Malcolm Smith (Photo: Getty)

Hell hath no fury like a county organization scorned.

Multiple Democratic insiders confirmed to Politicker that Queens State Senator Malcolm Smith, the fifth member of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference, could face a primary challenger in 2014. Mr. Smith, it should be noted, has flirted with running for mayor as a Republican and is not going out of his way to strengthen his Democratic bonafides.

“It’s clear that Malcolm Smith is on his last term in the Senate,” said one source. “Caucusing with Republicans is not a viable tactic."

One strong challenger for Mr. Smith, the Democrat explained, would be Councilman Leroy Comrie, a loyal party stalwart who's been exploring a bid for Queens Borough President but has yet to post a formidable fundraising haul to indicate he's fully in the race. Both Mr. Smith and Mr. Comrie hail from overwhelmingly Democratic neighborhoods in southeastern Queens where the electorate is unlikely to be sympathetic to the Republican cause. Adding fuel to the partisan fire for Mr. Smith, the Senate Democrats have much of their campaign operations based in the borough and targeting him is sure to be high on their minds come 2014.

Another Queens Democrat confirmed a Comrie challenge has been talked about, though he was unsure if the Democratic Party would want to inject Mr. Comrie into a potentially nasty primary. Spokespeople for the hypothetical rivals did not immediately return requests for comment.

“[Comrie challenging Smith] is certainly an option,” the second insider said. “I don’t know if county will want to subject Comrie to that sort of race. For all of Comrie’s options, it’s going to be the question: can he put the money together?”

But it might not just be Queens where the Democratic Party is pondering campaigns against the breakaway IDC's members. For example, newly-minted Kings County Democratic Chairman Frank Seddio has harshly criticized Democratic Senator-elect Simcha Felder's decision to directly caucus with the GOP and even explored ways to expel him from the party. Staten Island Senator Diane Savino is an IDC member who also represents parts of Brooklyn and we reached out to Mr. Seddio's spokesman, George Arzt, and asked if the Brooklyn organization might be mulling a primary challenge against Ms. Savino as well.

Mr. Arzt replied to Politicker's email with a simple "YES."

Of course, some things are easier said than done, and Ms. Savino enjoys the support of Staten Island's Democratic Party and would not appear anywhere near as vulnerable as Mr. Smith. Not campaigning for mayor as a Republican could also work in  her favor.

Update (11:30 a.m.): Mr. Smith's spokesman, Hank Sheinkopf, responded by pointing to the still-devastated parts of the district in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. 

"Senator Smith is busy helping victims of Sandy recover, spending time making homes habitable and putting food on the table," Mr. Sheinkopf explained. "This is a moment of concern for victims of a serious disaster. It's not a time for politics."

Update (1:20 p.m.): Scott Levenson, a consultant for Ms. Savino, added, "Senator Savino is confident that the voters care more about issues like campaign finance reform and minimum wage then party bosses and their labels."

Additional reporting by Colin Campbell

Mr. Markowitz, of course, was referring to Mr. Seddio's ascendancy in the Kings County Democratic Party after sexual harassment allegations destroyed Assemblyman Vito Lopez's ability to hold onto the reins of power. Now, Mr. Seddio's annual holiday party, entitled Canarsie Christmas, is the place to be for Brooklyn pols seeking the formal backing of the borough's Democratic establishment, as well as anyone who enjoys gigantic Christmas displays.

"Thank you for keeping this tradition done every year," Mr. Markowitz added. "Not only is it great for those that celebrate Christmas, but a lot of us that celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas because of Frank Seddio! Happy holidays! Happy Kwanzaa! Happy--merry Christmas! Happy every holiday we celebrate in Brooklyn and then some!"

Although the rain dampened the crowd, a number of other elected officials made the trek to praise Mr. Seddio, who was dressed in a Santa costume complete with a hat encircled with blinking Christmas lights. The list of politicians in attendance included State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli making his inaugural pilgrimage to the event, likely candidates for the Brooklyn borough presidency Councilman Domenic Recchia and State Senator Eric Adams, and Councilwoman Tish James, who's campaigning citywide for public advocate. There were also at least two mayoral counters, former Comptroller Bill Thompson and current Comptroller John Liu.

"Even when he was a nobody he used to come here," Mr. Seddio fondly said in his introduction of Mr. Thompson, probably the favored candidate of Brooklyn's political establishment. “It's my hope that God gives him all of the wishes that he has."

"Thank you Frank. If it's wrapped up in my tree, it means I'll be the next mayor of the City of New York," Mr. Thompson responded as he took the stage. "Look, let me just say to everybody, the Seddio tradition--not just in Canarsie, all across of New York--people from all over the city come here during the holiday season. It makes it just a little bit more special."

Click through the slideshow above to see pictures of Mr. Seddio's spectacular holiday festival of lights and animatronics.

(Photo: George Arzt Communications, Inc.)

Move over Governor Cuomo. As we explained when Frank Seddio emerged on top of the Kings County Democratic Party, nobody does Christmas like Mr. Seddio. He loves the holiday. A lot.

Mr. Seddio, who has a personal Facebook page named "Canarsie Christmas," hosts a massive annual holiday display at his home in Canarsie that has included balletic animatronic smurfs, countless lights and earned legions of local fans make an annual pilgrimage to E. 93rd Street to view his Christmas decorations.

Though Mr. Seddio's new position as Brooklyn Democratic Chairman means he has far more political duties than he did this time last year, there's no stopping his Christmas cheer and he is ready to come back in full force. To wit, public relations guru George Arzt sent out a 11-paragraph press release detailing the upcoming unveiling of Mr. Seddio's holiday exhibition, which notes the mammoth $300,000 display will have "500,000 lights, almost 100 animated dolls, and a talking Christmas tree."

We have reprinted Mr. Arzt's full statement below, so those of you who are unable to journey to Canarsie to have the pleasure of experiencing Mr. Seddio's masterpiece in person can have a taste of what's in store:

The Seddio family today announced the lighting of their Annual Holiday Display for
December 9, 2012 at 5 p.m. The display is located at the Law of Abrams Fensterman, Fensterman, Eisman, Formato, Ferrara & Einiger LLP on the corner of Flatlands Avenue and East 93rd Street, in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn.

The opening night features musical renditions by local groups as well as a live Santa, elves and a dozen costumed characters. This year choral renditions will be provided by the Public School 115 chorus and the choir of Mary Queen of Heaven. Christmas carols will be played on steel drums by the "Pan Fusion" Steel Band. The event is open to the public.

This magnificent collage of lights, animated figures and talking animatronics has been a Brooklyn tradition since 1963 attracting visitors from around the borough and the city.

Valued at over $300,000, the display includes over 500,000 lights, almost 100 animated dolls, and a talking Christmas tree. This year also features a new addition in a four foot parrot which sings and tells jokes.

Eight separate displays illustrate a different holiday celebration. Santa's workshop includes eight shiny reindeer, elves making toys and Santa himself and is followed by a 15-foot toy soldier who guards the entire display. The inner yard of the property is in circled by an army of toy soldiers riding a carousel of reindeer -- over 10 feet in diameter. Other new arrival this year is Papa Smurf and Smurfette ice skating across the front lawn.

Displays include a Van Deer Christmas and a host of Disney characters led by is second only to Mickey and Minnie Mouse decorating an eight foot animatronic singing Christmas tree, nicknamed "Stumpy."

Children stand in front of the Winter Wizard has he recites the "Night before Christmas" in recognition of Brooklyn's multi culturalism. The vignettes are also dedicated to Chanukah and Kwanza.

The display is topped off with a 10-foot high hot air balloon festooned with lights and a 12-foot Ferris wheel which circles the front lawn with a cast of Sesame Street characters.

Construction of the display is solely done by volunteers and typically takes the entire month of November to finish.

This year, the lights will be display dedicated to a noted individual who has served the Canarsie community. They will be displayed in memory of Francky Aleger, a New York auxiliary officer who lived in Canarsie and died this past spring.

Frank Seddio, Chairman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is a life-long Canarsie resident. He has been active in numerous community organizations throughout his career and raised his family in this house, which is now his law office.

Frank Seddio standing outside of his law office at Christmastime. (Photo: Facebook)

"I'll tell you what. Monday is Columbus Day, I usually cook something," Frank Seddio, the newly-elected Chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party said to begin our conversation in his Canarsie law office earlier today. "I'll make you some eggplant parmesan. No reporters, just come as a person. Eggplant parmesan. I'm making a real special Sicilian dish that's called 'pasta con le sarde.' It's macaroni with sardines and it tastes ten times better than it sounds!"

We met Mr. Seddio in the morning, so the table before us lacked trays of food, but reporters interviewing him earlier this week were plowed full of macaroni, meatballs, sausages and breaded Italian-style chicken, he said, ticking off the list of dishes he had offered others. At one point in our discussion, a mailman walked in the room and Mr. Seddio urged him to drop by his Columbus Day feast as well. "Everybody comes to eat here when we have food," he said.

As the head of one of the largest Democratic county organizations in the United States, Mr. Seddio clearly isn't what one would expect from his position, which is often referred to as "political boss." For example, Mr. Seddio's predecessor, Assemblyman Vito Lopez, was an imposing, old-school type, known for intimidation tactics and demanding fierce loyalty. Mr. Lopez eventually saw his control of the county party burst into flames when two sexual harassment claims were placed against him and found "credible" by the Assembly Ethics Committee, a situation which could lead to criminal charges. Several of Mr. Lopez's predecessors were indicted for corruption and Mr. Lopez was under federal investigation for years before the sexual harassment charges dropped.

Mr. Seddio, in contrast, is a genial lawyer passionate about esoteric hobbies in addition to backroom wheeling-and-dealing. Indeed, with all of the drama surrounding Mr. Lopez's political implosion and the subsequent maneuvering to succeed him, the new leader said serving pasta was his "therapy" and kept him relaxed.

His other passion? Christmas.

"I have about 500 moving animated dolls along with 500,000 lights, without exaggeration," Mr. Seddio said, showing us photographs of his decorations going twenty-five years back. Online, he has a personal Facebook page entitled "Canarsie Christmas" rather than his given name. "I kid around and tell people we even coordinate with Rockefeller Center because we don't want to take any crowds away from them. When we have an opening night here--this year it's December 2nd--we have anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000 people out and we close the street."

"On any given Saturday or Sunday in November, if you come by, there'll be twenty people calling 'Uncle Frank' out," he explained. "I'm kind of the maestro of it. There was a time when I'd climb up a ladder or be hanging off the roof, but I'm too old and too fat to be doing that these days."

Mr. Seddio describes his priorities in life as, in order, his grandchildren, Christmas and then politics. He added his wife should also be included somewhere near the top as well. “I got to go home at night," he said, laughing.

"It's an interesting point, I loved politics my whole life," Mr. Seddio energetically answered when we asked why he wanted to be Brooklyn's Democrat-in-charge. "I love being with people. I get involved in campaigns. It's like adrenaline.

To prove the point, Mr. Seddio shared a story.

"I remember many years ago," he began. "I was sitting in a doctor's office with somebody who's very involved in politics--his kids and mine went to the same allergy doctor--and he's complaining every week. I say to him, 'Why do you this?' He says, 'You know Frank, there's that one time you work and the person you work for gets elected, and the thrill of that is almost like, there can't be anything better.' Actually, he says it's almost as good as sex."

Mr. Seddio said he began his political career by volunteering for campaigns and joining the influential Thomas Jefferson Democratic Club when he was just 18-years-old. Mr. Seddio would eventually rise to become the organization's president, and after powerful local Assemblyman Tony Genovesi died in a car accident in 1998, Mr. Seddio was appointed to be his replacement.

"I'm not crazy about Albany," he said of his time in the State Legislature. "Probably one of the most exciting things you can do in Albany is on Tuesday mornings, they have the specials at the local supermarkets, you get there early enough you can get the good buys on things. But it was an interesting experience, a great learning experience."

After serving six years in the State Assembly, Mr. Seddio accepted the nomination to become a surrogate judge, where he only served a brief stint before resigning. At the time of his departure from the judiciary, the Commission on Judicial Conduct launched an investigation into political contributions he gave from his Assembly campaign account. In our interview, he claimed he left the bench to pursue a run for the City Council, but was thwarted when the City Council extended term-limits in 2009.

Instead, Mr. Seddio ran for a district leader position that opened up when local powerbroker Bernie Catcher passed away in 2010. He quickly became one of the more influential district leaders in county politics, no small thanks due to the Thomas Jefferson Club's ability to deliver votes and gather petition signatures over a wide swath of territory.

As Mr. Seddio worked his way through the Party's ranks, Mr. Lopez ruled the Kings County Democratic organization by instigating a constant state of civil war and running primary challenges against legislators who opposed him. Now that he's in charge, Mr. Seddio said he plans to do things differently and vowed to not back challenges to incumbent Democrats.

"We've started not only with words, but with actions," Mr. Seddio said when asked to contrast his leadership style with Mr. Lopez's contentious one. “The good thing is that I don't have a shit list. As a matter of fact, a lot of my friends say I'm the worst Sicilian they've ever met, because I never remember why I'm mad at anybody. It's just not worth it. Anger and hate are too time consuming, they use too much energy, it doesn't serve any purpose."

Indeed, when Mr. Seddio took over the party last month, he immediately gave plum political positions to his critics and skeptics. He also eliminated the controversial "at-large" district leaders who were undemocratically appointed by past county leaders and mounted an aggressive charm offensive with multiple visits to reform-oriented clubs that would have probably preferred someone else lead the county Democrats.

"New Democratic County Leader Frank Seddio has visited CBID, IND and LID to present himself to the reform Democratic clubs in Northwest Brooklyn. He brought awesome cannolis with him to each meeting," Chris Owens, one of the few district leaders to openly back alternatives to Mr. Seddio after Mr. Lopez's collapse, wrote on Facebook last night. "In general, Mr. Seddio's presentations were engaging and generally informative; it appears he will be making a concrete attempt to create a different culture within the Democratic Party leadership structure."

Councilman Lew Fidler, one of Mr. Seddio's closest political allies, similarly sees future progress in the Kings County Democratic Party under Mr. Seddio's leadership.

"Time and trust will heal our wounds. Remembering why we are all Democrats to begin with will heal wounds. Making the trip to (proverbial) China is a good beginning, a gesture of good faith and intentions," he said in an email to Politicker this afternoon. "Of course, the cannolis can't hurt. Wait til he takes them to a deli!"

For his part, Mr. Seddio urged patience. “Tell me the progress we've made in six months," he said of potential criticism. "If I've done it right, I'm hoping that you'll give me the credit for it. If I haven't and I actually misled you, you can call me a bum."

Mr. Seddio also promised not to let his new position go to his head.

"I think you got to remember the Roman emperors, whenever a conquering general came into Rome to be honored, he'd have somebody--a poet or a philosopher--riding with the general and say, 'Remember thou art mortal,'" he explained. "That's kinda what you got to do. It's not about you; it's about doing the right thing."

After all, he has other things on his mind.

"I don't really have an ego about this right now," he said. "Except for Christmas."

Your next county leader. (Photo: Facebook)

Assemblyman Karim Camara, who was for a time the one hope reformers had to block Frank Seddio from succeeding Vito Lopez as the head of the Kings County Democratic Party, officially backed Mr. Seddio this afternoon in a move to unify the party right before the vote to replace Mr. Lopez. Barring a large meteor striking the planet or a something of that magnitude, Mr. Seddio now seems all but certain to be the new leader of the Kings County Democratic establishment.

Mr. Camara said he was particularly heartened by Mr. Seddio endorsing the removal of the controversial "at-large" district leaders, who were simply appointed by past county leaders and had an equal vote as the democratically elected leaders in terms of shaping the direction of the county organization.

"While I am honored that so many people whom I respect and whose opinions I value would like me to run, I am confident that Frank Seddio, will work to establish the inclusive, unified and transparent Kings county political party that so many are yearning for," he said. "Through a series of meetings and conversations with Frank I have heard firsthand his willingness to broaden the Kings county leadership team in a way that is unparalleled in recent Kings county history."

He added, "That step alone is already unifying a party that had become Balkanized and distracted from its goal of electing good Democrats and being a progressive beacon for the state."

View Mr. Camara's full statement to the press below:

"When the Kings County leader announced several weeks ago that he would not seek another term as County Leader, I believed that there was a real opportunity for change and a fresh start for the Democratic party here in Brooklyn. Under the right leadership, we could harmonize the discordant voices within our party, expand the decision making circle so that it represents the wisdom of the entire party, and reform the county rules in order to have a vibrant organization with transparency and accountability of action. Since that time, many good Democrats and labor leaders --both inside and outside of Brooklyn-- have urged me to run for County Leader. They believed that I could unify the party, make it more inclusive, and implement the reforms necessary so that the Kings County organization was the envy of other party organizations across the state.

"While I am honored that so many people whom I respect and whose opinions I value would like me to run, I am confident that Frank Seddio, will work to establish the inclusive, unified and transparent Kings county political party that so many are yearning for. Through a series of meetings and conversations with Frank I have heard firsthand his willingness to broaden the Kings county leadership team in a way that is unparalleled in recent Kings county history. That step alone is already unifying a party that had become Balkanized and distracted from its goal of electing good Democrats and being a progressive beacon for the state. In addition, Kings County will now have real reform, including the elimination of party leadership controlled "at large district leaders", increased party meetings to discuss the important issues of the moment, and full transparency and accountability on the party's fiscal matters. Further, Frank and I served briefly in the state legislature together and, from knowing him for several years, I know that he has the exact people skills and passion we need. I am confident that he will lead this county into an era of good will and good deeds. I look forward to being a part of the leadership team in Brooklyn to help make this happen."

Hakeem Jeffries and Walter Mosley campaigning outside P.S. 375 in Crown Heights. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

Last Thursday, Walter Mosley was elected to succeed Hakeem Jeffries in Brooklyn's 57th Assembly District. Mr. Mosley was supported by Mr. Jeffries, who left the seat to run a successful congressional campaign, and the race was largely seen as a referendum on Mr. Jeffries' ability to deliver for another candidate in his Central Brooklyn base. Politicker sat down with Mr. Jeffries yesterday to get his post-game analysis on Mr. Mosley's campaign and the endorsements that didn't go their way. Mr. Jeffries also talked about his plans for moving to Washington, his thoughts on the future of the Brooklyn Democratic Party in the wake of the Vito Lopez scandal and discussed ringing the opening bell at NASDAQ on the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests.

Mr. Jeffries said he was quite happy with the result of Thursday's election, which, according to unofficial results from the Board of Elections, Mr. Mosley won by a margin of about 33 percent over his closest competitor, Ola Alabi.

"We were extremely pleased that Walter Mosley prevailed," said Mr. Jeffries. "He's a great candidate and will continue to provide the people of the 57th Assembly District with the public service that they deserve moving forward. These remain very challenging times. There are a lot of issues that need to be resolved in the State Legislature. I'm confident that Walter Mosley is the right man for the job. I'm very pleased that an overwhelming majority of the public reached that conclusion as well."

Mr. Jeffries' margin of victory in his June congressional race against Councilman Charles Barron was about 42 percent, even bigger than Mr. Mosley's margin last week. We asked whether he thought their respective results indicated a new movement or base coalescing around him in Central Brooklyn.

"I'll leave the term movement to my good friends out in East New York," Mr. Jeffries said referring to Mr. Barron. "Good public service makes for good politics. Over the last six years, I've worked as hard as I can to be the best possible public servant and I'm thankful that it has translated into an ability to generate excitement and support amongst the electorate."

Despite his hesitation to use the word movement, Mr. Jeffries said he believes a "partnership" between himself, Mr. Mosley and Councilwoman Tish James in the area came out of the recent pair of races. Ms. James supported both Mr. Jeffries and Mr. Mosley. Mr. Jeffries said this group will be ideally positioned to address the main challenges facing Central Brooklyn, which he identified as gun violence and the "foreclosure crisis."

"These problems will require intense intervention and relationships that will span city, state and federal offices," said Mr. Jeffries. "One of the wonderful things about this campaign is that the partnership that emerged between Walter, Council member James and myself will translate into our capacity to govern in a way that will improve the quality of life for the people that we serve."

Though Mr. Jeffries is optimistic about new alliances coming from this summer's campaigns, not everyone was on board with him and Mr. Mosley in their races. Notably, DC37, New York's largest municipal public employee union endorsed both Mr. Jeffries' erstwhile opponent, Mr. Barron, and Mr. Mosley's rival, Ms. Alabi. Mr. Jeffries was decidedly not complimentary about the union's picks. He also cited other labor unions who did back him and Mr. Mosley.

"DC37 supported a candidate in June and a candidate in September, those candidates lost by a combined 75 points and I think the results speak for themselves,"  Mr. Jeffries said. "We did receive an extraordinary level of support from labor organizations in June like 1199, 32BJ, CWA and the TWU. In the Assembly race, Walter received tremendous support from the UFT and we are both looking forward to continue our partnership with organized labor moving forward on behalf of working families all across New York City."

Another endorsement that didn't go to Mr. Mosley's was that of The New York Times, which backed Martine Guerrier, who came in a distant third behind Mr. Mosley and Ms. Alabi with just 6.93 percent of the vote in the unofficial results. Mr. Jeffries speculated the Times wanted to support someone unconnected to the political establishment given the recent scandal surrounding the leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Assemblyman Vito Lopez.

"The New York Times is always a critical endorsement. In this particular race, they decided to support a candidate who was the most disconnected from the existing political infrastructure given all that is happening with the State Legislature and the County organization," said Mr. Jeffries. "I can understand the decision of the Times editorial board to support an outsider. In this particular case, Walter Mosley was the best candidate and, not withstanding some of the endorsements that went against him, we were able to convince a significant majority of the people that he would best represent their interests."

Since Mr. Jeffries alluded to the situation with Mr. Lopez, we asked who he believes will be chosen to replace the former party boss.

"It's still too early to speculate, even though the election for next County Leader will take place next Wednesday. There are so many different factors that come into play, particularly some of the results in this past primary election where at least two and possibly more incumbent District Leaders lost," Mr. Jeffries said. "The landscape is still undefined. Frank Seddio is a strong candidate and Karim Camara has been a tremendous legislator who's got the respect of many important institutions all across the State of New York. We'll see what unfolds over the next few days."

Many observers have counted Mr. Camara out of the race due to eligibility rules that bar those who have not served as District Leaders from running for County Leader. Mr. Jeffries said he believes these regulations should be changed "to provide for the selection of the best possible candidate." With the race for County Leader coming up so soon, it seems like a longshot that the rules would be changed in time for Mr. Camara to take the position, but Mr. Jeffries seems to think he has a chance.

"Anything can happen in politics, particularly in Brooklyn," said Mr. Jeffries of the possibility the regulations could be modified in time for Mr. Camara to run for the office.

As far as his own future, Mr. Jeffries is in the process of making arrangements for himself and his family when he has to travel to Washington to serve in the House of Representatives.

"I'm a Brooklynite, will always be a Brooklynite and look forward to aggressively representing the people in Brooklyn and in Queens in the 8th Congressional District. My family will remain here in Brooklyn and I'm going to spend as much time as I can here in the District," he said.

Because he wants to stay in New York as much as possible, aides to Mr. Jeffries told us he was considering sleeping in his House office rather than setting up a more permanent living situation in Washington. However, Mr. Jeffries told us he quickly abandoned that idea once he learned about the conditions in the House office buildings.

"It was a passing thought, but I quickly disabused myself of that notion when one of the current members of Congress who does sleep in his office warned the rest of us to be concerned about the growing rodent infestation problem," said Mr. Jeffries.

In the meantime, before he heads down to D.C., Mr. Jeffries still has plenty keeping him busy here in New York. This morning he rang the opening bell at NASDAQ. Today is the first anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street protests and protesters announced plans to disrupt the markets this morning. Mr. Jeffries wasn't worried about protests disrupting today's opening bell.

"I think the Occupy Wall Street movement was a very fruitful movement as it relates to shining a spotlight on income inequality and economic injustice," he said. "The one year anniversary will appropriately mark a movement that did contribute to an important public policy dialogue in America, but I'm otherwise unconcerned that it will be disruptive in a way that would cast the movement in a negative light."

Indeed, though the financial district was filled with protesters, police and arrests this morning, the markets opened without a hitch.

Frank Seddio (Photo: Facebook)

Last night, Brooklyn's African American district leaders met in an effort to emerge with a united voice for Assemblyman Karim Camara to replace Assemblyman Vito Lopez as the chairman of the borough's Democratic Party in the wake of his sexual harassment scandal. According to multiple accounts of people familiar with the meeting, this effort was unsuccessful.

The plan was to consolidate a significant number of district leader votes for Mr. Camara, which would provide a counterweight to the establishment favorite Frank Seddio for Mr. Lopez's job. However, a substantial number of African American district leaders did not attend the meeting, Mr. Camara apparently wasn't making the necessary calls, and not everyone agreed that all the stops needed to be pulled out for Mr. Camara's candidacy.

Consensus did emerge to meet with the county leader candidates, however.

"Home from meeting with Black State Committee members in Brooklyn. Consensus: Meet with all County Leader candidates during weekend of 9/15, then move from there," one of the attendees, Chris Owens, posted on Facebook. "Possible candidates at the moment: Karim Camara, Felix Ortiz, Frank Seddio, Jo Anne Simon ...?"

Even before the meeting, sources told the Politicker that Mr. Seddio had the necessary number of votes secured to become district leader, so last night's development only cements that further.

"It is apparent there was not consensus among the African-American district leaders, which will in all likelihood ensure Seddio is the new boss," one disappointed critic of the establishment told us.

For his part, Mr. Seddio has been going on a confident media tour to introduce himself. He pitched himself as a change candidate to the Daily News, and said of one of his rivals, Ms. Simon, “It’s kind of like running a marathon, where I’m coming in number one and she’s number 6,367.”

Karim Camara (photo: assembly.state.ny.us)

The race to replace Assemblyman Vito Lopez as the head of the Kings County Democratic Party wages on tonight.

Supporters of Frank Seddio are privately very confident they have secured enough votes, but those hoping for a win by Assemblyman Karim Camara are meeting right now to plan their upset and capture the needed majority of the county's district leader vote.

The plan in question is effectively a double-bank shot.

First, they need unity among the county's black district leaders in order for their campaign to have credibility going forward. Of Brooklyn's 53 elected district leaders, at least 15 of them are African-American, so this would be no small number if they act in unison. However, this is also no easy task as these leaders have diverse backgrounds and do not automatically represent a monolithic block. As one source told the Politicker, "There are a lot of egos at play."

"The biggest obstacle to this is the black members themselves," Mona Davids, who's president of the consulting firm The Protea Group and has been monitoring the negotiations, explained. "They need to come together."

Indeed, there are already signs of disunity. Multiple sources said Jesse Hamilton, the district leader in Mr. Camara's seat who aims to run for higher office soon, has shown resistance to the idea of resigning his position so that a majority of the district leaders, if they so desire, can vote Mr. Camara in to replace him. This is a prerequisite to making Mr. Camara eligible for Mr. Lopez's position, but there is a workaround of implementing a rules change to allow non-district leaders to serve as the county's top Democrat. This would also take a majority of the vote.

If tonight's meeting goes swimmingly and the black district leaders emerge unified, the thought is that other district leaders then might start to look at Mr. Camara as viable and consider aligning with him. As Mr. Camara's support builds, Mr. Seddio's political opponents then plan to set their sights on the 11 "at-large" district leaders, which were hand-selected by previous county bosses. Six were selected by Mr. Lopez in 2010, and caused controversy at the time, even from establishment players like Councilman Lew Fidler, as the added Lopez loyalists diluted the strength of existing district leaders' votes.

Mr. Camara's backers hope to try and reignite that outrage and secure a majority of the vote to remove these district leaders. After all, their argument goes, why should Mr. Lopez's "cronies" still be around weighting the vote in his favor when Mr. Lopez is no longer the county leader? However, this is not necessarily a simple maneuver as those eleven district leaders will very much get to participate in the vote for their own existence. And Mr. Seddio's backers may not want to play along, of course.

"This vote-counting process is more complicated than people are counting," one supporter of Mr. Camara's countered when we brought up this difficulty. "These are Vito's at-large leaders, not Frank's."

As any vote to replace Mr. Lopez is likely to be weeks away -- after the September 13th primary elections, where several leaders are retiring and others are facing competitive elections -- the supporter went on to say that they will have time to make the case for Mr. Camara.

That is, if everything goes according to plan.

Vito Lopez and Frank Seddio (Photo: Facebook)

With Assemblyman Vito Lopez's announcement that he will not seek to continue his leadership in the Kings County Democratic Party, the race to replace him has currently shifted its focus to three names: District Leader Frank Seddio, Assemblyman Karim Camara and District Leader Jo Anne Simon. Mr. Seddio, an establishment favorite, is currently the frontrunner, and sources told Politicker that county insiders believe he's already secured the necessary number of votes.

Ms. Simon's and Mr. Camara's paths to challenging Mr. Seddio are not equally steep, however.

Ms. Simon is most aligned with the reform-minded wing of the party, which controls roughly three votes out of the fifty-three total district leaders. On the other hand, Mr. Camara could potentially unite the reform vote with many of the African-American district leaders, eager to have their presence felt. While Mr. Camara, who endorsed the Lopez-backed candidacy of Councilman Erik Dilan when he challenged Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, isn't the typical anti-Lopez reformer, he has shown some breaks with the establishment and has stature as the chairman of the Legislature’s Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus.

However, Mr. Camara is not a current or former district leader and would thus need either a rules change or another district leader, Jesse Hamilton, resigning in the hopes that Mr. Camara could take his position in a special vote to replace him. Sources told the Politicker that some district leaders are meeting today to explore that very possibility.

Another problem Mr. Camara acknowledged could potentially block his path is the 11 at-large members hand-selected by previous leaders, including Mr. Lopez. This is a fairly reasonable concern, as in a vote taken last year to replace outgoing District Leader Darryl Towns, these unelected votes helped hand Mr. Lopez a 36 to 10 margin against a sitting congressman, Ed Towns, seeking his son's seat.

“I don’t know whether at-large members will be voting on who the next county leader is,” Mr. Camara told City & State. ”I would have to look at the rules and regulations of the state party and look at the legitimacy of that group. That’s something that would be the main question.”

At-large members, while undemocratic and controversially added in 2010, aren't necessarily uncommon. The New York Post reported that every other county organization in the city has them, with Staten Island's 14 at-large members equaling its total of elected ones. Kings County Democratic Party Rules dictate that its 11 at-large votes are weighed equally with the other 42, so either a rules change or outside intervention is needed to eliminate them.

Even discounting the at-large members -- the establishment-aligned list of which includes the president of Mr. Seddio's club -- Mr. Camara's path would not be easy, as Mr. Seddio is well-positioned to resurrect the coalition that first elected Mr. Lopez in 2005. And while there are multiple district leader races happening on September 13th, only a couple, notably Lincoln Restler's reelection bid, have the potential to really sway votes to or from Mr. Seddio, assuming Mr. Camara is able to consolidate support among the African-American community.

Indeed, Mr. Seddio, while declining to speak to the press, has all but openly campaigned for the position. Just this morning, Borough President Marty Markowitz announced an official endorsement for him, as Mr. Seddio "embraces the diversity of Brooklyn like I do, and among his greatest assets is the ability to work with everyone, being open and responsive to fresh ideas."

Those opposed to Mr. Lopez's rule, however, don't seem ready to give up without a fight, and plenty of political fireworks seem like they're ready to fire off.

Frank Seddio (Photo: Steve Solomonson/Brooklyn Daily)

It's now certain that Assemblyman Vito Lopez will not be sitting atop of the Kings County Democratic Party in the future, so now the question becomes who replaces him.

The speculation has traveled around between various potential candidates with varying degrees of probability. While it's impossible to discount other contenders, especially as there may be a big push for a female or minority candidate to replace Mr. Lopez, the early frontrunner seems to be Frank Seddio who has been calling around securing support for the bid.

"I mean I truly believe the party desperately needs someone who can bring everyone together," one Brooklyn politico who was not exactly a fan of Mr. Lopez's rule told us. "Someone who understands the nuances and dynamics of Brooklyn politics. And I really do think Frank could pull that off."

Here are five thinks to know about Mr. Seddio:

1. Frank Seddio Loves Christmas.

Mr. Seddio holds an epic Christmas display ever year. Epic.

"Smurfs will pirouette across the front lawn of Seddio’s E. 93rd Street home, whose shimmer-fest marks the beginning of the season of good cheer for the thousands of revelers who flock there each year to 'ooh' and 'aah,'" read a line from a Brooklyn Daily article on the subject a couple years ago, for example. There are many such articles.

More photos can be found on one of Mr. Seddio's Facebook pages, the one where his name is actually "Canarsie Christmas."

2. He's A Man Who's Worn Many Hats

From l998 to 2005, Mr. Seddio served in the State Assembly, leaving that post to become a surrogate judge, and currently serves as a district leader and state committeeman while working as an attorney during the day.

Mr. Seddio also heads one of the most powerful Democratic clubs in New York City. With a small army of club members truly willing to carry petitions and do the grunt work of campaigns, the Thomas Jefferson Club has managed to carve out a solidly Democratic slate in southeastern Brooklyn.

The area has been showing cracks in its blue exterior, however, with the upset special election wins of Congressman Bob Turner and State Senator David Storobin in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

3. He Has Some Political Baggage

He resigned from his short stint as judge after coming under investigation for political contributions he shouldn't have given in that role. He was not, however, convicted or even indicted for a crime. While not the biggest scandal in the world, if he took shots from the tabloids for it while a mere judge, expect the criticism to be renewed should he take the reins from Mr. Lopez's hands.

Mr. Seddio's loyalty is one of the reasons he's loved in some Brooklyn Democratic circles, but it may also come back to haunt him, as he also stood up for then-State Senator Carl Kruger after he was indicted on corruption charges.

“I stand on the belief that you stand by your friends," he said of Mr. Kruger, who's now in federal prison. "If that is something that would hurt me so be it. I am not going to shrink away from people that I have a relationship with just because someone made an allegation.”

Mr. Lopez and the influential nonprofit he founded have been under investigation for years, earning rebuke from reformers and good government groups, so Mr. Seddio may not be the clean break with Mr. Lopez's rocky tenure that some may be desiring.

4. It's Nothing New

Speculation about Mr. Seddio taking over for Mr. Lopez has been around since Mr. Lopez's investigations took off in 2010.  A City & State article from the time was entitled, "Post-Vito Future In Brooklyn Could Include The Return Of Frank Seddio."

“Seddio has advanced very nicely through his career being the qualified nice guy who’s around when there’s a need, and who is everybody’s second choice when their initial pick proves undoable,” one Brooklyn Democratic insider told the publication, citing Mr. Seddio, whom most would describe as genuinely likable, as a likely compromise candidate between the various factions in the county's party.

5. Replacing Lew Fidler

If Mr. Seddio takes the chairmanship, he could instantly scramble a race to replace term-limited Councilman Lew Fidler, as Mr. Seddio was previously a leading candidate for the seat and one cannot simultaneously serve as a political boss and city councilman.  Mr. Seddio had been running as the de facto establishment candidate for so long that it's not immediately clear who else may even be interested.

Several other candidates, notably Mercedes Narcisse, had also been in contention, and their path could potentially become a whole lot easier if Mr. Seddio were no longer in the race.

Or maybe it'll be someone else entirely who replaces Mr. Lopez. Regardless, these are exciting times in Brooklyn politics.