Alice Cancel won 39.2% of the vote in yesterday’s special election for Sheldon Silver’s NYS Assembly seat, enough to put her on top and give her the seat at least through the end of 2016.

Despite raising much more money and attracting establishment endorsements from Democratic elected officials, traditional Democratic unions, and the New York Times, Yuh-Line Niou, on the Working Families Party line, won only 33.6%. Republican Lester Chang won 18.9%; Green Party candidate Dennis Levy won 3.6%.

Meanwhile, in the presidential primary, the state’s winners (Clinton and Trump) also prevailed at East River Coop:

Democratic results

	Clinton	Sanders	Clinton %
Bldg 1 / ED 44	201	145	58%
Bldg 2 / ED 45	204	135	60%
Bldg 3 / ED 47	148	102	59%
Bldg 4 / ED 46	146	98	60%
Total	699	480	59%

Republican results

	Trump	Kasich	Cruz	Trump %
Bldg 1 / ED 44	21	4	1	81%
Bldg 2 / ED 45	15	4	1	79%
Bldg 3 / ED 47	3	6	3	25%
Bldg 4 / ED 46	13	6	2	62%
Total	52	20	7	66%

We had a great crowd in the community room last night — standing room only — for candidates Alice Cancel and Yuh-Line Niou (Lester Chang cancelled). Ed Litvak moderated, and members of the audience asked several pointed questions about a range of neighborhood and policy issues. Below are just a few excerpts from a lively debate.

Clip 1: Albany reform

Clip 2: Affordable housing

Clip 3: Essex Crossing priorities

Clip 4: Mayoral control of public schools

Clip 5: Democratic nomination process

Clip 6: First priorities after election

The three main candidates for state assembly will meet for the first time this Tuesday at East River Coop to debate the issues and make a pitch for your support.

Tuesday, March 29
7:30 – 9:00 PM

East River Coop Community Room
477 FDR Drive (Section M)

Expect a lot of heated campaign mailings over the next few weeks ahead of the April 19 special election for NY state assembly. A race expected to go to the Democrat now has two Democrats running — Alice Cancel on the Democratic line, and Yuh-Line Niou on the Working Families line backed by big unions like the United Federation of Teachers, SEIU-32BJ, and the Hotel Trades Council.

In her first mailing this weekend, Niou highlights an article in the New York Times that linked Cancel to Sheldon Silver and his chief of staff Judy Rapfogel (an East River cooperator), casting a shadow on the Democratic selection process. Niou backed out of that process at the last minute — just hours after herself meeting with Grand Street’s Truman Democratic Club — having already received the Working Families nomination that would guarantee her a spot on April’s ballot.

The mailer is intended to push Niou’s anti-corruption bona fides, stating: “Albany’s corruption does more than erode our trust — it hurts our families and undermines our schools and seniors, our tenants and taxpayers.” Niou takes a position in favor of stripping pensions from corrupt politicians, a good-government reform facing an uphill battle in Albany, and highlights Cancel’s priase of Silver, convicted in December on federal corruption charges, as a “hero.”

The mailer also includes an endorsement by John Liu, former NYC Comptroller, whose campaigns for Comptroller and Mayor were tainted by illegal fundraising practices. Which I guess I’m pointing out just to remind myself that integrity, like beauty, can be in the eye of the beholder.

Update Sunday: At an event today in East River Coop, Yuh-Line Niou described in more detail her decision to drop out of the Democratic convention last month. She said the meeting she had the morning of the convention was not with the Truman Club, but was a meet-and-greet scheduled weeks earlier with some Democratic committee members. Niou says she had decided three days before to exit the Democratic party process after she witnessed first-hand the trading of committee spots among candidates; in particular, the influence of Silver loyalists, in her opinion, would cast a shadow on whoever emerged as the party nominee.

Since the moment Sheldon Silver was convicted of federal corruption charges in December, we’ve been without a representative in the New York Assembly. On April 19, voters of the 65th assembly district will go to the polls to elect someone to fill out Silver’s term — and now we know who the candidates are going to be:

• Democrats this past weekend designated long-time party official and neighborhood activist Alice Cancel to be their candidate.
• The Working Families party is putting forward Yuh-Line Niou, an assembly staffer who was also vying for the Democratic endorsement but withdrew her name from consideration shortly before the committee vote on Sunday.
• And Republicans have selected a businessman and U.S. Navy Reservist named Lester Chang.

Sunday’s Democratic committee meeting was not without some drama. Based on party rules, about 180 party insiders — some elected, some appointed — had the responsibility to choose a nominee for the special election. There were five candidates, three of whom, including Cancel, are elected district leaders for the 65th assembly district.

Niou came into the meeting on the wings of the Working Families nod and endorsements from NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer and former Comptroller John Liu. But during her short speech before the vote, Niou withdrew from consideration citing the undemocratic nature of the selection process. She remains on the ballot in April on the Working Families line.

Paul Newell, who ran an unsuccessful primary against Sheldon Silver in 2008, had a spirited presence at the committee meeting, with supporters and volunteers waving signs. But he was battling for support within his own Democratic club, Downtown Independent Democrats, with his fellow district leader, Jennifer Rajkumar, also a candidate. Rajkumar ran an unsuccessful primary against City Councilwoman Margaret Chin in 2013. Chin, meanwhile, endorsed CB3 chair Gigi Li, who received a total of zero votes on Sunday.

After April’s special election, everyone who wants will get a chance to run for a full term in September’s regular primary and November’s general election.

Here are some notable links to news on the race:

• Ed Litvak of the Lo-Down interviewed Alice Cancel after her victory Sunday.
• The Daily News focused on the involvement of Silver’s wife and chief of staff in the choosing of Silver’s successor.
• The Villager has a rundown of what took place on Sunday at the Democratic Committee meeting.
• And here’s an old report from the New York Times about Alice Cancel’s re-election campaign for district leader back in 1999, noting that district leader is often a springboard to higher office in New York.