(Photo: Facebook)

The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council, a relatively small union known for punching above its weight when it comes to electoral politics, has picked their candidate in the race to replace Council Speaker Chris Quinn: West Side community board chairman Corey Johnson. Josh Gold, HTC's political director, told Politicker that the race of particular importance to the union due to the growth of hotels there in neighborhoods like Midtown South and the Meatpacking District.

"Corey Johnson has been a community leader on the West Side for over a decade," Mr. Gold added in a statement. "He has fought for quality jobs, permanent affordable housing, community-minded development and raising the quality of life for residents in the neighborhoods he seeks to represent."

Referencing the union's high-profile contract dispute with the Central Park Boathouse--which involved taking out ads slamming the restaurant--Mr. Gold further said, "Corey has stood alongside our workers outside the Central Park Boathouse and we plan on standing beside him in his campaign for City Council."

Mr. Johnson is facing off against local activist Alexander Meadows and civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland. Thus far, Mr. Johnson and Ms. Kurland have been regularly rolling out various union endorsements, including TWU Local 100, CWA Local 1180, and District Council 37 for Ms. Kurland and RWDSU, SEIU 32BJ and UFCW 1500 for Mr. Johnson.

Ms. Quinn, of course, is term-limited and running for mayor, leaving a vacant seat behind her for the area's aspiring pols.

Corey Johnson (Photo: Facebook)

Corey Johnson, a young West Side community board chairman, isn't slowing down in his quest to replace term-limited Council Speaker Christine Quinn in 2013. To wit, Mr. Johnson, who already rolled out a list of 500 neighborhood leaders supporting his candidacy and maxed out his fundraising, added two notable union endorsements this morning: RWDSU and UFCW 1500.

“RWDSU proudly endorses Corey Johnson in his race for City Council,” Ademola Oyefeso, the retail workers union's political director, said in a statement, citing Mr. Johnson's support for progressive legislation. “Under his leadership, Manhattan Community Board 4 was the first in the entire City to come out in favor of a living wage bill. He will be a steadfast ally for working families on the Council."

For its part, the UFCW cited Mr. Johnson's opposition to Walmart entering the five boroughs, a staple issue for both labor organizations as the non-unionized mega-retailer could deplete their membership.

“Corey has stood up with us in the fight to keep Wal-Mart out of New York, and we know he will be a strong advocate for working people on the New York City Council,” Patrick Purcell, Assistant to the President of UFCW Local 1500, contended. “Corey will be a great partner on the New York City Council in fighting for an expansion of supermarkets with good paying jobs in communities that are in need of greater access to high quality food. We know he will stand up on behalf of those without a voice.”

Only one other candidate seems to have his or her hat in the ring at the moment: attorney Yetta Kurland. Ms. Kurland, who also hosts a political radio show that's relatively popular among left-leaning voters in the city, ran against Ms. Quinn in 2009 and performed solidly despite the incumbent's political stature.

Though the 2012 elections are still a month away, the 2013 races in New York City seem fully underway.

Tom Duane (Photo: Wikimedia)

Developments have continued to roll in for the race to replace retiring State Senator Tom Duane this week.

First, Corey Johnson, a Manhattan community board chair who was previously considering campaigning for the seat, announced that will forgo a campaign and instead endorse the establishment favorite Brad Hoylman, the chair of a neighboring community board.

"I'm proud to join the growing list of community leaders and elected officials who are endorsing Brad's candidacy for State Senate," Mr. Johnson said in a statement this afternoon. "Tom Duane leaves big shoes to fill -- he has served our neighborhoods on the West Side for over 20 years. Tom been an exemplary leader in fighting on behalf of tenants, for more affordable health care and making marriage equality the law of the land in New York."

"Brad has been a colleague as Chair of Community Board 2 with a sterling record of service on behalf of the neighborhoods he's represented," he continued. "I'm proud to support his campaign. He will be an leading voice of reform in Albany and an outstanding State Senator."

Additionally, several knowledgeable politicos in the district have said the owner of The Ritz bar in Hells Kitchen, Tommy Greco, is planning a campaign for the seat himself. Mr. Greco, the fundraising chair for the influential Jim Owles club and the executive vice president of the McManus Midtown Democratic Club, likely would be able to raise a solid amount of money for his electoral efforts.

If he pulls the trigger on a campaign, he might join Martha Speranza, who just filed a campaign committee for the seat today. The district number on the registration was Mr. Duane's old district, which was renumbered under redistricting, but as her address is listed smack in the middle of Mr. Duane's district, she may very well be a candidate for this seat. More details on Ms. Speranza's potential candidacy were not immediately available.

A fourth candidate, Tanika Inlaw, is also apparently in the race.

Update: Andrew Moesel, a spokesman for Mr. Greco's campaign, confirmed that they're taking off the ground.

"We are certaily planning on running, we are collecting petitions and attending local political club meetings," he explained. "We want to give people a real choice here. We think democracy should never be a coronation and he's making sure that it's not. Too often the insiders are controlling things."

*This post was updated with additional information on Ms. Speranza's filing. 

Brad Hoylman (Photo: Facebook)

It look likes retiring State Senator Tom Duane's pick to replace him is definitely getting into the race. Brad Hoylman, the Chairperson of Community Board 2 in Manhattan, has formally registered a campaign committee for the seat.

"One of my closest friends is Brad Hoylman and I've made no secret at all of my fondness for him," Mr. Duane said in an interview on Capital Tonight yesterday. "I haven't officially made an endorsement but I would be very proud to have Brad Hoylman represent me in the district that I have been representing and I think he would share my values and fight as hard as I have been fighting."

The move hardly comes as a surprise, Mr. Hoylman was already fully expected to run, but the fast developments are tribute to the fact that petitioning to get onto the ballot begins today and candidates for the the State Legislature have to push the gas pedal on their campaigns -- even if they haven't officially begun campaigning yet.

There is also a very limited time for other candidates to enter the race for that very reason. Various contenders for the seat have been mentioned in political circles -- including Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh -- but only one candidate, Corey Johnson, who chairs a neighboring community board, has openly declared that he is considering the race.

Like Mr. Hoylman, Mr. Johnson had previously been preparing to run for Council Speaker Christine Quinn's seat in 2013.

"In the less-than-24 hours since this news broke, a number of people have inquired about my potential interest in this seat. As many of you know, I have been preparing for a campaign for the City Council seat currently held by Speaker Quinn," he said in a statement yesterday. "I will be weighing this decision very carefully in the coming days, and will make an announcement in due course."

Regardless, other candidates will need to be making their announcements in a hurry, as otherwise they'll be sacrificing precious time to get enough signatures to place their names on the ballot.

Two openly gay members of the House of Representatives--Barney Frank of Massachusetts and Jared Polis of Colorado--are hosting a fundraiser for Mr. Johnson--at a townhouse tonight in the Logan Circle neighborhood of Washington D.C.

Tickets go for $50-$150, but because the soiree is in Washington D.C, it is unlikely that very many of the people there will be city residents, and those any contributions will not be able counted in the city's generous campaign finance matching program.

Mr. Johnson is one of the youngest community board chairs in the city, and has previously worked as an official for GLAAD. He faces some stiff competition in his first run for elected office, including civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland, who ran a fierce race against Ms. Quinn in 2009, and Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

It is worth noting that Mr. Frank, who is slated to retire at the end of the year, has been one of the foremost voices in Congress decrying the influence of money in politics.

Corey Johnson (Photo: Facebook)

The race to replace term-limited Council Speaker Christine Quinn looks like it's already well underway. Two of the four likely candidates, local community board chairs Corey Johnson and Brad Hoylman, have already registered campaign committees and Mr. Johnson recently sent out a statement indirectly criticizing Mr. Hoylman over his day job, where he works as the executive vice president and general counsel for the business friendly lobbying group Partnership for New York City.

"Anyone who decides to run for office has a responsibility to tell the voters where they stand on key issues," Mr. Johnson declared, noting the Partnership's opposition to the living wage bill passed earlier this week. "This is especially true for a candidate who serves as a paid lobbyist for the 1%. If that candidate can't - or won't - answer questions on where he stands on core issues of economic justice, voters have little choice but to assume that he stands against the 99%."

City & State already speculated the organization could force an interesting balancing act for Mr. Hoylman, as the "personal politics he espouses are liberal" while his employer opposes much of the prominent progressive legislation going before the City Council. As the Democratic primary electorate is likely to be even more liberal than the district as a whole, Mr. Johnson undoubtedly hopes the Partnership's conservative positions on business regulation becomes a key issue in the race.

"The greatest threat to New York’s long-term economic viability is the growing income inequality that is exacerbated by the Partnership's efforts to stop working people from earning a fair wage," Mr. Johnson also said about the group. "While they’re lobbying to maximize profits for Wall Street and wealthy developers, middle class people are struggling to pay their rent and household bills. On this issue, and on all issues that affect people’s livelihoods, the Council needs to listen to working families – not the paid lobbyists for the 1%."

Attempts to discuss the Partnership's potential impact in the campaign with Mr. Hoylman over the past week were unsuccessful as they were repeatedly rescheduled.

It should be noted, of course, that neither Mr. Johnson or Mr. Hoylman are official candidates in the race yet, and much of the campaign back-and-forth is still to come. Other likely candidates included civil rights attorney Yetta Kurland and Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation.

Update: As a point of correction, Mr. Hoylman previously worked as a lobbyist for the Partnership, but doesn't currently do so.

Mr. Johnson, who is one of the youngest Community Board Chairmen in the city, previously worked as deputy director for programs at GLAAD.

He was among the expected candidates in the potential field that includes Yetta Kurland, an attorney who hosts her own radio show, Brad Hoylman, the chair of Community Board 2, and Andrew Berman, the executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation.

Interestingly, as City & State pointed out, all of these candidates identify as LGBT and the race highlights some of the disagreements and political divisions within the community.

Update: In a brief interview, Mr. Johnson told The Politicker he is definitively exploring a run, but hadn't made a final decision yet.

"I think any candidate who opens up a campaign commtitee is definitely exploring the race," he said. "I'm setting things up to be able to have the resources when things ripen a little more. 2013 is a long way away, we still have to get through the state and presidential elections."

Asked for his motivations for running, Mr. Johnson cited a range of issues.

"I think that the Council and Council Members deal with the major ssues that affect the quality of life in their districts," he explained. "Affordable housing is one of the most important and key issues along with keeping really good public schools. ... Also I think it's really important we have smart land-use policies."