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May 30, 2008
Second to no one
The Brooklyn Paper
by Gersh Kuntzman
A group of ornery Brooklyn Democrats has effectively said it would rather have no one representing it in Congress than Rep. Yvette Clarke.
Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats — a progressive liberal clubhouse — denied Clarke (D–Park Slope) its support on May 22, handing “No endorsement” a stunning, 52–48 victory.
The club is now led by Chris Owens, who ran against Clarke for the open seat in 2006 — but the CBID president (and son of the congressman whom Clarke replaced) denied that he rigged the clubhouse vote to embarrass his former rival.
“This is a cantankerous, progressive club and I made no behind-the-scenes phone calls against Yvette,” said Owens. “I did nothing to color the process in any way. The fact is that if you want our endorsement, you’re expected to vote a certain way. People have not been satisfied enough with Yvette’s performance.”
Owens specifically cited Clarke’s continued support for the Atlantic Yards project....
NoLandGrab: We were on hand for that vote at CBID. The results had nothing to do with Clarke's defeat of Owens in 2006, and everything to do with her positions on numerous issues, including Atlantic Yards, which the club vehemently opposes.
Posted by eric at May 30, 2008 1:59 PM