Oh, maane! Williams crushes advocate race
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON
Brooklyn Councilmember Jumaane
Williams cruised to victory
in a crowded special election
for public advocate on Tuesday night.
According to unoffi cial New York
City Board of Elections results, with
nearly 97 percent of scanners counted
on election night, Williams had received
more than 33 percent of the vote.
The only Republican in the nonpartisan
election, Eric Ulrich, took second
with 19 percent of the ballots cast.
Former City Council Speaker Melissa
Mark-Viverito fi nished third, garnering
11 percent of the tally. Coming in
fourth was Bronx Assemblymember
Michael Blake, with more than 8 percent
of the vote.
Meanwhile, Ben Yee, a Democratic
state committeemember and East Village
resident, scored some solid Downtown
support, winning the endorsement
of the storied Village Independent
Democrats political club. He ran on an
ambitious reform platform of increasing
New Yorkers’ civic engagement, but
mustered only 2.6 percent of the vote.
A total of 17 candidates vied for the
open seat in one of the most jam-packed
elections in recent memory.
Although the offi ce doesn’t hold
much actual power, it is fi rst in line to
the mayor — meaning, if the mayor can
no longer serve, the advocate becomes
mayor. And, in particular, it’s become a
launching pad to higher offi ce, including
mayor for Bill de Blasio and, more
recently, state attorney general for Letitia
James.
Considered one of the frontrunners
— if not the frontrunner — Williams
was seen as “the progressive candidate”
in the race. Blake was considered “the
establishment candidate.”
It was a low-turnout election, with
only around 400,000 turning out at
the polls.
This past September, Williams gave
a strong challenge to incumbent Kathy
Hochul for New York State lieutenant
governor, losing the Democratic primary
by only a few percentage points.
That race — in which he ran on a ticket
with Cynthia Nixon — helped raise
Williams’s name recognition for the
public-advocate special election.
In the advocate race — amid a fi eld
with so many candidates — his recently
snagging The New York Times’s endorsement
was also a major boost.
The advocate’s seat opened up after
James won election last November to
become attorney general in the wake of
Eric Schneiderman’s resignation from
offi ce in the face of accusations he had
physically abused several woman.
The public advocate’s main role is to
be an ombudsman for complaints and
concerns about city government. He
or she can do investigations, introduce
legislation and generally use the position
Jumaane Williams, who was arrested last year for protesting the detention of immigrant-rights activist
Ravi Ragbir, is proud of “causing trouble” for the past 10 years.
as a bully pulpit on a range of issues.
The advocate can also certainly
be a thorn in the mayor’s side — which
Williams could well be. Though in his
post-election remarks, he said he intends
to work with de Blasio.
Speaking at a forum of statewide
candidates in the Village at P.S. 41 last
May, Williams told the crowd that, if
elected lieutenant governor, he would
be a foil to Governor Andrew Cuomo.
‘He is passionate.
He is vibrant. He is
humble.’
Arthur Schwartz
Williams stressed that he would
not be “a rubber stamp or parrot” for
Cuomo.
“For the past nine years, I’ve been
trying to cause as much as trouble as
humanly possible,” he said.
“I am a community organizer by
training,” he said then. He noted he
is the child of Grenadian immigrants,
and that his brother had been an undocumented
immigrant. He also shared
that he has Tourette’s syndrome.
Williams was arrested last year for
protesting the detention of immigrantrights
activist Ravi Ragbir after Ragbir
was detained during one of his regular
check-ins with Immigration Customs
and Enforcement down by the courts.
In both of his campaigns, Williams
called for “universal rent control,”
among other things. He said he also
supports a “racial impact study” being
done whenever a major rezoning is
planned, to gauge how current residents
will be affected. In general, affordable
housing has been one of his top issues.
Among other candidates for public
advocate who caught the interest
of local voters was Upper Manhattan
Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez,
who fi nished with 6 percent of the vote.
Advocates for the Small Business Jobs
Survival Act supported him since he is
currently the long-stymied bill’s prime
sponsor and has pledged to bring it up
for a full vote on the Council fl oor.
On the other hand, the bill’s advocates
were dead set against Mark-Viverito
because she blocked the bill from
coming up for a vote during her Council
speaker tenure.
David Eisenbach, a Union Squarearea
resident and Columbia professor,
made the S.B.J.S.A. one of his key issues,
but fi nished with only 0.8 percent
of the vote.
Nomiki Konst, known to many from
her appearances on “The Young Turks,”
but without much of a New York City
base, got 2.3 percent of the vote. One
of Konst’s campaign planks was a call
for a $30 minimum wage — double the
current rate.
Ulrich, the lone G.O.P.’er, also stood
out from the fi eld for opposing the de
Blasio administration’s plan to close Rikers
Island in favor of building new jails
in the boroughs, including one slated for
near the courts in Lower Manhattan.
People simply don’t want jails in residential
neighborhoods, he stressed.
Upper West Side Assemblymember
Daniel O’Donnell, the openly gay
brother of Rosie O’Donnell, brought
PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
lots of experience to the race but scored
only 2.9 percent of the vote.
Queens Assemblymember Ron Kim,
the group’s most outspoken critic on
the mayor’s plan to scrap the standardized
admissions test for specialized
high schools, also got about 2.9 percent
of the vote.
Because the race was nonpartisan,
candidates ran on their own tickets.
Williams, for example, ran on the “It’s
Time Let’s Go” ballot line. Mark-Viverito’s
ballot line was “Fix the M.T.A.”
Blake’s was “For the People.” Ulrich ran
on the “Common Sense” line. O’Donnell
was the “Equality for All” candidate.
Konst ran under the rubric “Pay Folks
More.” Yee’s was “Community Strong.”
Rodriguez’s was “Unite Immigrants.”
Kim’s was “No Amazon.”
A primary election for public advocate
is coming up soon, in June.
Although he recently rejoined V.I.D.
after two decades, Arthur Schwartz,
the Village’s Democratic district leader,
supported Williams, not Yee, and
was in fact Williams’s campaign cocounsel.
“At P.S. 41, which has eight election
districts, Jumaane got about 45 percent
of the vote,” Schwartz said. “I sent out
a mailing for Jumaane late last week.”
He said Williams fi nished with 42
percent in the 66th Assembly District,
Yee got 5.8 percent, and O’Donnell —
who was endorsed by Assemblymember
Deborah Glick — got 5.7 percent.
“Jumaane is not your run-of-the mill
politician,” Schwartz added. “He is
passionate. He is vibrant. He is humble.
He knows how and when to build
coalitions and when to say, ‘Enough is
enough.’ I made sure he knows how
widespread his support was throughout
our Assembly district.”
Schneps Media TVG February 28, 2019 3