By Lincoln Anderson
Hagler wins Civil Court primary
In the two most competitive primary elections in Downtown Manhatttan, Keen Berger won handily in the race for Greenwich Village female Democratic district leader, while Housing Court Judge Shlomo Hagler won in a race among four Democratic candidates for a Civil Court judge vacancy in the Second Municipal Court District.
In other primaries, Rosie Mendez won reelection as female Democratic district leader in the East Village, beating challenger Mildred Martinez.
It was by all accounts, a low turnout election since no bigger seats were being contested.
According to Chad Marlow, president of Village Independent Democrats, Berger’s club, with results for all but one electoral district counted in the district leader race, Berger got 1,792 votes, Cynthia Smith 1,390 votes and Lois Rakoff around 300 votes.
Susan Stetzer, campaign manager for Frank Nervo, also backed by V.I.D. in his Civil Court judge bid, conceded that Hagler had won, Hank Sheinkopf, Hagler’s consultant, also said he’d been told Hagler was the winner.
As of press time, results were unofficial and unverified by the Board of Elections, but none of the outcomes seemed in doubt and the victors felt confident in claiming — and celebrating — their victories.
That’s what Berger and about 50 supporters were doing at her Bedford St. home last night. By about 10 p.m., an hour after the polls had closed, Berger and V.I.D. were declaring she was the winner.
“I’m very pleased,” said Berger in a phone interview as her supporters let out a cheer in the background. “The challenge is to make the Village all it can be — and beat Bush! I’m not endorsing anybody for president yet — but we obviously have to beat Bush.”
Berger’s late husband, Martin, who died in January, was a former Village district leader and his memory is part of what inspired her to run.
Smith, a former president of Gay and Lesbian Independent Democrats club, was backed by Lower Manhattan Alliance for Progressive Political Action, which is led by Arthur Schwartz, the Village’s male district leader — who didn’t face a primary race — state Senator Tom Duane and Councilmember Christine Quinn.
While Smith, who is lesbian, was backed by two out gay politicians, Duane and Quinn, Berger, who is straight, was backed by out lesbian Assemblymember Deborah Glick, a leading member of V.I.D.
Marlow took the occasion to criticize LaMAPPA, which was formed a few years ago when Schwartz split off from V.I.D.
“This is a victory for progressive, open politics in the Village,” Marlow said on his cell phone while walking to Berger’s victory party. “It shows two things. One, that in the Village, grassroots efforts and not money determine elections. And two, that Villagers want intelligent, independent, progressive officials — not those that would simply follow the lead of others.
“This has been a great year for V.I.D. and probably the worst for LaMAPPA,” he continued, “between the results of this election and their failed attempt at holding a resurrected meeting with actual members.”
Marlow further slammed LaMAPPA as “an organization made up of money and a little bit of power, but no real members. LaMAPPA is just Arthur, Tom, Chris and Christine McLaughlin and [Emily] Giske — it’s a front,” he said. Noting that V.I.D. has 200 members, Marlow invited LaMAPPA members to attend V.I.D. meetings in the future.
“I think they’d like seeing what a real political club looks like,” he said.
Called some time after 10 p.m., David Pristin, Smith’s campaign manager, couldn’t say whether Smith had won or lost.
“We’re still working on it,” he said.
Although Smith fielded a few calls earlier in the day, she didn’t return a message left on her cell phone after polls had closed. Schwartz also did not respond to a message left on his cell phone.
Ed Gold, a former V.I.D. president who was at Berger’s victory party, said he’d overheard a “facetious remark” by a Berger supporter after the results were announced that he thought was interesting.
“They said, ‘What’s going to happen when Tom Duane sees Deborah [Glick] in Albany?”
Rakoff, active in the Bleecker Area Residents and Merchants Association, was supported by Village Reform Democratic Club, Stonewall Veterans Association and Pride Democrats.
The district leader position is for the 66th Assembly District Part A, which includes the Village and a bit of south Chelsea.
The Second Municipal Court District covers the East Side south of 14th St., down to Market St. and including Little Italy, Chinatown, parts of Soho, Noho and the Central Village.
Stetzer confirmed reports from others from the Grand St. co-ops area, where Hagler lives, that there was a tremendous turnout there for him. Hagler had the support of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the state’s most powerful Democrats and a Grand St. resident.
“Shelly gets his vote out,” she said. “They vote right in their buildings. They vote when they’re told to. It’s a bloc vote. I don’t think they need to campaign there.”
Nervo and Arlene Bluth, another candidate, were reportedly close in the race for second place, while Virginia Kolodny finished last. Stetzer said Bluth benefited from being well funded and having the endorsement of East Side Councilmember Margarita Lopez.
Sheinkopf said of Hagler’s victory, “It proves that competence and honesty win the day. The New York Times’ candidate won,” he said, referring to the Times’ endorsement of Hagler. “He was outspent, he was outgunned, and he won.”
Last night around 10:30 p.m., Sheinkopf said he’d heard Hagler was ahead by about 1,000 votes with 90 percent of the district reporting.
“It’s important for Shelly Silver because he won,” Sheinkopf added. “Because he has backed a competent, honest jurist who won. That [Hagler] was a judge, he lived in the district, wasn’t a carpetbagger, was very important. He was the only one who could vote for himself. He had roots.”
