The number stands in sharp contrast to his generally inactive account. Mr. Tischler, who started his campaign account earlier this summer, has only made 23 tweets, and the only interaction others have had with his profile in recent days was political blogger Yossi Gestetner noting the giant leap in followers. The exact point when he accumulated these followers was unclear, but a Google cache from last month shows him with six followers.

Even if the followers were real, they would be of little help to the aspiring state senator, as all of those we surveyed claimed to be users located in Canada, Hawaii and other locations far beyond the neighborhoods of Boro Park and Midwood.

Mr. Tischler, who did not immediately return a request for comment, is facing off against former City Councilman Simcha Felder in the Democratic primary. Mr. Felder, with over $400,000 in the bank, is a strong favorite to win, but Mr. Tischler and his 20-year old brother Moshe, who is campaigning for the State Assembly, are hoping discontent with the powers-that-be in Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish community will yield them favorable results.

One way to quickly increase followers is to purchase them in bulk from third-party sources, who may or may not claim to be offering users with real people behind them.

How Mr. Tischler acquired this huge number of empty accounts wasn't immediately clear, but if any accusations of having purchased them emerge, he'll be in good company. Then-presidential contender Newt Gingrich had to fend off charges about his own Twitter following last year, and even The New York Times has noted that a good portion of President Barack Obama's followers are fake.

Update: In a brief phone interview, Mr. Tischler said he was surprised by the huge number of followers and didn't know how they got there.

Tischler speaking to the crowd.

Avraham Tischler, a 21-year-old candidate running against establishment favorite Simcha Felder in the so-called "Super Jewish" state senate district, has a novel idea. Instead of saying he'll caucus with Democratic Minority Leader John Sampson or Republican Majority Leader Dean Skelos, Mr. Tischler, a Democrat, said he'll support Bronx State Senator Rubén Díaz instead.

Mr. Díaz would initially seem to be an odd choice for Mr. Tischler, but the state senator, a political gadfly known for his staunch socially conservative positions, allows Mr. Tischler to back a fellow Democrat without saying he'll back a liberal like Mr. Sampson.

"I would have voted for him to preserve our values," Mr. Tischler said yesterday afternoon at a Brooklyn Tea Party meeting. "I am conservative and anyone that has the best interests of the community, those are the people that I would work with. ... Rubén Díaz has a lot of values that are associated to a lot of my beliefs."

Meanwhile, Mr. Felder has been murky on who he'll support for senate leadership and has given seemingly conflicting answers when directly asked. The district's large Orthodox Jewish population strongly opposes gay marriage and the Senate Republican conference has been extensively courting the community, creating complicated politics for a Democratic candidate. Conversely, GOP State Senator David Storobin, running for reelection in the same district, proudly proclaims his support for Mr. Skelos.

Of course, the legislative rules don't exactly enable state senators to back whomever they want for majority and minority leaders, and the positions are instead filled by competing resolutions. Mr. Tischler indicated he might prefer the Republican side in this sort of scenario.

"Without a question, no," he said when an audience member asked if he would vote for Mr. Sampson.

"If that's what my community would like," he said when asked if he'd support Mr. Skelos.

Abraham Tischler (photo: ourcampaigns.com)

Abraham Tischler, who made headlines as an 18 year-old City Council candidate a couple years ago, is fully committed to running for the New York State Senate in a heavily Orthodox Jewish seat this year. Previously, he was somewhat vague about his intentions, telling us, “I can’t disclose anything yet but I am working on assembling this fast.”

According to a tipster in the district -- often referred to as the "Super Jewish" seat -- Mr. Tischler is "full force ahead" and has a complete set of volunteers hitting the streets and gathering signatures to get him on the ballot.

In order to be successful, he will need to do a better job at collecting signatures than in his 2010 campaign, where he was ultimately kicked off the ballot, leaving David Greenfield and Joe Lazar as the main candidates in a special election to replace Simcha Felder in the City Council (Mr. Greenfield ultimately won, of course).

Mr. Tischler's move places him on a collision course with history, as the establishment pick for his 2012 state senate race is Mr. Felder, who is widely considered the frontrunner.

The winner of the Democratic nomination is likely to face off against either attorney Nachman Caller or State Senator David Storobin in the general election. Mr. Storobin has said in the past that he would seek reelection in this district, substantially reconfigured in redistricting, but has not publicly committed to the campaign since he won his special election last week.

Abraham Tischler (photo: ourcampaigns.com)

Abraham Tischler made headlines in 2010 by running in the special election to replace Simcha Felder in the City Council -- despite being only 18 years old -- but it looks like he might be interested in making a couple more before all is said in done. Earlier today, he quietly filed for a new State Senate seat created in heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in Brooklyn.

In his last campaign, Mr. Tischler was ultimately kicked off the ballot by his rivals, including current Councilman David Greenfield, but now he's coming back onto the political scene and again running against the Democratic political establishment. His main opponent this time will actually be Mr. Felder, who is making his own return to campaign politics.

(A search for hints or rumors about Mr. Tischler's latest campaign turned up nothing, so it's probable that his campaign has not seriously ramped up yet.)

Over on the Republican side is attorney and likely future State Senator David Storobin and local businessman Nachman Caller.

Update: We talked to Mr. Tischler in a brief phone interview tonight, and, while not providing specifics, he said he would have an announcement soon.

"I'm working on the paperwork right now, and hopefully I will have exciting news in a couple days," he explained. "I can't disclose anything yet but I am working on assembling this fast."