It’s déjà vu . . . all over again.
Only seven months ago when both Bob Friedrich and incumbent David Weprin were on the ballot for a special election in District 24 but on September 14, voters will have the same choice for the assembly seat in the Democratic Primary. This time, civic leader Bob Friedrich – who ran as a conservative republican in February – hopes the “strong anti-incumbent sentiment in the community” will propel him to victory.
“Politicians are cut from the same cloth . . . there are no fresh ideas,” said Friedrich, who unsuccessfully campaigned against Mark Weprin, David’s brother, for a City Council seat in the November 2009 election. “David rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars in outside income in addition to legislative pay. If you can’t make a living by being an elected official, then that’s not the job for you.”
Meanwhile, Weprin – who will also be on the Working Families and Independence Party lines – has recently been endorsed by the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and its United Federation of Teachers (UFT) affiliate and wants to reduce class sizes with the recent acquisition of state funding for schools. He claims that he has not received any negative feedback from his short tenure in office so far.
“[Friedrich] gives me credit for tax increases my father voted on 25 years ago,” said Weprin, whose father, Saul, held the same assembly seat in 1971. “He is running in the democratic primary when he was a republican conservative . . . it’s a credibility issue.”
Friedrich is not shy about his attempts to disrupt the so-called “Weprin Dynasty” in District 24 and hopes September 14 won’t have the same out come as past battles with the family.
“I come with a two-year warranty,” said Friedrich. “If the constituents don’t like what I bring to the table, they can boot me back to the private sector.”
