Staten Island Democrats have never backed a black candidate,
and today's special election for the North Shore Assembly seat,
brought on by the untimely death of John Lavelle, will be no
exception. A black retired NYPD sergeant, Kelvin Alexander, lost
the race for the Democratic nomination to Matthew Titone. He is
now running on the Independence Party line.
The Reverend Al Sharpton came to Staten Island this weekend to
urge voters to select "the right black."
"I think that it is very important to make history not only
with ‘a black,' but with the ‘right black,' who is not
just for blacks," he told a crowd in St. George. Will
history be made today, or did the Democrats make a very bad
boo-boo that could split the Democratic vote and toss the seat to
the GOP?
This happens to be my district. It is predominantly Democratic,
but Messrs. Titone and Alexander have been engaged in an
unpleasant battle, with charges of homophobia and racism marring
the race.
By comparison, the Republican candidate, Rose Margarella, is
running a decent, almost homespun campaign, calling voters
personally for their support without resorting to badmouthing her
rivals in the Assembly district, which includes part of Brooklyn.
When I received her call, I was somewhat stunned to hear a live
candidate at the other end of the line.
Mr. Alexander, who has been endorsed by the Independence Party,
was originally trying to run on the ballot of a new political
party he formed called Family First. After failing to capture the
Democratic nomination, Mr. Alexander started the party to address
the concerns of the minority community.
Mr. Titone challenged the validity of the signatures secured from
the new party and managed to have it taken off the ballot. During
a political forum sponsored by the Staten Island African-American
Political Association a few weeks ago, Mr. Titone accused Mr.
Alexander of calling his party "Family First" for
homophobic reasons, saying the name itself was an anti-gay code
word.
Mr. Titone is openly gay but said his challenge to remove Mr.
Alexander's party from the ballot was motivated primarily by a
need to keep things legal. However, he did tell a Staten Island
Advance reporter that words like "family" and
"family values" are often used as "code for
homophobia."
But Mr. Alexander said he circulated petitions for the Family
First Party before Mr. Titone was even nominated for the seat and
that he had no idea the word "family" could be
construed as anti-gay. Indeed, Mr. Titone uses it in his campaign
literature.
In the postcard ad I received, Mr. Titone is seated in a
playground reading a book, surrounded by four youngsters. The
text reads: "Keeping our family healthy; a brighter future
for our children." In another ad, Mr. Titone says he is
"a voice for our families."
It seems somewhat hypocritical for the Democrat to attack Mr.
Alexander's party for using homophobic language while using that
same language himself.
Unfortunately, Mr. Alexander then played the race card, accusing
Mr. Titone of marginalizing the black vote by challenging the
Family First Party signatures. "They're afraid I'm going to
pull African-American votes and cost Matt Titone the election.
They're trying to prevent us from participating in the political
process," Mr. Alexander told an Advance reporter.
I've come to shudder every time I hear the words
"marginalize" and "disenfranchise" around
elections. However, Mr. Alexander did raise a good point when he
pointed out that while Staten Island Republicans have nominated
blacks to represent them, Democrats never have. He's absolutely
right - the North Shore probably has the largest concentration of
minority voters, yet the Staten Island Democrats still can't seem
to find a black candidate they can support in any district.
Mr. Alexander is the chief of staff to state Senator Eric Adams,
a Democrat of Brooklyn, and he is certainly qualified to
represent the North Shore in the Assembly. But whether he is the
"right black," as Rev. Sharpton says, is a good
question. In 2004, another well-qualified African-American,
Republican Al Curtis, ran for the state Senate with the
endorsement of the GOP and the Independence Party but lost to a
Democrat, Diane Savino.
If Mr. Alexander wins, he'll be the first black elected to office
from Staten Island. If Mr. Titone is elected, he'll be the first
openly gay candidate elected in S.I. history. If Ms. Margarella
is elected, she'll be the first well-qualified candidate to win
after waging an issue-oriented campaign without denigrating her
rivals or stooping to name-calling. Guess who I'm voting for?