By Thomas Tracy
With the robes tailored to his liking, Frank Seddio officially left the New York State Assembly on January 1, leaving the keys to his office to the care of Alan Maisel, his chief of staff and front-runner in the one-man race for the 59th Assembly district seat. Whenever that begins. As of this writing, the Governor has yet to call a special election to fill Seddio’s open seat as well as two other vacant Assembly slots in the city. Special elections are usually held in mid-February. With the end of January looming, political mavens are still waiting for the word to get the ball rolling, since no one can begin campaigning until the special election is called. “Maisel is not the Democratic candidate in this race right now,” said one source. “He is ‘a’ candidate.” “There is a process and that process hasn’t started yet,” said another political insider. “There are no deals and forgone conclusions.” The process is this: once the Governor calls a special election, the county committee is given 30 days to get together and select a Democratic candidate. They then give the name of their selection to the Board of Elections, who puts his or her name on the ballot. The county committee for the 59th Assembly District, of course, will most likely be made up of members of the reigning Democratic club – the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, of which Maisel is currently president. While there will be a Republican candidate on the ballot, Maisel is expected to be shuffling up to Albany by springtime, elected by a heavily Democratic 59th Assembly District. As of this writing, Maisel has humbly declined from talking about the upcoming election. “I am excited about the process of running,” he said. While he has been seen at different community meetings, he only bills himself as a candidate, not the Democratic nominee, insiders said. The only time did he speak as a candidate was during a recent visit to Gerritsen Beach, when a potential Republican candidate for the seat was asked to address the audience. That candidate, Avenue U attorney Theodore Alatsas, has since decided not to run, citing family reasons. As of this writing, a replacement to fit the Republican ticket has yet to be announced. Until the election is called, Maisel, a retired assistant principal with the Board of Education, is biding his time working in Seddio’s old Assembly office on 2424 Ralph Avenue, fielding calls from constituents. Seddio’s name is still on the sign, but those answering the phones inside treat the place as simply an “Assembly District Office.” Even though it’s almost assured that he will be elected to office, Maisel will be facing another election a few months later – the Democratic primary for the 59th Assembly seat. Seddio bid farewell to the 59th Assembly District on New Year’s Day, despite an eleventh-hour attempt to halt his ascension to the Surrogate Court, which adjudicates wills and estates. In mid-December, attorneys for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund went to court asking for an injunction that would have halted the process. The judge denied the injunction. On Tuesday, a spokesman for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund said that they were still having “internal discussions” to decide if they want to go ahead with a trial. In previous interviews, Seddio said that he was looking forward to becoming a Surrogate Court judge and plans to spend his first year “improving” the court’s scandal-scarred image. “I hope to do that by being a fair and honest judge in a court that requires compassion and a need to take care of the little guys,” he said.
