Hasidic battle brews over state Senate primary
Sunday, September 7th 2008, 11:15 PM
Daniel Squadron
Martin Connor
Tracy for News
Vito Lopez
A warring Brooklyn Hasidic sect is divided in a key Democratic state Senate primary that involves some of the city's most powerful political figures - and could affect the '09 mayoral race.
The Satmar faction led by Williamsburg-based Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum rebuffed an eleventh-hour plea by Mayor Bloomberg to support his candidate, political newcomer Daniel Squadron, in the 25th Senatorial District.
Zalman loyalists are backing Squadron's target, incumbent Sen. Martin Connor, who is championed by Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
The Zalman camp received a visit last week from Deputy Mayor Kevin Sheekey. He pleaded Squadron's case, but left without a deal, said a source close to Zalman's political adviser, Rabbi David Niederman. Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser declined to comment.
Zalman supporters are gambling that the mayor's potential bid to change term limits and seek a third term will fizzle, said one Jewish political operative.
"Honestly, Bloomberg's disappearing, Vito's not," the operative said. "Who would you choose?"
The Zalman faction is still angry at the mayor after the city Health Department got involved in a ritual Hasidic circumcision procedure deemed risky to the child's health.
And it was infuriated when a nonprofit it supports, the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, lost $150,000 worth of City Council funding in the fiscal 2009 city budget.
Meanwhile, followers of Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum - who is based in Kiryas Joel in Orange County but has a presence in Williamsburg - are supporting Squadron.
That gives the Kiryas Joel faction an in not only with Bloomberg, but also with Squadron's powerful former boss, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who is backing his former aide.
"I have nothing bad to say about Marty Connor, but I think it's time for a change," said Rabbi Leib Glanz, a political adviser to Aron Teitelbaum.
Glanz insisted he had not been lobbied by Bloomberg to support Squadron, but Aron backers have seen their star rise at City Hall.
A new nonprofit they support, United Jewish Community Advocacy Relations and Enrichment, received Council cash for the first time this year to the tune of $205,000.
The Brooklyn Satmar community could prove crucial in tomorrow's primary. Its members vote in a bloc, and a few thousand votes could decide the race.
In 2006, Bloomberg personally appealed to the Kiryas Joel Satmars to back Republican Rep. Sue Kelly over her Democratic challenger, John Hall. The plea fell on deaf ears, and Hall ousted Kelly by a few thousand votes.
Both the Zalman and Aron factions have waged voter-registration drives in Brooklyn this year and claim to have signed up some 10,000 new Hasidic Democrats in recent weeks.
"This is a big test for the Hasidic vote," said the Jewish political operative of the Connor-Squadron primary. "If they can't bring it out this year, I wonder about their chances to be able to flex any muscle in the mayor's race."
[email protected]
