In Southern Brooklyn, Republicans Win Big
It was a bad night for New York Republicans: not only did Romney lose the presidency but they also lost their long-shot bid to unseat Kirsten Gillibrand. Their “control of the State Senate is in jeopardy,” NY1 reported, “and there are no Republicans holding statewide office.” In Brooklyn, four Republicans faced reelection, and one lost, thanks to redistricting: David Storobin, who had won Carl Kruger’s State Senate seat, lost his bid to represent the new super-Jewish district. But otherwise it was a great night for incumbent Republicans in southern Brooklyn.
Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, Congressmember Michael Grimm and State Senator Marty Golden all won handily. (The first two represent Staten Island in part or whole; Golden’s gerrymandered district runs from Bay Ridge to Gerritsen Beach.) The victories were somewhat surprising: erstwhile freshman Grimm is one of the most corrupt members of Congress (who as an FBI agent once famously brandished his gun outside a nightclub and said, “all the white people get out of here”), and Golden was fought hard by Bay Ridge’s growing progressives, angered by his leadership against marriage equality, his lack of support for women’s issues, and much more.
Turns out in southern Brooklyn you can still run as a gay-hating old white man and win! Way to buck national trends, everybody.
