(Photo: Facebook)

Over the weekend, the influential Working Families Party announced their support in a number of key races across the city, sending a signal of labor support as candidates vie for a seat in the City Council next year.

“New Yorkers have a huge opportunity to decide the direction of our city. It’s time to choose whether we’ll be a city that caters to the rich and powerful 1%, or whether New York City can work for all of us,” Bill Lipton, the party's deputy director, said in a statement. “Every day New Yorkers can count on WFP-endorsed candidates to stand up for all of us.”

Six endorsements were for open seats, going to Mark Levine, Ritchie Torres, Rory Lancman, Daneek Miller, Antonio Reynoso and Kirsten John Foy. The rest of the endorsements, which can be viewed below, went to incumbents who are generally not facing serious re-election challenges.

As a great number of council members are term-limited out of office this year, organizations like the WFP are hoping to impact enough races so the next City Council Speaker is one sympathetic to their interests.

Incumbents:

City Council District 2: Rosie Mendez
City Council District 8: Melissa Mark-Viverito
City Council District 10: Ydanis Rodriguez
City Council District 12: Andy King
City Council District 21: Julissa Ferreras
City Council District 25: Danny Dromm
City Council District 26: Jimmy Van Bramer
City Council District 30: Elizabeth Crowley
City Council District 31: Donovan Richards
City Council District 39: Brad Lander
City Council District 45: Jumaane Williams
City Council District 49: Debi Rose

(Photo: Facebook)

It's a good day for former Assemblyman Rory Lancman.

Mr. Lancman, a candidate for outgoing Councilman Jim Gennaro's seat, was first welcomed to the news that his top opponent, Martha Taylor, had dropped out of the race. Giving him a further boost, this afternoon, Mr. Lancman scored the endorsement of the Hotel Trades Council, a small but politically powerful union that successfully worked on behalf of Mr. Lancman's competitor in a congressional campaign last year.

"I can't wait to reshape our City's priorities towards lifting up working New Yorkers, and no one has consistently done just that like the men and women of the Hotel Trades Council -- I'm grateful for their support," Mr. Lancman said in a statement.

Additionally, HTC announced two other endorsements this afternoon: Donovan Richards and Costa Constantinides.

Mr. Richards, formerly Councilman James Sanders' chief of staff, is campaigning in the February 19th special election for his boss' southeastern Queens district, left vacant when Mr. Sanders joined the New York State Senate. Mr. Constantinides is a candidate vying to replace term-limited Astoria Councilman Peter Vallone.

Mr. Lancman still faces Isaac Sasson, a lottery winner and millionaire, in his Democratic primary, currently scheduled for September later this year.

(Photo: Getty)

Assemblyman Rory Lancman, who lost a Democratic primary to Congresswoman-elect Grace Meng earlier this year and declined to run for reelection, now has his sights set on a new chamber of elected office: New York City Council.

"There's a tremendous turnover in city government next year, including the City Council itself," Mr. Lancman told us yesterday afternoon. "So I think there's a real opportunity for someone with experience and energy to have a big impact in shaping the city in the next 4 to 8 years. That's something that this time didn't really exist for me in the State Assembly but will in the City Council. It's exciting to be a part of it."

Mr. Lancman intends to run for term-limited Councilman Jim Gennaro's seat in eastern Queens. And, unlike his congressional campaign where the local Democratic establishment had aligned against him, they appear to be fully at his back this time around, at least if his campaign kickoff invitation is any indication. The event is headlined by the borough's Democratic chairman, Rep. Joe Crowley, while Ms. Meng and a plethora of local elected officials are members of the host committee. Also included are representatives from a number of labor heavyweights, including UFT, RWDSU, SEIU 32BJ, SEIU Local 199, Hotel Trades Council and more.

"It's way too early for any official endorsements, this is part of the process not the end of it," he said. "But I'm very, very optimistic, that at the end of the day the party is going to be behind my candidacy and we're going to go forward together. For people to be supportive of me when I'm running for the City Council even though they weren't when I was running for Congress 5 months ago, really emphasized the fundamental truths that relationships are more important and deeper than one particular political race."

Currently, no other challengers for Mr. Gennaro's seat have emerged and the Democratic bench of elected officials in the district is more or less limited to Assemblyman Lancman and Assemblyman Mike Simanowitz. Working in Mr. Lancman's favor, Mr. Simanowitz is also part of Mr. Lancman's host committee.  Update (10:58 a.m.): District Leader Martha Taylor is reportedly moving forward with a campaign too.

Although official results haven't completely come in yet, according to Queens Times Ledger reporter Phil Corso, Ms. Rozic's rival Jerry Iannece has already announced his time has "come and gone" and that  "politics not in the cards for me."  Mr. Corso's tweets echo what sources have told Politicker.

The Queens County Democratic Party had officially endorsed Mr. Iannece, and rolled out endorsement after endorsement on Mr. Iannece's behalf, as well as some unions like SEIU 1199. However, in what may be a replay of some 2009 City Council primaries, the Working Families Party, in addition to other labor powerhouses like the Hotel Trades Council, endorsed their own candidate and hustled.

The county's Democratic establishment also strongly backed Senator Toby Stavisky's reelection and Ron Kim's bid to replace Ms. Meng. Ms. Stavisky seems to be in a good position with the numbers that have come out so far, but it depends where the oustanding polling precincts stand.

A map of New York City's State Senate districts.

It's Election Day in New York next Thursday! But instead of a titanic battle between ideologies--your Mitt Romneys vs. Barack Obamas, if you will--the options on the ballot will be little-noticed state legislative contests between candidates of the same party, often with few policy differences.

However, that doesn't mean that there aren't some exciting races happening. From "Who Gets Arrested for Raping a Grandmother?" to “Assemblywoman Caught Up in Sex Scandal with Two Young Men,” there's been no shortage of nasty drama and mud slinging as voters head to the polls.

Here's a breakdown of who's running and why it might matter who wins. The list below focuses on Democratic races because the few Republican primaries in this staunchly blue city tend to have clear favorites or are taking place in such Democratic territory that the victor is reasonably likely to be irrelevant.

So, without further ado...

Category #1: The End of the Rainbow

Four Republicans crossed the aisle to help pass gay marriage in New York last year, and three of them are running for re-election this year, Senators Mark Grisanti, Steve Saland and Roy McDonald, are all facing primary challengers that have come out on the opposite side of the marriage issue.

Advocates on both sides of the debate have invested heavily in these races, and regardless of the outcome, the results are sure to help set a national narrative about what happens to Republicans who support gay marriage. Can otherwise conservative lawmakers survive the backlash, or will their unorthodoxies topple their political careers? As state legislatures across this country consider passing gay marriage themselves, these three races could impact the discussion.

And with campaign literature like this, these races won't be short on fireworks.

Category #2: Indictment Excitement

There are a number of elected officials running for re-election with various criminal allegations hanging over their heads. If the more ethically challenged ones win and are eventually convicted of abusing their offices, the results of these races might send a depressing message about the state of the electorate. (They have all maintained their innocence.)

State Senator Shirley Huntley, who was arrested a couple weeks ago on charges that she used member items to line the pockets of her friends and family, is facing a very strong primary challenge from Councilman James Sanders. Even before Ms. Huntley's legal troubles, Mr. Sanders was mounting a credible primary challenge, as his base in Far Rockaway was drawn into her southeastern Queens district in this year's redistricting process. Mr. Sanders has also picked up support from a number of unions and the influential Rev. Floyd Flake, making this race seem like it's his to lose at this point.

Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. currently stands accused of one of the more hilarious acts of alleged official impropriety in recent memory -- taking bribes to pay for his legal bills he ran up in a separate bribery case. It's not clear if Mr. Boyland intends to fight the federal charges again or accept a plea deal, but the indictment--with wiretap evidence--seems pretty damning. Damning enough that he'd have a much harder re-election bid ahead of him if it weren't for the fact that he's facing eight (!) challengers who will split the anti-Boyland vote. With such a large field, it's difficult to get a clear read on this Brownsville and Ocean Hill-based district, but activist Tony Herbert and campaign operative Anthony Jones seems to be running some of the stronger non-Boyland campaigns.

Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera is being investigated by a small army of agencies on whether she may have illegally provided jobs to her boyfriends and used a nonprofit's funds for personal and political purposes. She faces a field of three opponents, but businessman Mark Gjonaj is running the most serious campaign of the bunch, with over $200,000 in his war chest and substantial investments in advertising and field operations. Ms. Rivera won't go down without a fight, however, and the Bronx Democratic establishment is pulling out all the stops to ensure she pulls out a victory. Will she be able to survive the barrage of bad headlines that have dogged her for the last few weeks and make it through Election Day?

Category #3: Rage Against the Machine

While Ms. Rivera's race features a classic establishment vs. insurgent dynamic, it's hardly the only one. Candidates across every borough except Staten Island are running against the folks who are currently in charge. Nowhere is this dynamic more pronounced than Brooklyn, where scandal-scarred Kings County Democratic boss Vito Lopez is still ostensibly in control and has yet to formally relinquish power. If anti-County candidates succeed, it will weaken the organizations' ability to convince mayoral contenders and other candidates they are still top dogs in this city.

District Leader Lincoln Restler is considered a rising star in Democratic politics, but before he can continue rising, he's going to have to win a tough reelection battle. Mr. Restler, a prominent critic of Mr. Lopez, would be cruising to reelection but for the fact his opponent, Chris Olechowski, is destined to receive the majority of the ballots in vote-heavy Hasidic Williamsburg. It seems like all the winds are blowing in Mr. Restler's favor, but given the bloc of votes against him, this will be a race that plenty of political observers will be following Thursday night.

Senator Martin Dilan may or may not be vulnerable, but given his close alliance with Mr. Lopez and the fact that his senate district overlaps with Mr. Lopez's assembly seat, his reelection race will serve as a test for the machine in Brooklyn's new political world. While Mr. Dilan would appear to have the edge, attorney Jason Otaño is mounting a vigorous campaign. If Mr. Otaño can make a strong showing, he could be a strong candidate in the future, at the very least.

Open Seat to replace outgoing Assemblywoman Grace Meng: A crowded field of candidates is vying to replace Ms. Meng--who left the her diverse seat based in Asian-majority Flushing to pursue a congressional campaign. The County's Democratic Party has backed Ron Kim, a former government aide and political operative, but his electoral prospects are far from clear. Ms. Meng has stayed out of the race and a number of other hopefuls, notably former City Council candidate Yen Chou, are in Mr. Kim's way. The other entrants in this unpredictable race are; Ethel Chen, Myungsuk Lee and Martha Flores-Vasquez.

Open seat to replace outgoing Assemblyman Rory Lancman: Mr. Lancman lost to Ms. Meng in her congressional race's Democratic primary and isn't pursuing reelection. His seat, like Ms. Meng's, is an Asian-majority district in northeastern Queens, but the field couldn't be more different as it features just two non-Asian candidates: community board chairman Jerry Iannece and former assembly chief of staff Nily Rozic. Queens Democrats are pushing hard for Mr. Iannece, and he would seem to be favored as a result. However, Ms. Rozic has picked up a number of notable endorsements, including The New York Times and various unions, creating a genuine horse race between the two.

State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, who's also running for reelection in a Queens district that has been reconfigured to be Asian-majority, shouldn't really be that vulnerable without any major blunders in office and a reliably Democratic voting record. However, she only won 45 percent of the vote  in 2010 against two challengers. With a district that now includes new areas, she's facing a rematch against one of her 2010 foes, John Messer. Mr. Messer, a businessman and attorney, has his placed his personal wealth in the campaign too, to the tune of $500,000. Ms. Stavisky, with close ties to her senate colleagues and Queens County, has been doing plenty of her own fundraising and running an aggressive campaign, however.

Open seat to replace outgoing Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries: Mr. Jeffries is on his way to become Brooklyn's next congressman and he's leaving a vacant Fort Greene and Clinton Hill-based district behind him. Three contenders are hoping to replace him; Walter Mosley, Ola Alabi and Martine Guerrier. Mr. Mosley has the support of Mr. Jeffries, who has a strong base in the district, but Ms. Alabi has been racking up endorsements and doesn't appear to be someone who can be easily counted out. Ms. Guerrier recently earned the endorsement of The Times and could potentially make an electoral mark of her own come Election Day.

Open seat: Pretty much everyone and their mother has endorsed community board chairman Brad Hoylman to replace retiring Senator Tom Duane in his Midtown-based district, but businessman Tommy Greco is hoping he can make a dent with the help of the storied McManus Club. It wold be a pretty surprising upset for Mr. Greco to pull off a victory, however.
.
.

Category #4: Demographic Pressures

Like it or not, voting patterns often correspond with with ethnicity and political candidates often seek to take advantage of this fact. Some incumbents hold on year after year in districts that don't exactly look like them, while others have seen their districts change beneath their feet since they were first elected. Sometimes it all comes down to the political talents of the incumbents, while in other cases, there just might not be a path to victory anymore.

Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz is facing a challenge from Ben Akselrod in a race that could demonstrate electoral power of southeastern Brooklyn's Russian-speaking community. Mr. Akselrod, who started off with a strong campaign, stumbled a bit lately when he release a campaign mailer that referred to crime going up in the "negrohood," a mistake that generated local and national coverage. Whoever wins will be one of the more vulnerable Democratic candidates in the city, as the district's Russian and Orthodox Jews communities are increasingly trending conservative at the ballot box.

In a race that will test demographic realities to their very limit, veteran Assemblywoman Rhoda Jacobs is hoping she can be successfully reelected again in a district that is only 15% white. She is facing a serious challenge from District Leader Rodneyse Bichotte, who is of Caribbean descent. Ms. Jacobs, a high-ranking member of the State Assembly, is hoping for high turnout in the district's observant Jewish community.

Assemblyman Mike Miller is running for reelection in a district that contains Woodhaven and is plurality Latino. He faces off against Etienne David Adorno, who seems to be mounting a spirited campaign. If Mr. Miller's fundraising were just a tad stronger, this might not be a race to watch, but his campaign war chest is fairly weak for an incumbent.
.
.

Category #5: Odds & Ends

There are some races to keep your thumb on that might not fit into an overarching narrative, but could still be well-worth watching for various reasons. More details below.

State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who narrowly lost a campaign against veteran Rep. Charlie Rangel earlier this year, is now running for reelection and facing a Rangel-backed challenger in Guillermo Linares. Mr. Linares, who's been endorsed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and The New York Times, hasn't been holding his own in fundraising, but Mr. Espaillat has been spending lots of money and would appear to have the edge in this Washington Heights and West Side-based district. Mr. Espaillat is a leading contender for Mr. Rangel's seat in 2014, but his political career could be nipped in the bud if Mr. Linares is able to pull off an upset.

Open seat: With Mr. Linares' challenge to Mr. Espaillat, there's a new vacant Assembly district on the northern tip of Manhattan, and several contenders, including Mr. Linares' daughter Mayra Linares, are hoping to replace him. The other candidates include Assembly aide Gabriela Rosa and former candidate Ruben Vargas. Ms. Rosa, who is backed by Mr. Espaillat, and Ms. Linares, who is obviously being supported by her father, would appear to be the frontrunners. How much Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Linares can impact this race is unknown, however, as both may be focused on their own rivalry.

Councilman Charles Barron has made headlines in recent years with provocative campaigns for governor and congress, both of which he lost badly. However, Mr. Barron is not ready to exit stage right just yet. Insiders believe Mr, Barron and his wife, Assemblywoman Inez Barron, may intend to switch offices  and keep their respective seats in the family when he is term-limited in 2013. First, Ms. Barron will have to succeed in her own re-election bid against Chris Banks.

Moshe and Avraham Tischler, brothers who are 20 and 21 years old respectively, are challenging incumbent Assemblyman Dov Hikind and frontrunner State Senate candidate Simcha Felder for two overlapping Brooklyn seats. While neither is especially likely to win, should they post strong showings, it could be taken as a sign of weakness for the two establishment pols they're opposing, as well as the Orthodox Jewish political establishment at-large. Mr. Hikind doesn't have a GOP opponent but Mr. Felder is running against incumbent Republican Senator David Storobin, and he'll need Democrats on his side in the general election.

Assemblywoman Barbara Clark's ethical issues aren't quite enough to land her in the "Indictment Excitement" category, but attorney Clyde Vanel is running an active campaign and is hoping that voter dissatisfaction could lead to an upset in her eastern Queens district.
.
.
.

.
Veteran Assemblyman Nick Perry shouldn't necessarily be vulnerable, but his opponent, attorney and community board chairman Terry Hinds, has a relatively strong profile.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Well, there you have it. For those who really want to get into the weeds, there are also a number of competitive court races across the city. Otherwise, this list should be more than enough to keep you busy on Election Day. Politicker, of course, will be up late into the night following the results.

(photo: nilyrozic.org)

Assemblyman Rory Lancman fully vacated his northeastern Queens seat in order to unsuccessfully run for Congress earlier this summer, and now the race to replace him is increasingly heating up and becoming a one to keep your eye on for this year's September 13th Democratic primary.

Local community board chairman Jerry Iannece has received the support of the Queens County Democratic Party and has been slowly rolling out the endorsements of elected officials in the area, but his opponent would like to announce that she has her own notable support as well.

Nily Rozic, the chief of staff for Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, declared that EMILY's List, an organization that seeks to raise funds for -- and elect -- pro-choice Democratic female candidates, is formally endorsing her candidacy.

“While states across the country—including New York—face the challenges of a tough economy and attacks on women’s health, our country is at risk of having fewer women in State Legislatures at the start of 2013," Ms. Rozic said in a statement this morning. "Now, more than ever, our states need the leadership of strong, pro-choice Democratic women like me.”

Her campaign also pointed to her labor support, noting her backing by trades unions, CWA, UAW and more. In an interview with The Perez Notes last month, she said the influential Working Families Party is behind her candidacy as well.

Of course, Mr. Iannece is anything but a slouch when it comes to securing his own support, and he's already announced that SEIU 32BJ, 1199 and other unions are backing him, as well as a small army of elected officials.

(Photo: Iannece campaign)

Jerry Iannece, the chairman of Community Board 11 in Queens, is gearing up his campaign as primary season for the State Assembly district he's seeking fast approaches. Accordingly, he's rolled out the endorsement of Comptroller John Liu in a press release indicating he's also hired the Parkside Group to handle at least his communications.

“Jerry has spent his adult life working to protect middle class families in Queens,” Mr. Liu said in the statement. “He has built a business and raised a family in Queens while continuing to serve his friends and neighbors here in in the community. I am endorsing Jerry today because he is a tireless public servant who will hit the ground running to deliver results for Queens.

Of course, Mr. Liu's support is hardly a surprise, as Mr. Iannece has the formal backing of the Queens County Democratic Party, an organization notable for the loyalty it commands among its elected officials.

Although some aspiring politicians may shy away from Mr. Liu, who's often referred to as "embattled" due to the federal indictment against his campaign treasurer, he remains quite popular in the city's Chinese-American community. And that's not a bad get as he campaigns for the demographically diverse seat held by outgoing Assemblyman Rory Lancman.

Nily Rozic, a former chief of staff to Assemblyman Brian Kavanaugh, currently appears to be Mr.  Iannece's main primary opponent. Mr. Lancman is providing tacit support to her candidacy by helping her collect signatures to get onto the ballot, and the campaign may serve as a test to see if Mr. Lancman, who unsuccessfully ran for Congress against the Queens Democrats' pick this year, can leverage his organization to deliver an upset against the establishment in his own backyard.

(Photo: NY1)

Due to a loophole in this year's uniquely layered election calendar, it's possible for members of the State Legislature to simultaneously run for Congress and for reelection in Albany, providing a potential escape hatch should they lose their congressional bid. There is some controversy as to whether State Senator Adriano Espaillat is doing this or not, but Assemblywoman Grace Meng made clear during a congressional debate last night that she's currently all-in for Washington D.C.

"I am not circulating petitions to run for reelection as an assembly member and right now I am 100% focused on winning the congressional race," Ms. Meng stated.

This is notable because Ms. Meng's campaign spokesman hadn't ruled out the possibility while one of her opponents, Assemblyman Rory Lancman, definitively had.

The deadline for turning in signatures is July 12th at midnight, which would make it feasible for a losing candidate in the June 26th congressional primary to also run for state office, but it would be difficult to gather enough signatures in such a short time window. And, as Democrats -- including one backed by the county's Democratic organization, Ron Kim -- pile into the race for Ms. Meng's seat, it'd also be an awkward situation for her to suddenly announce a run for reelection should her congressional campaign go awry.

For his part, Mr. Lancman repeated his opposition to this maneuver last night.

"I'm not circulating petitions I don't have an intention to run for the assembly," he said. "There are people who running for my assembly seat right now and I always thought it would be unseemly to -- at the same time that I'm running for Congress -- have a backdoor plan to run for reelection at the assembly at the last minute."

Two other candidates in the race, Democratic Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley and GOP Councilman Dan Halloran, are not up for reelection until 2013 and would suffer no risk to their current positions should they be unsuccessful.

(Photo: DrMittman4Congress.com)

Dr. Robert Mittman, the controversial underdog Queens congressional candidate, released a campaign video on YouTube yesterday. So far, only 13 people have watched the clip, which includes footage of Dr. Mittman reading the statement he made when he first announced his campaign interspersed with photos of him and his family, the good doctor at work treating patients and pictures of New York and Washington landmarks all set to the tune of Billy Joel's 1989 hit "We Didn't Start The Fire."

"As a lifelong Queens resident, a parent, a voter and a medical doctor, I am here to offer a precsription for a healthy economy," Dr. Mittman says in the video.

When Dr. Mittman first announced his candidacy, he faced accusations he was a plant designed to split the Jewish vote, which would favor Assemblywoman Grace Meng, the candidate who has the backing of the Queens County Democratic Party. Dr. Mittman has vigorously denied these allegations. In his video, Dr. Mittman slams his three Democratic opponents in the 6th district race; Ms. Meng, Assemblyman Rory Lancman and Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley as career politicians.

"I am running for Congress to get Washington working for you, the people. Unlike all of my opponents in the Democratic primary, I am not a career politician. I'm a medical doctor," he says. "As a doctor, I have been trained to diagnose an illness and prescribe the proper treatment. I'll apply these same techniques as your representative in Congress."

To drive home the point that his experience as a health professional will be a political asset, Dr. Mittman's clip also features the slogan "the prescription for a healthy economy" and his campaign logo, whish is his name alongside a healthy, nutritious apple. For good measure, there's a real-life apple is also shown sitting on his desk.

Watch Dr. Mittman's YouTube video below.

A scene from Ms. Crowley's campaign video hitting Mr. Lancman. (Photo: Vimeo)

Assembly Members Grace Meng and Rory Lancman, both candidates for an open congressional seat in northeastern Queens, have been taking shots at one another on issues ranging from Social Security to The New York Times endorsement, but the third main candidate in the race, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, has largely been keeping her head down. That changed this morning when her campaign released a video accusing Mr. Lancman of being hypocritical on the issue of independent redistricting.

"Assemblyman Lancman is very eager to attack his opponents, but seems to have forgotten to mind his own backyard," a high ranking official in Ms. Crowley's campaign declared. "If he tells a crowd of voters that he supports independent redistricting and always has, but told NY1 four months ago that he had a hand in drawing his own lines, it is a case of pandering at best and lying at worst."

"Will the real Rory Lancman please stand up?" he further asked.

Mr. Lancman was among those former Mayor Ed Koch declared a “Hero of Reform” for supporting independent redistricting reform but ultimately voted for a gerrymandered map that came with a watered-down reform package for future decades' redistricting processes. However, Mr. Koch, who held a rally for Mr. Lancman yesterday, has said  he would not use that vote against lawmakers.

Ms. Meng also voted for the redistricting deal while Ms. Crowley, as a member of an entirely different legislative body, obviously could not vote one way or the other.

The increasing back-and-forth is understandable as the June 26th election is in its home stretch and the candidate are debating tonight on Inside City Hall, where this issue may come up.

Watch Ms. Crowley's campaign video taking Mr. Lancman to task below:

Will the Real Rory Lancman Please Stand Up? from Elizabeth Crowley for Congress on Vimeo.