Ken Thompson (Photo: Facebook)

Last night, the Kings County Conservative Party backed their borough's district attorney, Joe Hynes, for re-election and, citing his safety record, they formally offered him their ballot line come November. Although Mr. Hynes has been endorsed by the Conservatives for years, at least one of his Democratic primary rivals, Ken Thompson, was outraged by the bipartisan embrace and released a statement detailing his disgust.

"It is appalling that DA Hynes would accept the endorsement of a fringe right-wing group which opposes a woman's right to choose, gun control and a minimum wage increase, supports the racial profiling of suspects, and sought to remove President Obama from office," Mr. Thompson said this morning.

He went on to outline many of the Conservative Party's positions listed in its "2013 Legislative Program,"  including support for profiling, stop-and-frisk and gun rights, as well as opposition to abortion, minimum wage and gay marriage. "That is not what Democrats are about—and it is radically out of step with Brooklyn," Mr. Thompson argued.

For their part, both the Conservatives and Mr. Hynes' statements focused on his accomplishments in reducing crime rather than outlining a specific policy agenda.

"We are pleased to recognize his hard work with the Conservative Party endorsement,” Conservative Chair Jerry Kassar said, while Mr. Hynes added, “I am enormously honored by the Conservative Party’s recognition of my office’s role in making Brooklyn streets safer. I am very proud of our record and gratified by the Party’s endorsement.”

Another Democrat, Abe George, is also running against Mr. Hynes this year.

Update (2:55 p.m.):  Mr. George has now piled on.

 “Brooklyn Democrats want a District Attorney who reflects their values,” he said in a statement. “Charles Hynes says he is a progressive Democrat, yet he is ‘honored’ by the support of a party that opposes gun control and marriage equality and supports racial profiling. As District Attorney, I will fight crime, protect civil liberties, and help move Brooklyn forward, not backwards.”

(Photo: Getty)

Early on in the mayoral race, the head of the Brooklyn Republican Party, Craig Eaton, was solidly in the corner of former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión, whom he declared to be a potential "gamechanger" for the party as it seeks to retain its hold on City Hall. Mr. Carrión, however, is a registered independent and would need the support of three of the five county chairs to run in the Republican primary. As Mr. Carrión has only been able to secure the backing of two, Mr. Eaton told Politicker that he's now "leaning heavily" towards endorsing another candidate, billionaire businessman John Catsimatidis.

"We've been friends with John Catsimatidis a long time and we supported him last go around [in 2009] when he was looking to run," Mr. Eaton said earlier this afternoon. "We were on the sidelines with Adolfo since he came into the race and were looking to endorse Adolfo. However, it doesn't appear that we're going to get a third Republican chairman on board. About a month ago, I mentioned that if we don't get a third Republican chairman on board, then John would probably be the heir-apparent of the Brooklyn GOP. ... You can say that we're leaning John Catsimatidis at this point. "

Should he endorse Mr. Catsimatidis, Mr. Eaton would be joining the Queens and Manhattan GOP chairmen who have already declared their support for Mr. Catsimatidis. Staten Island chair Bob Scamardella had been leaning towards a third Republican, Joe Lhota, but surprisingly resigned at the end of last month, leaving that borough's situation a little more murky. The fifth chair, Bronx's Jay Savino, was backing Mr. Carrión's bid, but is also reportedly set to switch over to Mr. Catsimatidis should his first choice falter.

Nevertheless, the party's field is set to be a crowded, four-way affair even without Mr. Carrión, as publisher Tom Allon and Doe Fund founder George McDonald additionally compete for the nomination.

Councilman Lew Fidler at the podium.

Kings County District Attorney Hynes has been battered by negative headlines in recent months, but a large host of elected officials and a packed crowd still stood shoulder-to-shoulder with him today for the formal announcement of his re-election campaign on the steps of Brooklyn Borough Hall.

"Joe, this is more than a political rally, this is a love-fest. It's really a love-fest between the residents of Brooklyn and you!" Borough President Marty Markowitz declared. "I hereby endorse this year of course, 2013, and 2017! And 2021!"

Whether or not Mr. Hynes makes it to 2021's election cycle remains to be seen, of course, but he certainly has a more difficult road ahead of him than he did in his last election where he ran unopposed. Mr. Hynes, currently serving his sixth term in office, faces two challengers this time around, Ken Thompson and Abe George, who both reported raising solid amounts of campaign funds in the latest filing.

Mr. Thompson, an African-American attorney who's been accumulating cash at the quickest clip, undoubtedly hopes to do well, particularly among Brooklyn's sizable black electorate. But Mr. Hynes' event today was clearly meant to be a show of force in that regard with a multiracial cast of elected officials, clergy and supporters heaping praise upon the incumbent. Additionally, late last night, Mr. Hynes' campaign rolled out the endorsement of the city's only African-American mayor.

Jonathan Yedin, a consultant at the Advance Group working on the Hynes campaign, directly pointed to Mr. Hynes' "diverse and expansive coalition" as evidence of his strength.

"D.A. Hynes' career has been defined by his commitment to improving the quality of life of all Brooklynites," he told Politicker. "As shown by the overwhelming display at today's announcement, D.A. Hynes' distinguished record of service to communities across Brooklyn has afforded him a diverse and expansive coalition of support for his many innovations to the way law enforcement is handled in Brooklyn."

For his part, Mr. Hynes also pointed to the crowd's diversity while reading a speech laden with statistics touting crime reduction and a host of initiatives he's launched during his tenure. He finished by citing a desire to accomplish more as the raison d'être for his campaign.

"I was privileged to become district attorney of this county in 1990. We were in the midst of a crack cocaine-driven crime wave," he said. "There was 765 murders in 1990. There was 792 murders in 1991. One out of every fifteen Brooklynites was the victim of a serious crime. Not only was Brooklyn prepared to be the murder capital of the world, we were beginning to feel we were the crime capital of the world. Last year, we recorded 149 murders, the lowest number since 1960. ... But we're not done, not by a long-shot. That's why I come here today to formally announce my candidacy for reelection."

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."

Lincoln Restler at his campaign launch.

“Look, this election is a whole lot bigger than just one person, especially a little guy like me who needs to stand on this chair,” 28-year-old Lincoln Restler declared as he artificially towered over a packed room at the Brooklyn Winery in Williamsburg a couple of weeks ago. “The machine has their candidate, they’re going to pour all of the resources they’ve got into this district leader race. But, for every hack elected official that they’ve got on payroll, we’re going to have to reach out to 10 of our neighbors.”

The “machine” in this case is the Kings County Democratic Party and its chair, Assemblyman Vito Lopez. Mr. Restler sees his re-election campaign as a critical aspect of the effort to topple what he describes as the corrupt status quo in Mr. Lopez’s organization.

Mr. Restler, who has the honor of holding the obscure position of district leader, is very aware of the fact that despite the lofty rhetoric of his campaign, he’s talking about an unpaid office with few official responsibilities.

“Any elected office, even an elected position you’ve probably never heard of, is a platform to advocate for one’s community,” Mr. Restler said in his speech, still standing on the chair. The crowd rightfully laughed after “you’ve probably never heard of.”

New Yorkers have a hard enough time remembering who represents them at the City Council, State Assembly, State Senate and congressional levels, so the idea of caring about who represents your district on the executive board of the county Democratic organization indeed seems a little laughable on the face of it.

However, Mr. Restler has managed to elevate his position and is often mentioned as a potential challenger for the City Council seat held by Lopez ally and onetime-staffer Steve Levin—and the district leader job is a potential stepping stone. In what some of Mr. Restler's supporters see as an effort to head off such a possibility, Mr. Levin has recruited Community Board 1 chairman Chris Olechowski to run against Mr. Restler for district leader.

“Lincoln challenged somebody else, and now somebody challenged him, and he’s crying all over the place, and I guess you have a right. He’s shooting from the hip at everybody, including me,” Mr. Lopez put it bluntly. “That’s the name of politics. If I didn’t do anything, people would say that’s not an active political organization.”

Before he was elected by the barest of margins in 2010, Mr. Restler was simply an activist who organized on behalf of the Obama campaign in 2008. After the presidential election, Mr. Restler’s allies approached Mr. Lopez about getting involved in his organization.

“He brushed off our interest in getting involved and eventually told us joining the community board was the only way for us to get active in our neighborhoods,” Mr. Restler said of their efforts when we talked last weekend over huevos rancheros on a patio near McCarren Park.

“We decided we wanted to recruit emerging leaders in this borough to run for state committee,” Mr. Restler continued. “And I promise you, we asked smarter, better looking, more dynamic people in the 50th Assembly District to run before me, and when they said no, I eventually stepped up to the plate.”

In that race, he ran against Warren Cohn, the son of the man who held the post for almost three decades prior. The election, which Mr. Restler described as “seriously intense,” had a rather intense conclusion as well: he won by only 121 votes despite raising more than $60,000, a gigantic sum for a district leader race.

The closeness of the race can be attributed to Mr. Lopez’s significant political sway in northern Brooklyn. One of the largest constituencies in the district is Williamsburg’s Hasidic community, where the largest sect consistently delivers a huge bloc of votes to Mr. Lopez’s candidates. Additionally, Mr. Lopez chairs the housing committee in the State Assembly and has a significant amount of electoral influence in public housing projects, creating a favorable environment for allies like Mr. Cohn in 2010, or an unfavorable one for ongoing opponents like Mr. Restler.

Mr. Lopez actually occupies a Bushwick-based district that neighbors Mr. Restler’s current one, but the similarities between the two end there. Mr. Restler fashions himself as Mr. Lopez’s chief antagonist, and he frequently points out that three of the last four heads of the Brooklyn Democratic Party have been indicted for corruption and hints the same may be eventually true for the current leader, thanks to investigations into a large nonprofit Mr. Lopez founded.

And outwardly, the two could hardly be more different. Mr. Lopez—a gruff, 70-year-old man whose large frame can dominate a small room, strikes a marked contrast with horned-rimmed glasses-wearing, brownstone Brooklyn-raised Mr. Restler, whom The New York Times once wrote “looks as if he could play Harry Potter.”

And, of course, in terms of power, they are miles apart. Mr. Restler is one of just a few district leaders who passionately oppose Mr. Lopez’s leadership, and Mr. Lopez is working to defeat several of them, including Mr. Restler, in the voting booth this year.

“I do know that more people respect where Brooklyn is now than they ever did,” Mr. Lopez said, defending his party from criticism. After ticking off a list of additional African-American, Haitian, Russian and Dominican officials elected in the borough during his tenure, Mr. Lopez exclaimed, “Brooklyn is back!”

When it came to Mr. Restler’s faults, Mr. Lopez focused primarily on his fundraising abilities and the wealth of his parents, which he felt had an undemocratic impact in the race. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s father works in private equity and contributed just over $10,000 to his efforts in 2010, a significant portion of his overall sum (Mr. Restler counters this argument by pointing to a plethora of small donations to his campaign).

“Say it’s disgusting,” Mr. Lopez suggested for this story’s focus. “The headline should be: ‘Can Lincoln Restler Buy Another Election?’”

Mr. Restler will undoubtedly need every penny he can get, however, as he faces what all observers think will be an incredibly tight re-election battle. His former apartment and part of his electoral base in Fort Greene were cut out of the seat in this year’s redistricting process, and the Hasidic voting bloc will be an even higher percentage of the overall vote than it was in 2010. And, complicating matters further for the incumbent, he faces a very credible opponent in Mr. Olechowski, who has an impressively deep résumé for a district leader candidate.

“He’s an eminently qualified candidate, he’s been in the neighborhood for many years, over 40 years,” said Councilman Steve Levin, who asked Mr. Olechowski to run. “He has a professional track record in the community.”

And, as supporters of Mr. Olechowski are quick to point out, he has deep ties to the large Polish-American community in Greenpoint in particular.

“The Polish community—you’re not going to write about it—are working to elect the first Polish community leader,” Mr. Lopez said of the race, suggesting Polish political empowerment should be the focus of this article instead of Mr. Restler’s re-election efforts. “They’re really caught up in his candidacy.”

Mr. Olechowski also heavily framed the election as a way to encourage the typically apolitical Polish community to participate more in civic life, citing the cause as his campaign’s raison d’etre.

“I found it as an opportunity to energize and empower ... the Greenpoint community, which really doesn’t have a very good track record of voting in local elections,” he explained. “I thought that there’s a constituency that I’ve been involved with for many, many years, people in the Polish community especially, that I would really like to challenge myself to get them to vote—and not only vote for me because I’m running, after all, for an unpaid political position.”

He declined to overly criticize the incumbent, simply saying he hasn’t heard much from Mr. Restler during his short tenure in office.

“I don’t know what Lincoln has really done,” he opined. “I know he’d like to do a lot of things, but I know a lot of people who would like to do a lot of things. I think the question is: what have you done?”

Mr. Lopez described Mr. Restler’s record in less charitable terms, suggesting Mr. Restler’s primary role is that of an acolyte of another one of his rivals, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez.

“Tell me what he’s done,” he said. “Nydia doesn’t represent much of that area, and he’s up her butt—and that’s fine. He’s right next to me as a leader, and we’ve never met, and he doesn’t want to meet.”

For his part, Mr. Restler and his supporters ticked off a long list of tangible things he’s played a role in, including helping to bring a new supermarket into Fort Greene and organizing the initial petition efforts for maintaining the G-Train service on the southern extension of its route.

The irony, of course, is that despite all the talk of accomplishment, district leaders aren’t really supposed to be doing things. Indeed, Mr. Restler’s touted record largely consists of things unrelated to his office’s perfunctory duties. Nevertheless, he insists that the platform of the position is not only important to deliver results but central to his efforts to eventually expand his reform coalition beyond its current base in gentrifying and upscale neighborhoods in northern Brooklyn.

“I can help lead that effort, as an elected leader, as I would never be able to contribute to from the outside,” Mr. Restler said. “Moreover, every day that I’m sitting there at an executive committee meeting, I demonstrate to people, to Brooklynites, this man who is so feared can be beat.”

Mr. Lopez, unsurprisingly, was less than impressed with Mr. Restler’s desire to fundamentally change the course for the local Democratic Party.

“Does that help build the Democratic organization, does that give energy to Democratic candidates throughout the borough?” he asked. “Infighting does no one any good.”

ccampbell@observer.com