Within hours of former City Councilman Larry Seabrook’s conviction and removal from office, his chief rival from 2009, Andy King announced his candidacy for the November 6 special election declared by Mayor Bloomberg.
Andy King, a former labor organizer with 1199SEIU, told us he definitely plans to run in this upcoming special election. Mr. King performed strongly running against Mr. Seabrook in 2009, taking in over 30% of the vote to the incumbent’s 55%, which, combined with his connections to labor, may make him one of the frontrunners for the seat. [Politicker]
Under City Charter rules, the special election will be a non-partisan contest where none of the major parties will be represented. Expect the single district special election to be another headache for the embattled city Board of Elections since it is being held concurrent to the November 6 General Election. We can expect higher than normal voter turnout for the special election given that presidential elections tend to boost voter turnout.
Given that the council district is heavily African American, Obama voters will be turning out in droves. Mr. King will hope to count on winning support from those voters.
In a few months that district will be reapportioned by the New York City Districting Commission which is tasked with redrawing all 51 city council districts based on the 2010 census to reflect population shifts in time for the 2013 City Council elections.
Seabrook was term-limited and could not run for re-election in next year.
Read more at Andy King Declares His Candidacy to Replace Seabrook in a Special | Politicker.
