Councilwoman James speaking at a rally. (Photo: Facebook)

"It was very surreal," Brooklyn City Councilwoman Letitia James said, reflecting on the moment her predecessor was assassinated. "When I got the news that he had been shot, I said, 'I think I know who did it.'"

Othniel Askew wanted to run against Councilman James Davis. Instead, on a City Hall balcony in July of 2003, he drew a silver .40-caliber pistol and started shooting--killing Mr. Davis and setting events in motion that would place Ms. James in public office.

"The person who assassinated him visited me the night before," Ms. James recalled, speaking with Politicker recently at a Manhattan campaign office. “Sat on my stoop and came into my home for two hours. He wanted to know whether or not I was going to run again, and if I was not, he wanted my support."

A special election opened up in the aftermath of the incumbent's death and Ms. James, who had run against Mr. Davis before, would indeed mount another bid. This time, she ran for the seat solely on the Working Families Party line--the first New York State official ever to do so successfully. The circle completed itself Thursday night when the labor-backed third party endorsed Ms. James again as she now campaigns for citywide for public advocate.

Her campaign has been humming along too. In addition to the WFP, she has scooped up union endorsements and support from clubs far outside her Brooklyn district. Last week, one of the Upper West Side's most prominent political clubs, the Three Parks Independent Democrats, offered its endorsement, giving her 72 votes, versus 20 for the man seen as her chief opponent, State Sen. Dan Squadron. Another group, the Broadway Democrats, soon followed.

Curtis Arluck, a district leader and Broadway Democrats member, pointed to Ms. James' experience--as well as a desire for diversity--as key to the endorsement. There are only three citywide positions in New York and, as several white candidates are jockeying for the mayoralty and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer runs unopposed for comptroller, the public advocate's office is viewed by some Democrats as an opportunity to have demographic diversity on their ticket.

"When you have two good candidates and one has more experience ... and is also African American and a woman, that's appealing," Mr. Arluck told Politicker.

Ms. James' own campaign pitch isn't too complicated either. "I believe that the narrative of my life--the story of who I am--just speaks to the mission of the office," she explained. "It fits hand in glove."

She proceeded to tick off functions of the office--emphasizing its role as an ombudsman and watchdog--adding phrases like "I've done that" at each point. She was particularly proud of her early criticism of the city's bungled CityTime project, which aimed to modernize government payroll systems but instead wasted hundreds of millions of dollars. Ms. James further claimed with near-certainty that she'll be able to increase the office's relatively underfunded budget, enabling her to create new divisions for low-wage workers and immigrants.

"Imagine taking the skills that I have and utilizing it on a citywide basis," she said. "I've demonstrated that time and time again and that's why I'm running."

Ms. James, whose voice booms like a preacher's at press conferences, has emerged as one of the loudest members of the City Council when it comes to issues she's focused on, including not only CityTime but cuts to social services, the police department's stop-and-frisk policy and the controversial Atlantic Yards development project, located in her Fort Greene-based district.

"She and I did not always share the same view on the Atlantic Yards project," Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, who lives in the district and has not endorsed in the race, told Politicker. "But her concerns were always incredibly well articulated and with a passion and delivered with a sense of forcefulness."

Her detractors, to the extent they're audible, largely point to her campaign's relatively weak fund-raising and directly question her viability as a candidate. New quarterly filings will be made public later this week, but up until last March, Ms. James had raised about $500,000 with a high burn rate--$300,000 spent. Her top two opponents have done much better in the same period. Both Mr. Squadron and former Deputy Public Advocate Reshma Saujani raised roughly $1 million while spending close to $200,000. (Cathy Guerriero and Sidique Wai are also vying for the Democratic nomination.)

"The money will come in. I'm not really worried about the money," Ms. James insisted when we brought up her lagging numbers. "We will be competitive. My strongest point has never been fundraising. My strongest point has been advocacy and focusing on people and transforming the lives of others. And that's why you're looking at the next public advocate."

Partially because of her fund-raising, there are often rumors that Ms. James will drop down into another race. Recently, the Daily News reported that Ms. James was eying a possible run for Brooklyn borough president in the wake of revelations that the race's front-runner, State Sen. Eric Adams, may be under federal investigation. Ms. James flatly rejected the report.

Others have quietly speculated that she might run again for her current Council seat, and try to succeed Christine Quinn as the next City Council Speaker.

"Don't try to distract me," she said when asked about a possible speakership bid last month. "They want me to run for speaker, borough president. They want me to run for district attorney. It's wonderful that so many people are talking about me. As long as they keep talking about me, then I'm a winner ... Thank you for your vote of confidence, I'm running for public advocate."

Ms. James was similarly committed when we asked if she might follow the path of current Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and run for mayor after a term or two in office.

"I'm running for public advocate. I'm running for public advocate. I'm running for public advocate," she replied, repeating the trained response for emphasis. "I'm running for public advocate."

Additional reporting by Jill Colvin.

The Working Families Party logo. (Photo: Facebook)

Last night, the labor-backed Working Families Party announced their support in a host of races across the city, beginning with Tish James for public advocate and working their way down to open-seat council campaigns.

The endorsement for Ms. James, a Brooklyn councilwoman, is particularly notable because, with a less sizable campaign war chest than her top rivals, Ms. James' strategy relies on unifying union forces. There are two other citywide races this year, but without a strong labor consensus for mayor and a virtually uncontested race for comptroller, the public advocate competition is relatively unique.

“Tish is always the first one to stand with David and stare down Goliath. For a decade, she's been a leader on every fight that matters to progressives in New York," WFP's executive director Dan Cantor gushed in a statement. "Whether it’s paid sick days, defending our public schools or cracking down on corporate looters, Tish has been out front.”

At a glance, several other candidates also stand out. Carlos Menchaca, for instance, is the only endorsee who's working to unseat a Democratic incumbent--Brooklyn's Sara Gonzalez. Additionally, Igor Oberman, Laurie Cumbo, Austin Shafran and Marc Landis are fighting for votes in very crowded primaries and are surely quite happy with the WFP's seal of approval.

The WFP is still neutral in a few races, especially those with more moderate or establishment-friendly incumbents, but as of last night, the party has weighed in on the vast majority of them.

View the list below, the latest endorsements are bolded:

Public Advocate: Letitia James
Comptroller: Scott Stringer

City Council District 2: Rosie Mendez
City Council District 3: Corey Johnson
City Council District 4: Dan Garodnick
City Council District 5: Micah Kellner
City Council District 6: Marc Landis
City Council District 7: Mark Levine
City Council District 8: Melissa Mark-Viverito
City Council District 10: Ydanis Rodriguez
City Council District 11: Andy Cohen
City Council District 12: Andy King
City Council District 14: Fernando Cabrera
City Council District 15: Ritchie Torres
City Council District 16: Vanessa Gibson
City Council District 18: Annabel Palma
City Council District 19: Austin Shafran
City Council District 21: Julissa Ferreras
City Council District 22: Costa Constantinides
City Council District 23: Mark Weprin
City Council District 24: Rory Lancman
City Council District 25: Danny Dromm
City Council District 26: Jimmy Van Bramer
City Council District 27: Daneek Miller
City Council District 30: Elizabeth Crowley
City Council District 31: Donovan Richards
City Council District 33: Steve Levin
City Council District 34: Antonio Reynoso
City Council District 35: Laurie Cumbo
City Council District 36: Kirsten Foy
City Council District 37: Kim Council
City Council District 38: Carlos Menchaca
City Council District 39: Brad Lander
City Council District 40: Mathieu Eugene
City Council District 41: Darlene Mealy
City Council District 43: Vincent Gentile
City Council District 45: Jumaane Williams
City Council District 46: Alan Maisel
City Council District 48: Igor Oberman
City Council District 49: Debi Rose

(Photo: Facebook)

A crowded field of candidates are vying to replace Councilwoman Tish James, each hoping to leverage every electoral advantage for her Fort Greene-based seat. Accordingly, one contender, Laurie Cumbo, the former head of the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, rolled out the support of the small-but-powerful Hotel Trades Council earlier today.

“We are thrilled to announce our support for Laurie Cumbo today,” Josh Gold, the union's political director, said in a statement. “Laurie knows first hand the struggles of New York's working families, and we cannot think of a more qualified representative of the 35th. Our 32,000 members are ready to start work on her campaign and I am looking forward to working with her in the City Council.”

Ms. Cumbo is the latest in a small string of endorsements from the hotel worker's union as it seeks to leverage its organizing muscle into a City Council and mayoralty favorable to its interests.

Other candidates for Ms. James' seat include District Leader Jesse Hamilton, former District Leader Ola Alabi, Ede Fox, a former chief of staff for Councilman Jumaane Williams, and Jelani Mashariki, the founder of Black Veterans for Social Justice. For her part, Ms. Alabi was endorsed by the Correction Officers Benevolent Association and the Heat & Frost Insulators of Local 12.

Ms. James is vacating her seat to run citywide for public advocate.

Update (11:53 a.m.): Added additional information about Ms. Alabi's support.

Councilwoman James addresses the crowd.

Yesterday, vandals burned close to a dozen mezuzahs--religious artifacts affixed to doors--in front of Jewish homes in Williamsburg, drawing widespread outrage both in the local community and among candidates for higher office. This morning, several such pols were among the officials at a press conference blasting the perpetrators.

"Today all of us are Jewish and all of us celebrate this wonderful community,"  Councilwoman Tish James, a candidate for public advocate, proclaimed. "But I've come here today to say that the individual or individuals that is responsible for this most heinous crime will be prosecuted ... You will be caught and it is in your best interest to turn yourself in. In fact, I urge you to turn yourself in before anyone in this community gets their hand on you. It's in your best interest."

Several elected official behind Ms. James, including Council Speaker Chris Quinn, visibly reacted to the "get their hands on you" reference to vigilantism, but they still took their own turns to condemn the muzuzah burning, which occurred on Holocaust Remembrance Day, as a hate crime.

"Make no mistake, that was a coordinated hate crime perpetrated on Holocaust Remembrance Day--clearly an act designed to spread fear into the hearts of New Yorkers, in particular the Jewish community," Ms. Quinn firmly stated. "So I'm out here to send a very strong message to the coward or cowards who have perpetrated this crime: your actions do not reflect the belief or feelings of New Yorkers. Our city's greatest strength is our diversity and we will not tolerate acts of hate."

Several of Ms. Quinn's rivals in this year's mayoral race also issued statements on the controversy. Public Advocate Bill de Blasio was first out of the gate yesterday, followed by former Comptroller Bill Thompson today.

“Nothing but hatred can explain why someone would burn mezuzahs on Yom Hashoah, the day we remember the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust,” Mr. de Blasio said. “This is a sickening act of prejudice that strikes at the very core of who we are as a city.”

View Ms. James' comments below, video courtesy of Shimon Gifter:

Councilwoman Tish James (Photo: Facebook)

Councilwoman Tish James, who's currently running for public advocate, will be doing some cable news punditry this weekend. Tomorrow morning, Ms. James will appear on MSNBC's Up With Chris Hayes to discuss her agenda and Mayor Michael Bloomberg's soda ban.

"I’ve been proud to champion progressive causes in the New York City Council, fighting for good jobs, affordable housing, improving our schools and making sure every single New Yorker has a voice in government," Ms. James said in a statement announcing her appearance. "I will never pass up an opportunity to advocate for social and economic justice in our city and beyond."

Ms. James' apparent ability to reach a national media audience may help her make up for the fact that in previous financial filing periods, she has lagged behind her main rivals, Reshma Saujani and State Senator Daniel Squadron, in terms of fundraising. She also secured a union boost this week from 32BJ SEIU's endorsement.

It was one of the few sparks in an otherwise genial forum for the five Public Advocate candidates, and it came, not so surprisingly, from Cathy Guerriero. Ms. Guerriero, along with Brooklyn and Manhattan State Sen. Dan Squadron, Brooklyn Councilwoman Tish James, former Deputy Public Advocate Reshma Saujani and education advocate Noah Gotbaum, spoke aggressively at the first forum of the year in the wide open Public Advocate race.

The current Public Advocate, Bill de Blasio, is running for mayor.

“This is a difficult time for the New York City public schools and this is a difficult, hard to swallow conversation about parents and kids. Mayoral control is troubling at best and bad at worst. We need to do more than talk about this or that or minor points, we need to aggressively pursue conversations…” Ms. Guerriero, a Columbia University professor and Staten Island native, said, countering Ms. Saujani’s discussion of the consequences of putting Regents exams online when many students aren’t computer-literate.

In a contest that will tilt to the left of the mayoral race, the candidates fought to distinguish themselves among a thicket of progressive issues, such as ending mayoral control or decentralizing the school system, making housing more affordable and countering the rapid pace of development that has become a staple of the Bloomberg Administration. Ms. James arrived late to the forum hosted in Astoria, Queens by a variety of Democratic club, but she managed to flex her labor credentials when she told the audience her tardiness was due to a meeting she had with fired Cablevision workers. Ms. James was also able to quickly match Ms. Guerriero as a female firebrand, calling the Dept. of City Planning Chair Amanda Burden “Robert Moses in a skirt” and labeling the new Barclays Arena in downtown Brooklyn “a joke.”

“Whether or not you like the New Jerseys Nets and Jay-Z and all of that, the reality is that we really need to deal with the felt needs of the community,” she said. “The most pressing need in this city is not for a basketball arena, believe it or not, it’s for affordable housing. There are fifty thousand individuals going to bed tonight in our shelters. Twenty thousand of them are children.”

Like Ms. Guerrerio, who steeped much of her rhetoric in sports metaphors, Ms. James was blunt, pointing out that she even spoke with the murderer of her predecessor, James Davis, the night before he slayed Mr. Davis in the City Council chambers while discussing her route to public office. Despite the moxie from Ms. James or the measured confidence of Mr. Squadron or Ms. Saujani, all of the candidates had to grapple with a reality uncommon in many other political campaigns: the powers of the public advocate are relatively limited.

Mr. Squadron, the fundraising leader in the race and one of the overall front runners, was the only candidate to address budget cuts to bus and train services, but what the public advocate, an ombudsman of sorts for the mayor who can introduce legislation, can actually do to restore public transportation services or end mayoral control of the school system is less clear.

“It’s a job that’s inside the government, but outside the bureaucracy,” Mr. Squadron said. “In a city like ours, you need a bridge; you need a vehicle to connect communities, individuals, businesses into their government.”

Mr. Squadron spoke often of the “special interests” that dominate the campaign process and has made it known he will not accept donations from corporations or political action committees. For Ms. Saujani, nipping on his heels in the fundraising race, any discussion of corporations is tricky: she is a former hedge fund lawyer who once ran a pro-Wall Street Congressional race. While that campaign was alluded to last night, her past as a hedge fund lawyer was not. Instead, Ms. Saujani focused on her immigrant background, entrepreneurial initiatives like Girls Who Code and what she called a “technology gap” between men and women.

“I have met countless young women, many of them here in Queens, who are trapped by the technology gap,” she said. “With more and more jobs in the computing related field, we are not preparing our children for the 21^st century. We are not preparing our girls for the 21^st century.”

Mr. Gotbaum, the stepson of former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (he did not net her endorsement), spoke about his founding of the volunteer group New York Cares and his leadership roles in various public school advocacy bodies, becoming one of two candidates to say the public advocate needs to be "a voice for the voiceless."

"There are not enough independent elected officials standing up and calling out and speaking out on behalf and with those who are not being heard," Mr. Gotbaum said.

Houses of the holy. (Skyscraper Page)

Is the media to blame for NYCHA’s problems? Or, more specifically, the Daily News? That was certainly the impression given by a handful of pols on the steps of City Hall this afternoon.

Led by Rosie Mendez, chair of the City Council’s housing committee, the group applauded the New York City Housing Authority’s recent improvements over the past months and years. While it was widely acknowledged that the state of public housing in the city was far from perfect, the situation was indeed improving in the view of those huddled under the portico of City Hall as it drizzled on the steps just beyond.

"NYCHA's problems are profound," Queens Councilman LeRoy Comrie said. "They cannot be explained away in a newspaper article that simply says they are not doing their job."

The reps told stories of strategic plans embraced, security cameras installed, roofs repaired and rapid response teams deployed, and took great pains to explain the difference between maintenance and capital funds. The former fixes a leaky pipe or a broken stove gasket, the latter replaces an entire complex’s plumbing or appliances.

After screaming headlines about $1 billion of mismanaged funds (for capital projects), the News then ran stories for days decrying moldy apartments and rat infestations—travesties, but travesties none of that money could be spent on. "They cannot mix their capital and their expense, they cannot take their capital money that is meant for roofs and go and fix leaky faucets, because then the federal government would go and completely defund them," Councilwoman Mendez said. "They have a way to do it, and they have to use the money in the way the federal government and HUD oversees them to do it."

There was also criticism of the fact that the media had suggested NYCHA was sitting on the $1 billion, ignoring the fact that it was held up in the bureaucratic process of seeking approvals from numerous agencies both in New York and Washington. "More of this money has been spent than they are letting on," Councilwoman Letitia James said, with the oft-cited amount being around 60 to 70 percent of the funds targeted by the News as having been allocated if not yet spent.

Another major factor was the money had been frozen for administrative reasons. Part of this is that NYCHA was engaged in a strategic revaluation after Chairman John Rhea took over in 2009. "NYCHA is 2,602 buildings," Ms. Mendez said. "This is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that's why when they froze the money I wasn't happy, but it's because they realized this isn't a one-size-fits all solution. You have buildings, you have developments that are one building, you have developments that are 40 buildings, you have developments that have six stories, and you have developments that are 25 stories. You have to analyze it; you have to figure out, if you're gonna do it, how you're gonna do it."

The council was also partly to blame, in that many of its members had offered up their own funds to fix issues at various developments in their district. When the slush fund scandal hit in 2009, just as Chairman Rhea was coming on board, that held up many projects throughout all city programs, including those in the works at NYCHA. "That slowed down the pipeline," Ms. Mendez said.

The politicians’ greatest frustration was not simply the misrepresentation of NYCHA. Their biggest concern was the impact it would have in Washington, where the agency draws more than 90 percent of its funding any given year. "The problem is in Washington, when they see we are one of the few places that did not get rid of our public housing like so many have, they do not see the political will to keep that intact into the future," Upper West Side Councilwoman Gale Brewer said. "We know that the repairs are taking too long, that the kitchen will not be fixed until 2015, but when that is all they read about in Washington, they are not going to give us any more money."

Indeed, a day after the News reported on an unreleased $10 million study of the agency, Republican Senator Charles Grassley attacked NYCHA in a letter to HUD (which was then reported in the News). The names Romney and Ryan were invoked repeatedly during the press conference, a portent of an even darker future.

"At a time when the housing prices are at a point where they are, our affordable housing stock is so important to maintain," Queens State Senator Jose Peralta said. "It is at this time, this is the exact wrong conversation to have, to cut funding from the federal government."

What seemed to bother the electeds more than anything was the indignity of it all—whatever their opinion of NYCHA, the conversation seemed to hurt the residents the most. "Like Councilwoman Mendez, I am the product of NYCHA, I came out of the South Jamaica Houses, and now I have the pleasure of representing them," Queens Councilman Ruben Wills said.

"We don't care about the free family days at NYCHA, we don't care about the scholarships it gives out, these are the things we aren't hearing about," he continued. "A lot of the negative-type attacks without any corrective measures is nothing but counter-productive. You can't just keep advertising, advertising, advertising the negative. People live in these houses. These aren't just buildings. People live and work in these communities."

"You know me. I am a disrupter, a political entrepreneur, someone who not only believes in public-private partnerships but actually knows how to build them," she writes.  "We know that the future of government is action-orientated leadership. People who simply get things done. New voices and new ideas. Leaders who will open up the doors far and wide, so that everyone can be an advocate."

Ms. Saujani first came to prominence during her 2010 campaign for Congress against Carolyn Maloney-- a race she ended up losing by 60 points despite the support of an number of big-ticket donors.  She went on to work in the office of the man she hopes to replace--Bill de Blasio, serving as a deputy public advocate of New York City and the executive director of the Fund for Public Advocacy.

Ms. Saujani's cites that experience in her 2013 pitch:

The less than a year and a half opened my eyes up to what is possible when all of us--the public sector, the private sector, academics, non-profits-- work together as public advocates to affect real change.

In just a year and a half, against the odds, here is what we accomplished:

• We worked everyday through summits and forums to mentor and provide capital to small business owners.

• We built a nationwide charge to combat Citizens United and get money out of politics.

• We brought together hundreds of New Yorkers together to have powerful conversations about the City’s fiscal obligations that have led to innovative policy solutions.

• We conducted the first ever survey of immigrant small business owners and released a report providing detailed recommendations to activate the engine of New York City’s economy, immigrant and minority small business owners.

• When government failed, we initiated and created the Dream Fellowship to help sons and daughters of immigrants access their piece of the American Dream.

If we can create and implement these programs in less than 15 months, just imagine what else is possible. We can’t just stop here. No way. That’s not how New Yorkers roll.

Ms. Saujani however also mentions another key piece of her resume: her support of Barack Obama, whom she hosted a fundraiser for last month. And in her email announcement, she seems to borrow his mantle of hope and change, and trying to turn her campaign into  a movement.

If you are a small business owner, help me build this movement. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, help me build this movement. If you are young person who wants a seat around the decision-making table, help me build this movement.  If you are a senior and you want to increase your grandchild’s potential, help me build this movement. If you are a teacher and you believe that everyone has the right to an excellent education,help me build this movement. If you are a New Yorker and you want to bring about change the New York City way, help me build this movement.

Join me and become an Early Adopter of Reshma For New York.

Ms. Saujani is likely to face off against State Senator Daniel Squadron and City Councilwoman Tish James, who announced her own intention to run at a community meeting at the Forest Hills Civic Association earlier this month.

The full email is below:

We are about to embark on a new challenge.

The past year and half, I have been honored to serve as the Deputy Public Advocate of New York City and the Executive Director of the Fund for Public Advocacy.

I recently decided to leave my position in city government to open a committee, Reshma for New York, to explore a citywide election in 2013.

The less than a year and a half opened my eyes up to what is possible when all of us--the public sector, the private sector, academics, non-profits-- work together as public advocates to affect real change.

In just a year and a half, against the odds, here is what we accomplished:

• We worked everyday through summits and forums to mentor and provide capital to small business owners.

• We built a nationwide charge to combat Citizens United and get money out of politics.

• We brought together hundreds of New Yorkers together to have powerful conversations about the City’s fiscal obligations that have led to innovative policy solutions.

• We conducted the first ever survey of immigrant small business owners and released a report providing detailed recommendations to activate the engine of New York City’s economy, immigrant and minority small business owners.

• When government failed, we initiated and created the Dream Fellowship to help sons and daughters of immigrants access their piece of the American Dream.

If we can create and implement these programs in less than 15 months, just imagine what else is possible. We can’t just stop here. No way. That’s not how New Yorkers roll.

You know me. I am a disrupter, a political entrepreneur, someone who not only believes in public-private partnerships but actually knows how to build them.

We know that the future of government is action-orientated leadership. People who simply get things done. New voices and new ideas. Leaders who will open up the doors far and wide, so that everyone can be an advocate.

If you are a small business owner, help me build this movement. If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, help me build this movement. If you are young person who wants a seat around the decision-making table, help me build this movement.  If you are a senior and you want to increase your grandchild’s potential, help me build this movement. If you are a teacher and you believe that everyone has the right to an excellent education,help me build this movement. If you are a New Yorker and you want to bring about change the New York City way, help me build this movement.

Join me and become an Early Adopter of Reshma For New York.

You have encouraged me and been there with me every step of the way. Now lets do something powerful together for New York City in 2013.

Reshma

p.s. Two weeks ago I got to introduce President Obama at an event I hosted for him.  Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BNIancam_g

p.p.s. For an easy way to spread the word on Twitter, click here!

Reshma Saujani
http://reshma.nationbuilder.com/

UPDATE:

Ms. Saujani emails to say that this email was NOT in fact the announcement of a campaign.

"Although I am strongly considering entering the race for Public Advocate in  2013, I want to be clear that I have not declared my candidacy for any  specific office.  Opening my committee -- Reshma for New York -- and  inviting my supporters to become Early Adopters is an exciting step forward, and we’re going to explore how I can best continue making a difference in  New York City"

Councilwoman James (Photo: Facebook)

Councilwoman Tish James looks to be firmly moving her campaign for the Public Advocate's office forward. A reader forwarded a fundraising invitation directly stating her intentions to run for the seat in 2013.

"As I prepare to campaign for the anticipated vacancy in the Public Advocate's Office, I am excited by the prospect of expanding my service to the people of our great City -- but I need your help," the letter reads.

Ms. James goes out to tout her record and suggest readers visit her new website, www.LetitiaJames2013.com. The website further extols her accomplishments in areas stretching from cultural arts to budgetary matters.

Currently, Ms. James is the only candidate aggressively campaigning for the seat though State Senator Dan Squadron and former Congressional candidate Reshma Saujani are considered to be potential rivals. Current Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is expected to run for mayor, leaving the seat open behind him.

View the first page of the fundraising invitation below:

Reshma Saujani (Photo: Facebook)

Over the weekend, Crain's reported Reshma Saujani is leaving her position as deputy advocate in the Office of New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in order to potentially run for Mr. de Blasio's job herself in 2013. Mr. de Blasio is widely expected to run for mayor, which would leave his position vacant for aspiring politicians.

Confirming Crain's report, a source familiar with the situation told The Politicker Ms. Saujani is departing Mr. de Blasio's office on March 16th and is indeed expected to open a committee that would allow her to campaign for the position. However, the source noted a citywide campaign would be just one of multiple options she is considering for her next career move.

If she does pull the trigger on the campaign, it would place her on a collision course with Councilwoman Tish James, who has been campaigning for the position since 2011 and has had the field largely to herself. State Senator Dan Squadron is also a potential candidate.

Ms. Saujani made headlines in 2010 by running a high-profile primary challenge to Upper East Side Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney. Ms. Saujani raised over $1 million in the bid, but ultimately got soundly defeated by the veteran incumbent.

She did not immediately return a request for comment.