By Thomas Tracy
The date and field of the battle have been set and the challenge has been met, but why, then, do people automatically believe that Alan Maisel will be the clear winner in this month’s special election for the 59th Assembly District? The answer is simple: numbers. There are simply more registered Democrats in the 59th Assembly District then there are Republicans and Conservatives, even though both parties have – at least tentatively – announced candidates for the February 28 special election. According to the City Board of Elections, Maisel will be going head to head with Republican party candidate Ronald G. Haugstatter of Flatlands and Alice Gaffney of Marine Park, who will be running on the Conservative Party line. Calls for comment to both candidates were not returned as this paper went to press. But, despite the cold, hard facts that show Democrats outnumber Republicans and Conservatives in the 59th District nearly two to one, it doesn’t mean that an area State Senator should already be planning to bounce the bills that he drafts in the senate against Maisel “when he gets to the Assembly.” Even though voters coming to the polls two weeks from now will have three names to choose from, area political watchdogs have already painted Maisel as outgoing Assemblymember Frank Seddio’s successor. Seddio left the Assembly after being elected as Surrogate Court Judge last fall. He officially took the position on January 1. Maisel, an educator and longtime supporter and president of the Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club, was officially selected by the district’s Democratic committee as their candidate late last month. But, according to sources, everyone knew that Maisel was going to be their candidate back in September, when Seddio received the party’s backing to run for a newly created Surrogate Court judge seat. “It would take some catastrophe like in ‘the Day After Tomorrow’ to stop this from happening,” said one source. Early on, Seddio campaigned for Maisel, the Assemblyman’s chief of staff at his Ralph Avenue offices, calling him the “hurricane beneath his wings.” As a parting gift, of sorts, Seddio gave $3,000 to Alan Maisel’s election camp as he closed his own campaign coffers. Even though he was referred to as our “next Assemblyman” at community meetings, Maisel refrained from openly campaigning for the seat until he was officially selected as a candidate. According to Campaign Finance Disclosures, Maisel has a war chest of just over $7,000 to spend on the February 28 election. Throughout the state, six Assembly Districts and one State Senate District have open vacancies that need to be filled by the end of the month. The victory will be short lived for whoever wins the election. Roughly four months after being elected into office, the candidate will have to be preparing for his September primary.
