Since Anthony Weiner resigned there has been much murmuring about who would take his probably lame-duck Ninth District seat come the special election on September 13. And today we are a little closer to the answer. The Democratic nominee for the seat will be...Assemblyman David Weprin, brother of City Council Member Mark Weprin and son of the late former State Assembly Speaker Saul Weprin.
The 58-year-old Weprin is an interesting choice for the seat that most likely will soon be redistricted out of existence. An Orthodox Jew, Weprin isn't exactly Mr. Personality, but he is a tough campaigner with strong ties to Queens and deep connections within the Jewish community that Weiner worked so well. It is suspected that he is interested in the job as a stepping stone to come back to the city and run again for Comptroller, or some other local office.
Meanwhile on the other side of the aisle there is reportedly some disagreement over the candidate to choose. While Conservaties are pushing for Bob Turner—a political newbie who came surprisingly close to toppling Weiner in the last election—it seems that the Republican brass is looking to support Juan Reyes, a man who "interned in Bob Dole’s office, worked on the Bush-Cheney campaign, and was a member of Rudy Giuliani’s administration."
Either way, the fight over the Ninth District will probably not be as exciting as the one over the 26th District, which went up for grabs the last time a New York representative over-shared online.
