On Monday, Elizabeth Benjamin in the Daily News reported that the Queens Republican Party nominated former two-term Democratic Councilwoman Helen Sears to run in the upcoming special election to replace the disgraced Hiram Monserrate, who was expelled from the State Senate for assaulting his girlfriend. Sears was defeated in the Democratic primary last year by Daniel Dromm.
Sears would have run against Democratic Assemblyman Jose Peralta and Monserrate, who is seeking his old seat as an independent. (Apparently, there's no law against him running.)
But now, Helen Sears has dropped put of the race. The Queens Tribune reports that Sears dropped out when she learned that the Conservative and Independence parties wouldn't endorse her (or any other candidate).
Queens Republicans picked Administrative Law Judge Robert Beltrani to run for the seat. The election is March 16. Could Monserrate and Peralta split the Democratic vote, especially in a low-turnout special election, allow Beltrani to win? As I understand, the district is heavily Democratic, with Democrats outnumbering Republicans 7 to 1.
If Beltrani wins, it would split the Senate evenly between 31 Democrats and 31 Republicans. Since Richard Ravitch is the Lt. Governor, he can cast the tie-breaking vote. But if there's another defection, the Republicans will regain control of the Senate before the election.
Do you guys who know Queens have any insights? Are the Haggertys' fingerprints anywhere?
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