Congratulations, Steve Levin; Good Luck Bill de Blasio

Stephen Levin, whom I had a bit of fun with over his attempt to interrupt my lunch the other day, has prevailed in his primary bid for the 33rd City Council district. Word of Mouth is nothing if not gracious, and I wish Mr. Levin the best of luck in office (in my neck of the woods the Democratic primary is the general election). Despite concerns about his allegiance to "the machine," I'm sure he'll be a decent and reasonable representative for his constituents. In my district only candidates on the liberal-progressive continuum stand a chance of winning any election, and six of the seven candidates certainly fell within that spectrum (the one exception being the candidate described as a "Hasidic activist").

In the citywide races, voters now have two runoffs to think about. I'm not too concerned about the Comptroller's race; I don't see that much of a difference between Liu (whom I supported) and Yassky. The Public Advocate race is another matter, more a matter of character than politics. It has come down to a runoff between Bill DeBlasio and Mark Green, who previously held the office and has the greater name recognition. For years, Green had distinguished himself as a perennial reform candidate unable to win any local, citywide, or statewide election, until he ran for Public Advocate in 1993. After serving as Consumer Affairs Commissioner (an appointment) he was the first to hold the Public Advocate position, and there's no denying that he was tireless and effective in that job. However, blind ambition got the best of him, and with his reprehensible race-baiting tactics in the final days of his closely contested race with Freddie Ferrer in the 2001 Mayoral primary he lost any chance of future support from me.