisky, a consultant for The Parkside Group, which helps run the campaign for Smith and other Queens Democrats. “His shocking and bizarre behavior in front of the Council is clear.”

Smith recently has dealt with accusations over inappropriate behavior of her own, and she is scheduled to appear before a court this week to answer allegations that she threw hot coffee in an employee’s face. In the wake of the allegations several months ago, Smith was stripped of her leadership position and several legislative privileges.

Stavisky said the recent controversy would not deter her campaign to win her 10th term in office. “Sen. Smith’s constituents are more concerned about improving schools and expanding access to healthcare than about a bunch of nonsense in Albany papers,” he said.

Smith collected about 6,000 petition signatures, roughly twice the amount collected by any of her opponents.

Goldsmith, an outspoken anti-gun activist, said her experience collecting and filing petitions made her disillusioned with the political process. She believes former advisor Farhoo Samoo, who left her campaign after a financial disagreement, and others may have tampered with her petitions after they were turned in.

“A lot of people are playing games, and this is not a game I will be a part of,” Goldsmith said. “You never know. People plant people everywhere. It’s really sad that you have to go through this.”

13th Senatorial District

In what may be the Queens’ most competitive race, state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) and challenger Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona) have both kicked their campaigns into high gear, generating impressive amounts of campaign funds and petition signatures.

Both campaigns filed more than 10,000 signatures – 10 times the required amount – which political analysts described as particularly high for a local district race. Although candidates often exceed requirements to avoid petition challenges, these candidates are using their results to give the appearance of early support in the election, political insiders said.

Since announcing his candidacy little more than a month ago, Monserrate has already raised about $195,000 for his senate run, with roughly $128,000 still on hand. His fundraising actually has outpaced Sabini’s, who has raised $145,000 since the beginning of the year, with $91,000 still on hand.

“I am honored to receive such strong support from my community,” Monserrate said.

Stavisky said Sabini has faced a primary challenge in every election since the district was created in 2001, managing to consistently win by 15-20 percentage points. As for dirty campaigning – of which Monserrate already has accused his opponent – Stavisky said Sabini intends to keep it clean.

“He’s going to keep running the same positive, issue-oriented campaign that he is known for,” he said.

15th Senatorial District

Although State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Glendale) will face challengers in both the Republican primary and the general election – against Bartholomew Bruno and Albert Baldeo, respectively – his opponents don’t seem to worry him. In fact, the 17-year incumbent says he has never laid eyes on either of them.

“These people who feel they don’t have to have a civic or community background to run in an election, I just don’t understand it,” Maltese said.

But that attitude hasn’t stopped his opponents from being a nuisance to Maltese, challenging the 3,500 signatures he submitted for the Republican ballot line and the 174 for the Conservative ballot line.

Baldeo, who collected just more than 4,000 signatures, said it was suspicious that a public notary verified many of Maltese’s signatures.

But Maltese said that his Albany staff members, several of whom are notaries, helped collect only about 200 signatures.

Both Bruno and Bart Haggerty, a Republican who has attacked Maltese’s party leadership, have also challenged the petitions of other candidates aligned with the Republican state Senator, including Dolores Maddis, a candidate against Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), and incumbent Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio (D-Richmond Hill).

This dissent among Republicans could open the door for a Democrat to steal victory, Baldeo said. “Many Republicans are dissatisfied with the games he has played and lack of forthrightness and principles about how he dealt with people.”

Baldeo finished a distant third in a heated Democratic primary last fall for Jennings’ council seat. During the election, he was accused of pulling a gun on the wife of an opponent.

“These people are absolutely irresponsible. They are loose cannons,” Maltese said. “To hell with it, it’s the system. We’ll just have to go through the process.”

22nd Assembly District

The race to fill the seat of Assemblyman Jimmy Meng (D-Flushing), who decided to forgo re-election, has shaped up as expected: candidates Ellen Young, Grace Meng, Terence Park and Julia Harrison all submitted petitions to reach the Democratic ballot. But Young and Meng have started to emerge as the most prominent players.

With the support of the Queens County Democratic organization, Young has racked up an early fundraising lead with $252,000, about as much as the other three candidates combined. She has also received endorsements from most elected officials in the area, including Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) and Borough President Helen Marshall.

Grace Meng has been working the district hard, however, collecting 5,750 petition signatures, almost twice as many as Young. She still trails Young in fundraising by nearly $100,000.

Meng, the daughter of the current Assemblyman, also received the endorsement of the Working Families Party and several labor unions.

Former councilwoman Harrison has only raised $31,862, of which she personally donated $8,500. Park, while generating a respectable campaign war chest, has not been able to gain traction outside the Korean community, political insiders said.

Stavisky, a spokesman for Young, said their campaign currently was focused on educating the public about his candidate. As the campaign progresses, however, they may engage another candidate who separates themselves from the field.

25th Assembly District

After much speculation, longtime Democrat Morshed Alam has filed to for both the Democratic and Republican petitions for his race against Democratic organization candidate Rory Lancman.

Alam has been interestingly close to state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) after running to defeat him in 1998. Earlier this year, Padavan said he would seek his party’s ballot line for Alam, saying he was an excellent candidate.

Alam had been reluctant to talk about the possibility of running as a Republican, and even after officially receiving the nomination, still argues that his focus remains winning the Democratic primary.

“I don’t think about that,” Alam said. “My first priority is the primary now, working on that.”

Lancman said the move, which could pit him against Alam twice, once in the primary and again in the general election, smacked of desperation and opportunism.

“Now more than ever, Democratic voters are looking for strong Democrat,” Lancman said. “Primary voters want to see a committed Democrat as their nominee, not an opportunist.”