Erick Salgado (Photo: Facebook)

As the old saying goes, politics makes strange bedfellows, and that is certainly true in this year’s mayoral election. One dark-horse candidate is being backed by an alliance made from an odd coupling of religious Jews and Evangelical Christian Latinos to support his socially conservative yet resolutely Democratic agenda. In a city—and a mayoral race—where even Republicans tend to be socially liberal, a religious, right-wing Democrat is certainly a novelty. But Pastor Erick Salgado would like to be more than that. Mr. Salgado, who lives in Staten Island and claims his Iglesia Jovenes Cristianos, or Churdch of the Young Christians, now has “around twenty” congregations “in the New York area,” said Jews and Christians with conservative religious beliefs have been denied “the respect that they deserve” from the city’s dominant political party.

“We are Democrats; we don’t want to do this in another party, we want to do this here in this one,” he explained to Politicker when we spoke with him last week in a small campaign office a few blocks from one of his churches in Bath Beach

Mr. Salgado, a barrel-chested man who punctuates many of his sentences with a broad smile and a thick Spanish accent, was accompanied by several Orthodox Jewish political operatives who came in and out of the room throughout the conversation and a two-man security team, complete with Secret Service-style earpieces. Even after launching his mayoral bid earlier this year, Mr. Salgado still manages to preach before his flock multiple times a week. The messages he espouses in his church are markedly different from the philosophies of the other Democrats and even the Republicans in the mayor's race. All of the five major mayoral candidates are pro-choice and pro-same-sex marriage. Mr. Salgado stands out; he has made a name for himself railing against “mortal sins,” including abortion and homosexuality.

This discord is precisely what Mr. Salgado hopes will help him appeal to a disparate collection of religious groups he wants to coalesce into something like a conservative wing of the New York City Democratic Party. And Mr. Salgado fully intends to make an impact in the race. Since launching his campaign, he has attended a series of Democratic-oriented events, sent out regular press releases announcing clergy endorsements and even a lined up a de facto campaign manager in the form of Gregory Davidzon, an influential Russian-language media mogul and power broker who’s been profiled in The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Along with participating in fundraisers and connecting Mr. Salgado to Brooklyn's Russian-Jewish community, Mr. Davidzon hasn't been shy about praising the candidate on his weekly radio show.

“By the way, my last person ... [said], 'I don't know Erick Salgado at all,'” Mr. Davidzon said in an on-air interview earlier this month, labeling his candidate “the only one conservative Democrat in the race” while speaking with an accent even thicker than Mr. Salgado’s. “So our goal [is] to make sure that people know you more and more. Know your positions. Know you're the person.”

Mr. Salgado can play the part too, tailoring his message to the local Russian community’s strong Zionist tendencies with Mr. Davidzon’s help. In the interview, for example, Mr. Salgado spent most of his 20 minutes blasting Brooklyn College for hosting a forum that criticized the Israeli government while declaring himself “pro-Israel 100 percent.”

“It's a shame to accept this behavior in a college. In a college that is in the heart of Brooklyn where we have the biggest Jewish Orthodox community,” Mr. Salgado said. “This forum could ignite a more hates behavior again against people from Israel, here and in Israel as well. The forum is dangerous to us.”

Joseph Hayon, an Orthodox Jewish activist and early supporter of Mr. Salgado’s, was particularly emphatic about the Christian candidate’s interfaith appeal. He cited Mr. Salgado's stance on Mayor Bloomberg’s restrictions against a controversial circumcision process and a host of other policy issues as portions of his platform that appeal to religious Jewish voters.

“Erick Salgado will do everything he can to make sure that the circumcision regulation will be repealed,” Mr. Hayon told us. “He said he would repeal it. He's going to be 100 percent on the issues that we care about. Most issues that Orthodox Jews care about will not affect Gentiles. Circumcision does not affect Gentiles. [The Women, Infants and Children program] having kosher grape juice, that's not going to affect Gentiles. Yes, marriage is going to be something that affects them, that's probably the only thing. And abortion [and] vouchers.”

Mr. Salgado has indeed vowed to address concerns religious voters have about abortion and education, where parents who send their children to private, religious schools have long clamored for vouchers to defray their costs. Though his stance against gay marriage garnered a great deal of attention in the early coverage of his campaign--his most prominent backer, Bronx State Senator Rubén Díaz Sr., made a name for himself opposing New York's marriage equality law--Mr. Salgado conceded gay marriage, abortion and religious education are all issues largely beyond the purview of City Hall. At the same time, Mr. Salgado said he has identified some potential policies the mayor could pursue to address some of these issues.

“As mayor, I cannot prohibit abortion because, you know, that would depend on the federal government, but there’s a lot of things we could do,” explained Mr. Salgado. “They’re running a program with the morning after pill, giving a young child 12 or 13-years-old the morning after pill without the consent of the parents.”

Rather than strictly a religious issue, Mr. Salgado sees abortion as a problem for ethnic minorities in general.

“In minority communities, when you see the statistics of abortion in African-American communities, it’s almost sixty percent and Spanish [communities], fifty percent,” said Mr. Salgado. “I believe there’s an agenda to limit us over here. They are killing us and what am I supposed to do? Allow all of these liberals to go over there and continue killing my people? No, I’m standing up and I’m going to prevent this from happening.”

In many ways Mr. Salgado sees his background as a man of God as something that should give his mayoral bid appeal to minorities and low income communities beyond the religious community. Along with his conservative positions on social issues he also cites a desire to push for immigration reform as an impetus for his run.

“You have to understand, I believe in separation between the state and the religious institutions,” said Mr. Salgado. “At the same time, they don’t have to be enemies. They are serving the same kinds of communities and, whenever disaster happens in New York City … who do they call? They call the religious leaders, because we’re not here only to provide a religion, we’re here to help people in the community.”

Like the religious community, Mr. Salgado believes Latinos have been taken for granted by Democrats. Born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents, Mr. Salgado is the only Latino Democrat running in any of the citywide campaigns this year, including for mayor, comptroller and public advocate. Mr. Salgado believes this demographic advantage and the fact he is not a “career politician” will help him succeed beyond his nascent religious coalition.

As of now, Mr. Salgado is not making noise in the polls--in fact, he’s so far beneath the radar that pollsters haven’t bothered to include him as an option. Not a single rival campaign operative we talked to takes him seriously, but should the Democratic primary come down to a mere handful of votes, Mr. Salgado could potentially play a decisive role as a spoiler. Or, should no candidate meet the 40 percent vote threshold necessary to avoid a runoff, Mr. Salgado’s supporters could be a tangible part of the run-off coalition. One person active in Brooklyn's Russian community told us they believe Mr. Salgado's status as a potential threat to the main crop of candidates is actually Mr. Davidzon's main reason for supporting his campaign in the hopes it will enable him to earn favors from the other hopefuls.

"It's an insane move, but very typical of Davidzon," the insider said. "He has these grandiose, but insane ideas and nobody can convince him otherwise."

However, in spite of his long-shot status, Mr. Salgado maintains he is in the race to win it and will see it through to the end. His supporters also believe their interfaith, multi-ethnic, conservative, Democratic coalition is growing day by day.

“We are trying to put it together … with all the churches and the Christian community, Hispanic community, Bangladeshi community, all African-American communities and all the communities in New York that feel that we need a conservative Democrat,” Senator Díaz explained in an interview. “That’s the most important part of this thing, that mainly the people behind Erick Salgado, all the Jews, the Russians and … the Polish in Brooklyn. ... It’s a very nice coalition. I’m working on it and I’m very proud of it.”

Mr. Salgado and his motley crew have certainly proven interfaith bridges can be built among at least some of the city's more devout religious voters. This may not be enough to win him a place in Gracie Mansion, but his campaign's blueprint is certainly an interesting strategy that may make an appearance in other local races.

Ben Akselrod, left, standing with the Met Council's Willie Rapfogel (photo: metcouncil.org)

Democratic Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz may face a primary challenge from Ben Akselrod, multiple tipsters told The Politicker. Mr. Akselrod, they indicated, might even earn the support of Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez in his endeavor.

Mr. Akselrod, a politically active local who's been involved in multiple Jewish community organizations, could have additional appeal in the district's large Russian-speaking population that is growing into a powerful political force in southeastern Brooklyn.

Mr. Cymbrowitz hung onto a narrow victory in 2010 despite facing a candidate who spent only $600, and developments since have suggested his district has only gotten more friendly to the GOP. His seat was at the Republican epicenter of two recent special elections: Congressman Bob Turner's upset win in 2011 and David Storobin's surprisingly strong finish in a too-close-to-call State Senate election last month.

So, undoubtedly, this election will be a close one come November, but some Democrats have mused a Russian-speaking candidate like Mr. Akselrod could strengthen their position. On the other hand, taking out an incumbent in a Democratic primary is never a simple task.

Mr. Akselrod should enjoy the backing of influential Russian-language media mogul and power broker Gregory Davidzon. Mr. Davidzon told us he's waiting to see an official announcement from Ms. Akselrod and the final verdict on redistricting in the area before he makes an official endorsement. However, he anticipates he will give Mr. Akselrod his support.

"I think so, yes," Mr. Davidzon said when we asked if he planned to support Mr. Akselrod's candidacy. "I still hope the court will keep the district where most of the Russians live the same as it is now. There's so many things we don't know yet. I hear that he's going to run, but it's too early to say."

Calls seeking comment from Mr. Cymbrowitz and Mr. Akselrod were not returned.

David Storobin (Photo: Facebook)

The campaign of David Storobin, the Republican candidate in the special election to replace Carl Kruger in the State Senate, announced this evening they are pursuing a federal elections complaint against Russian-language media force Gregory Davidzon, a key supporter of Mr. Storobin's Democratic opponent, Councilman Lew Fidler.

"Storobin’s campaign attempted to purchase $10,000 in radio advertising from Davidzon radio two weeks ago," their press release read. "After several delay tactics, Mr. Davidzon himself refused to allow the advertising even though he is required to do so under federal law."

Capital New York reported Mr. Storobin's intentions to purchase media on Davidzon Radio last February, but Mr. Storobin's campaign spokesman told The Politicker those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful.

Mr. Storobin's statement said they have since filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission:

Title 47 “Electronic Code” of the C.F.R. that governs telecommunications states in Subsection 73.1941 (e) that there can be “no discrimination between candidates” when it comes to licensees making time available to candidates for office on public airwaves.

Mr. Davidzon, an influential Russian-language media mogul based in southern Brooklyn, has received increased recognition in the media in weeks. In February, the Wall Street Journal profiled his political influence and last week the New York Times did the same.

He is credited with driving large swaths of Russian-American voters to the polls in Congressman Bob Turner's upset special election victory last summer. The district Mr. Storobin and Mr. Fidler are competing in shares very similar boundaries and contains an even higher percentage of Russian-speaking voters.

Today's statement from the Storobin campaign also accused the Fidler campaign of using Mr. Davidzon as "a proxy to pay people $10 to $20 each to pose as 'supporters' to attend [a] phony event."

The Politicker reached out to Mr. Fidler's campaign, who declined to comment on the record.

Lew Fidler (Photo: Facebook)

Gregory Davidzon, the owner of a number of Russian-language media outlets, announced at the Baku Palace restaurant last night that he's endorsing Councilman Lew Fidler in the special election to replace Carl Kruger in the State Senate. Mr. Davidzon is credited with helping push Russian voters to the polls in the last special election in southeastern Brooklyn, where Congressman Bob Turner routed his Democratic opponent. Mr. Kruger's district, vacant since he plead guilty to corruption charges and resigned a few weeks ago, contains an even higher percentage of Russian-speaking voters.

However, it remains to be seen how much impact Mr. Davidzon's endorsement will have this time around. Councilman Fidler's likely Republican opponent, David Storobin, was born in the Soviet Union and is fluent in Russian.

It also remains to be seen if Mr. Davidzon will use his influence to rally voters in the same full-throated fashion as he did for Congressman Turner. However, one Democratic insider assured Politicker that the media head would indeed be working hard on the Councilman's behalf, saying that "Greg is going all out for Fidler." Mr. Davidzon said at the event that he was frustrated with the Senate Republicans efforts to divide southern Brooklyn in redistricting.

Mr. Davidzon, who runs Davidzon Radio 620 and the Davidzon Weekly, has been known to occasionally benefit financially from his political arrangements. Mr. Turner spent $20,000 purchasing media from Davidzon Media.

The Army charged eight people in connection with the death of a soldier from Manhattan who died after allegedly brutal hazing.

After pleading guilty to bribery charges, former Brooklyn Senator Carl Kruger can still collect a pension of $69,534.6.

Local Russian-language media mogul Gregory Davidzon may enter the race to replace Mr. Kruger.

Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito called Sheriff Joe Arpaio "pathetic."

A corrections office from Dannemora wants to take on Congressman Bill Owens in the 23rd District.

Mayor Bloomberg took a taxi plan victory lap in Inwood.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. had high praise for the new taxi plan.

Congressional Republicans are feeling the heat to end the payroll tax gridlock.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called President Barack Obama "a clown" and an "embarassment."

Mitt Romney's trio of top consultants "hate each other."