The Never-Ending Campaign Sabini Bounces Rosero In Primary,

A nasty campaign in the 13th Senatorial district has now evolved into a bitter post-election spin session, with both sides claiming that they won the war despite a lopsided battle.
According to the unofficial tally from the Board of Elections, incumbent Senator John Sabini took the election by more than 1,900 votes (5591 to 3690) over challenger Luis Rosero. In separate interviews with The Queens Courier after the dust of the Primary settled, Sabini called it a "huge win" that "expanded our base," while Rosero countered that "it took every single political resource in their arsenal to squeak out a victory." Both candidates alluded to the "divisiveness" of the others campaign and neither was willing to concede an inch.
"The other side was claiming that the district belonged to one group of people," Sabini said. "It belongs to all the people and we brought together a coalition. I won in a lot of varying communities."
"I reached out to talk to everyone," Rosero said. "I think our momentum was building toward the end."
Certainly Roseros stable of endorsers had been growing over the last month of the campaign. On successive Mondays in September, he announced the backing of Councilmember Hiram Monserrate and Reverend Al Sharpton, to whom Rosero credited his good showing in Lefrak City.
"It was fantastic," Rosero said of Sharptons support. "Hes a voice of the Democratic party and I was honored to have his endorsement."
Sabini, who had a slew of endorsements from local Democrats and labor unions, was unimpressed with the former presidential candidate and community activist: "They tried to hit us with a one-two punch on consecutive Mondays and we didnt flinch."
Another touchy subject was that of campaign spending.
"The story of this election is how much political capital was spent on saving John Sabini," Rosero said. "He had to spend close to half a million to eke out another victory."
According to the state campaign finance board, Sabinis committee spent just over $170,000 on his re-election bid, while Rosero reported $109,135 in expenditures. While Sabinis total is nowhere near the amount to which Rosero alluded, neither figure includes in-kind contributions, such as man-hours spent by labor unions working on Primary day.
Despite all the bickering, Sabini did hail Rosero as "a well-spoken young man" who "ran an aggressive campaign."
Rosero said he was "keeping all of [his] options open," and was proud to have helped start what he termed, "a movement that is growing everyday. This does not deter us, this continues."
E-mail this reporter at editrich@queenscourier.com .