Brooklyn Special Election Brings Out the Pols

NEW YORK
Three Candidates Vie in a Special Special Election (by David King, Gotham Gazette) Towns has her family name. She is the adopted daughter of U.S. Rep. Edolphus Towns, and Brooklyn voters are accustomed to voting for that name. But they won't be able to do it on the Democratic line this year as Rafael Espinal, staffer to City Councilmember Erik Dilan, son of state Sen. Martin Dilan, has the Democratic, Republican and Conservative lines, and is also backed by Brooklyn Democratic leader and power broker Assemblymember Vito Lopez. Because there is no primary for special elections, Towns had to create her own line and so will appear on her own Community First line. Meanwhile community organizer Jesus Gonzalez is running on the Working Families Party line and reportedly has the backing of Rep. Nydia Velasquez, a long-time rival of Vito Lopez.