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Manhattan Assembly District 44: Longtime Incumbent Faces a Party Activist


Longtime incumbent, Assemblymember James Brennan, faces Yvette Velazquez Bennett next week.

Brennan, who recently withdrew from the race for city comptroller in 2009, is the former chairman of the Committee on Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities and now heads the Assembly's cities committee. He authored major budget reform in the early 1990s and considers himself a conservationist and budget expert.

Bennett is a former City Council candidate and also ran for an assembly seat in 2006. A longtime activist in the Republican Party, she has been endorsed by Minority Leader Assemblyman James Tedisco, and she says she would like to bring a moral compass to the Brooklyn Republican party.

Brennan raised no contributions in the period covered by the 32 Day Pre-General report, but at the end of September, he had more than $40,000 on hand for his re-election bid. Bennett raised $300 in that filing period, and 32 days before the election had $983 on hand.

The district includes Park Slope, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood and Windsor Terrace.

 

Brooklyn Assembly District 43: Trying for a Full Term in Crown Heights


Democratic Assemblymember Karim Camara faces Republican Challenger Stuart Balberg in this Crown Heights district. Camara will be defending his seat for the first time since he was elected in a special election in 2005 to replace former Assemblymember and Democratic Party leader Clarence Norman, who had to resigned after being convicted on corruption charges.

Camara, a reverend, is former director of institutional advancement for the Cush Campus Schools, an elementary and middle school in Crown Heights. He has supported legislative term limits for Albany. In April 2007, Camara was arrested for drunken driving.

Balberg serves on Community Board 9.

As of July, Camara had had raised $23,310 for his re-election bid and had a balance of $11,192. Balberg did not report any contributions.

 

Brooklyn Senate District 17: A Second Round in Northern Brooklyn


Northern Brooklyn will see a rematch between three-term incumbent State Sen. Martin Malave Dilan and Republican challenger Victor Guarino. The two faced off in 2006, and Malave-Dilan won overwhelmingly by a vote of 25,388 to 2,365.

Malave-Dilan served for a decade on the New York City Council before joining the State Senate in 2002. He identifies youth, senior and education issues as his key concerns. According to a questionnaire filled out by Guarino in the 2006 race, his main issues are tax relief for the middle class, the district's quality of life and managed health care.

According to the 32-Day Pre General filing, Malave-Dilan took in $2,000 in contributions for the reporting period and had a campaign balance of $24,637. Figures for Guarino were not available.

The 17th District includes parts of Bushwick, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Cypress Hills, City-Line, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville

 



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