Democratic activists in Lower Manhattan today chose Alice Cancel as their nominee to run in a special election to replace Assemblyman Sheldon Silver.
The Democratic County Committee in the 65th Assembly District overwhelmingly favored the longtime district leader and Lower East Side resident over four other contenders. Cancel will now face Republican Lester Chang in the April 19 election. The district is heavily Democratic.
About 180 County Committee members allocated several thousand votes within Lower Manhattan’s election districts. Here was the breakdown:
- Alice Cancel 5,772
- Paul Newell 1,775.5
- Jenifer Rajkumar 605
- Yuh-Line Niou 93
Shortly before the vote, Niou withdrew from the process, calling it undemocratic. She has vowed to compete in the April election as a third party candidate. Yesterday Niou received the endorsement of the Working Families Party. A fifth candidate, Gigi Li, did not receive any votes from the County Committee. All of the contenders, plus Don Lee, are expected to run in the next regularly scheduled Democratic Primary in September.
Cancel is a staffer in the office of City Comptroller Scott Stringer. She also worked for former Comptroller John Liu and former State Sen. Marty Connor. Cancel rode to victory today with the backing of Lower East Side Democrats, her political club, as well as strong support from the Truman Club, Sheldon Silver’s political organization. Silver was forced from office after being convicted of federal corruption charges. She was also backed by City Council member Rosie Mendez and tenant leaders of some of the Lower East Side’s largest low- and-middle income buildings.
We’ll have a full report tomorrow morning.
Whoa…totally bogus! I hope Democrats will rise and vote DOWN this candidate in September just to protest the,UN-DEMOCRATIC selection process. The,people,must,be,heard!
Down with the political machines!
CB3 Gigi Li’s 0 vote says it all! Chin overreached with Gigi Li and Virginia Kee reminded her that she and UDO still hold the power in Chinatown.
The gloves are off, showdown btw Chinatown and Grand Street has commenced.
Silver’s long dying club of Judy Rapfogel, Silver’s wife, Barauch Singer, Karen Blatt etc did what they do best when you don’t have the numbers or a horse in the race. You conquer and divide, pitting Hispanics against the Chinese, and vice versa. Truman went with the weakest and most malleable puppet, and backing a club that owed Silver favors. Alice Cancel was that person.
Sadly, Alice Cancel is a true embarrassment to this office not equipped with the capabilities or credentials to hold it. Her own boss Scott Stringer threw his support to her rival looking to his mayoral bid knowing the Chinese voting block is far more dependable than the Hispanic vote.
It is sad the very communities that need to be represented the most are used as pawns by the likes of political clubs like the Lower East Dems (John Quinn, Alice’s husband), the Truman Club (Shelly still at the wheel), and UDO (insider Chinatown club not representative of the population).
It is time for a “political revolution” one person, one vote. The machine must be dismantled…
I like what you wrote but I think it is a reach to claim Alice Cancel is an embarrassment? In what way is she? Alice Cancel has been doing things for this community way before she even married John Quinn. She has also lived here and raised her family here and has at least gotten off her ass to try to make things right for this community. Second were does it state that a boss has to endorse you? Do you hold a magic rule book that no one knows about? I would like to hear from you. who do you feel should run this area? Also last time I checked Alice Cancel never worked a day for Sheldon Silver in his office. She has worked hard to get her jobs and keep them. But then again unless you have insider info that no one knows about?
anyone affiliated with Stringer should not be considered