Vote smart
Democrats in four newly drawn congressional districts go to the polls on Tuesday in four competitive primary elections that are certain to decide who heads to Washington in January. Here is a recapitulation of the Daily News’ endorsements:
The 8th District includes Howard Beach and Ozone Park in Queens and in Brooklyn all or parts of Sheepshead Bay, Canarsie, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Marine Park, Manhattan Beach, Brighton Beach, Coney Island, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill, Bushwick, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and downtown Brooklyn. The News urgently recommends HAKEEM JEF
FRIES, an assemblyman who distinguished himself as one of Albany’s smartest lawmakers.
Born and raised in Crown Heights, Jeffries carved out a career as an an attorney at a top law firm, served a prestigious clerkship with a federal judge and had a successful private-sector stint before entering the Assembly.
There, he battled successfully for charter schools and secured passage of legislation that reformed a key element of the NYPD’s stop, question and sometimes frisk program.
Jeffries is facing a fight from Charles Barron, a city councilman who has made a career out of racial provocation and who is a virulent critic of Israel. Barron is not fit to serve in Congress.
The 6th District covers Flushing, Bayside, Kew Gardens, Forest Hills, Middle Village and Glendale in Queens.
Assemblyman RORY LANCMAN is the best of a four-person field. He showed independence from the chamber’s leadership and won passage of important bills, including a measure that bars New York courts from honoring foreign libel judgments — unless a court determines that the judgments meet First Amendment standards.
Lancman is a staunch supporter of Israel and has the backing of former Mayor Ed Koch.
The 13th District spans from Harlem up through Washington Heights and into portions of the northwest Bronx.
The choice is CLYDE WILLIAMS, a former political aide to Barack Obama and Bill Clinton who has the dynamism to inject new vitality into a post that has suffered badly under incumbent Rep. Charles Rangel, who, censured by the House, has long since squandered the benefits of seniority.
The 7th District has a stretch of Brooklyn from Sunset Park to Bushwick through Williamsburg and takes in parts of Maspeth, Woodhaven and Ridgewood in Queens as well as some of Manhattan’s lower East Side.
Incumbent Rep. NYDIA VELAZQUEZ GETS the nod. After 20 years of service, Velazquez has seniority that is of high value to the city. She is the ranking Democrat on the House Small Business Committee, and has refused to bow to the Brooklyn Democratic machine, thereby drawing a payback election challenge.