Dan Halloran

Jeffrey Gottlieb suddenly leaping into the Democratic primary for New York's 6th Congressional District has politicos abuzz about whether his campaign is designed to take Jewish votes away from one of the candidates, Assemblyman Rory Lancman, in order to benefit the candidate endorsed by the Queens Democratic establishment, Assemblywoman Grace Meng.

Mr. Gottlieb's candidacy certainly seems bizarre in some respects, including his efforts on behalf of Ms. Meng up until last week, his late entry into the race and his subsequent silence in the media. Embracing this argument, Mr. Lancman went nuclear on what he called the “sham candidacy by a long-time party hack.”

But how do the other candidates in the race feel about Mr. Gottlieb's entry?

"If true, it's racial and ethnic politics at its ugliest," Steven Stites, a spokesman for Republican candidate Dan Halloran, charged. "Jewish New Yorkers have another reason to be repulsed by the Democratic Party."

Meanwhile, Eric Yun, the spokesman for the fourth Democratic candidate in the race, Councilwoman Liz Crowley, declined to opine on the legitimacy of Mr. Gottlieb's candidacy, simply saying, "Anybody who wants to run for office should be allowed the opportunity under the democratic process."

For their part, Ms. Meng's campaign also declined to comment on Mr. Gottlieb specifically, but did suggest Mr. Lancman's motives are less than holy.

“Though I would remind you that Assemblyman Lancman earlier pressed strongly for the support of the Queens County Democratic Organization, the same collection of accomplished elected officials and activists he’s now denouncing based on theory and conjecture,” Ms. Meng's campaign spokesman, Michael Tobman, said in an earlier email.

Grace Meng

In Assemblyman Rory Lancman's press release denouncing the entry of Jeffrey Gottlieb into the Democratic field, Mr. Lancman claimed Mr. Gottlieb was previously gathering signatures for Assemblywoman Grace Meng's now-rival congressional campaign, a fact confirmed to The Politicker earlier this morning by the president of the JFK Democratic club in Queens, Herb Ryan.

However, Mr. Ryan said it was merely because Mr. Gottlieb always heads the club's signature-gathering efforts on behalf of whatever candidate is endorsed by the Queens Democratic establishment. The Queens Democratic Party endorsed Ms. Meng just before she announced her candidacy a couple weeks ago.

"He takes care of all of the petitions for the JFK Club, and the club supports county," Mr. Ryan explained. He wasn't immediately aware of whether Mr. Gottlieb would continue to work on Ms. Meng's behalf.

The spokesman for Ms. Meng's campaign, Michael Tobman, declined to comment on Mr. Gottlieb's candidacy, but hinted in an email that Mr. Lancman's outrage might be somewhat selectively enforced.

"Though I would remind you that Assemblyman Lancman earlier pressed strongly for the support of the Queens County Democratic Organization, the same collection of accomplished elected officials and activists he's now denouncing based on theory and conjecture," Mr. Tobman said.

A fourth candidate, Councilwoman Liz Crowley is also competing for the Democratic nomination.

Rory Lancman

"The County organization is panicked by the strength of my candidacy," Mr. Lancman said in his statemebt about Mr. Gottlieb. "Cynically fleecing Jewish voters with a sham candidacy by a longtime party hack is particularly appalling. Voters will rightfully see through this charade, and the party insiders responsible for this hatchet job should be ashamed of their attempt to deny the Jewish community a fair and legitimate election."

Mr. Gottlieb, who has extensive connections to Queens Democratic Party leadership, must get over 900 signatures in the next week to get on the ballot. According to City & State, Ms. Meng's backers initially attempted to recruit Matthew Silverstein, a Jewish Democratic State Committeeman, to enter the race.

Along with Mr. Lancman's comment on Mr. Gottlieb's candidacy his campaign released a lengthy statement that said, among other things, the fact Mr. Gottlieb has no website, campaign committee, or known endorsements proves "the sham nature" of his candidacy.

"Lancman said the blatant attempt to deceive Jewish voters would backfire not only with the Jewish community, but with all voters in Queens who will reject this effort to exploit racial, ethnic and religious differences for electoral gain," the statement said.

Mr. Lancman and Ms. Meng are running for the Democratic nomination in the sixth district against Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley. Ms. Crowley is the cousin of Queens Democratic Party chairman Joe Crowley, but the party did not back her campaign. Councilman Dan Halloran is, thus far, the lone Repuublican entrant in the race.