The Broadway Democrats, the official Democratic club covering Morningside Heights and parts of surrounding neighborhoods, voted on Thursday evening to endorse Micah Lasher in the District 69 Assembly race.
Thursday’s vote marked Lasher’s endorsement by all three of the district’s Democratic clubs: Three Parks Independent Democrats, West Side Democrats, and Broadway Democrats.
Lasher won the night’s only contested endorsement with 31 votes following a preliminary public forum on Feb. 8. Competing candidate Eli Northrup received 10 votes, while Melissa Rosenberg and Carmen Quinones received one and two votes respectively, Broadway Democrats wrote in a statement to Spectator on Sunday. Barry Weinberg, CC ’12, who participated in the public forum, recently suspended his campaign.
Other non-competitive endorsements announced Friday included U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), CC ’69, and State Sen. Cordell Cleare. The club also voted to endorse Allison Greenfield, Louis Nock, and Malaika Scott-McLaughlin for county civil court judge seats, Ralph Wolf for a District 5 civil court judge seat, and Lynn Thomas and Douglas Kellner for Democratic State committee members for the 69th District.
“Now the fun starts,” Paula Diamond-Román, 69th Assembly district leader, part C, wrote in a statement to Spectator. “The Broadway Democrats are gearing up for active engagement, hitting the streets to engage in tabling, petitioning, and voter registration, often alongside one of our candidates. Keep an eye out for our dedicated team armed with clipboards and green petitions in the upcoming weeks.”
On Feb 14., Lasher received an endorsement from the Upper West Side’s Three Parks Independent Democrats club, winning with 39 votes. Northrup received six votes, and Weinberg received four, while Rosenberg and Quinones each received one vote.
Endorsed candidates will now be supported by the club for petitioning, the process by which candidates for state elective office collect signatures in favor of their candidacy in the primary election. Running for New York state office in the 69th Assembly district requires 500 signatures.
“These three Democratic clubs have more than a century of history between them as fiercely independent and fiercely progressive grassroots organizations, and their support means the world to me,” Lasher said in a Sunday press release. “The work of community activists is what wins elections and holds power to account. I look forward to campaigning with them across the West Side, Manhattan Valley, and Morningside Heights and partnering together in the future to build a stronger and more resilient city and state.”