Turncoat Dem may be excommunicated
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BY KEVIN DUGGAN
He’s on thin ice!
Democratic Midwood
state Sen. Simcha Felder
— who controversially caucused
with Republicans up in
Albany, along with turncoat
Dems in the now-defunct Independent
Democratic Conference
— may be booted
from the blue party next year,
after activists demanded he
be excommunicated during
a Kings County Democratic
Party County Committee
meeting.
“I asked that someone
who has betrayed the party,
Simcha Felder — I have affi
davits from several people
who are residents of his district,
who asked that the Executive
Committee meet and
consider removing Simcha
Felder as a member of the
party,” Ernest Skinner, of
the Ernest Skinner Political
Association, said to exuberant
applause from committee
members at the Feb.
12 meeting.
Brooklyn Democratic
Party boss Frank Seddio
said he would address rankand
fi le members’ demands
to kick the turncoat pol out
of the party before the next
biannual committee meeting
in August.
“It will be addressed by
the next meeting,” Seddio
said off mic, within earshot
of this reporter and others in
his immediate vicinity.
But Skinner, who heard
the comment, repeated Seddio’s
statement loud enough
for the audience to hear.
Felder, who in November
won his fourth Senate term
after running on the Democratic,
Republican, and Conservative
party lines, caucused
with Republicans
several times since assuming
offi ce in 2013.
But after the eight-member
Independent Democratic
Conference broke up last
April — and six of its members
subsequently lost their
seats in the November elections
— Felder is now a lone
rogue legislator in Albany,
because the Legislature’s
Democratic majority barred
him from joining their conference
at the start of this
year’s session.
• • •
He’s got another backer.
The front-runner in the
Feb. 26 special election for
public advocate, Councilman
Jumaane Williams
(D–Flatbush), earned the
Brooklyn Democratic Party’s
endorsement, after overwhelmingly
winning a straw
poll conducted following a
candidates forum at its Feb.
12 meeting.
More than 600 county
committee members, including
proxies for those who
couldn’t make it to the meeting,
cast their votes for Williams
— several hundreds
more than voted for his challenger
and colleague, Councilman
Rafael Espinal (DBushwick),
who came in
second place with 119 votes.
Williams thanked the audience
for their support following
his straw-poll victory,
promising to make the borough
proud in exchange for
earning the local Dems’ support.
“I take none of these votes
for granted, I came here so
nervous and tried to give
the best speech I could give.
Thank you so much for this,
I hope I can continue to make
Brooklyn proud. Brooklyn,
thank you so much
for standing up one more
time,” he said.
The Brooklyn Democratic
Party endorsed Williams
days after his fellow publicadvocate
candidates blasted
him for his past track record
on several issues, including
gay marriage and abortion
rights, during the fi rst televised
debate for the citywide
race.
Both Assemblyman Michael
Blake (D–Bronx) and
former Democratic Council
Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito
tore into the councilman
for his past opposition to
gay rights and abortion, with
the Bronx state pol even ripping
on him for racking up 27
speeding tickets, including
“multiple speeding infractions
in school zones.”
“In the past you have been
against a woman’s right to
choose and marriage equality,
and so I think the question
is at hand, would you
PARTY LINE
TALKING BORO POLITICS
WITH KEVIN DUGGAN
IN JEOPARDY: State Sen. Simcha
Felder.
Associated Press / Hans Pennink
Continued on page 31