Political consultant Hank Sheinkopf—who's seen many, many primaries—indulged me with a few predictions about the outcome of some of today's competitive races:

Assemblyman Sheldon Silver by 10 points.
State Senate challenger Dan Squadron by 10 points.
Representative Ed Towns by 8 to 10 points.
State Senator Kevin Parker by only 2 points.

Agree? Disagree?

This sign was spotted by a reader in Borough Park and again in a predominantly Jewish enclave at the edge of Kensington (around 50th Street and 10th Avenue) in Brooklyn.

The tag line, in Hebrew and English--If Simcha loses, We All Lose--is a pretty direct appeal for votes along identity lines.

Felder is running for State Senate against incumbent Kevin Parker and fellow City Councilman Kendall Stewart, whose volunteers gave me more than a fair share of fliers at the subway station this morning.

Interestingly, Stewart's palm card asks voters not only to elect him, but to "re-elect" Congresswoman Yvette Clarke (and Congressman Ed Towns).  read more »

A raucous debate infused with racial tension took place last night in Brooklyn between Democratic State Senator Kevin Parker and his two primary opponents, term-limited City Council members Kendall Stewart and Simcha Felder.

Each candidate is representative of one of three major demographic voting blocs in the district--Felder is an Orthodox Jew, Stewart is a Caribbean immigrant and Parker is African-American--that sometimes clash over issues like immigration.

During the part of the debate when the candidates questioned each other, Stewart began by welcoming Felder to “this side” of the district--ostensibly a note about geography, but also a reference to his Council district, which is demographically much different.  read more »

Michael Bloomberg just formally endorsed Democratic State Senate candidate Simcha Felder, who is in a three-way Democratic primary and trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Kevin Parker. The other candidate in the race is Kendall Stewart, who, like Felder, will be term-limited out of the City Council next year.

In a public statement released by Felder’s campaign, Bloomberg said:

"Simcha Felder is an independent thinker who makes decisions the same way I do - by simply doing what he thinks is right for the people he represents. I rely on Simcha's advice on issues big and small because he is honest, fair, and speaks his mind openly.  read more »

The state’s fiscal crisis is being cited as one reason the United Federation of Teacher is endorsing Democratic State Senator Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, who is facing a three-way Democratic primary.

“Now, more than ever, we need leaders like Senator Parker,” Randi Weingarten, president of the union, said in a public statement. “With an economic crisis looming, it’s good to know that we have such a firm believer in public education representing us in Albany.”

In dealing with the state’s fiscal crisis, Governor David Paterson is urging spending reductions across the board, and has said no option is off the table. That means a reduction in education spending is possible and it's probably among the topics unions are discussing with lawmakers who seek an endorsement.

Parker is running against term-limited City Council members Simcha Felder and Kendall Stewart.

A reader emailed this photo of a bus near Atlantic Avenue that bears an ad for City Councilman Kendall Stewart. Stewart is running for State Senate against incumbent Kevin Parker and another challenger, City Councilman Simcha Felder.

The slogan is, "Improving the Future of the Community."

Up until recently, Stewart was calling himself the "Million $ Man," a reference to how much money he brings into the district. Even then, it was a slightly off-key message, since two of his staffers has just been charged with pocketing money meant for the nonprofit they were supposedly running.

A legislative breakfast for a Brooklyn-based educational group, Shema Kolainu, on August 5 will be something of a who’s who of New York politicians.

Amusingly, attendees will hear both “remarks” from State Senator Kevin Parker, and “greetings” from one of the Democrats looking to unseat him, Simcha Felder.

The chairman of the event is possible mayoral candidate John Catsimatidis, whose company, Gristedes, is the sponsor.

(Honorary chair status is given to Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton, which may help sell a few more tickets.)

The event is paying tribute to, among others, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the State Senate minority leader, Malcolm Smith, comptroller candidate and City Councilman David Weprin, and City Councilman Bill de Blasio, who is also a candidate for Brooklyn borough president.

Liberal billionaire George Soros and members of his family have contributed a little more than $1 million into state campaign coffers since 2000, with nearly all of it going to help Democrats in the State Senate.

Already this year, George, his son Robert, Robert’s wife, Melissa, and another son, Jonathan, contributed $199,500. George, Robert and Melissa each gave $25,000 to the New York State Democratic Party and gave the maximum allowable personal contributions - $9,500 - to Eric Schneiderman, David Valesky, Craig Johnson and Joe Addabbo.

(Two other members of the Soros family also contributed this year. Son Jonathan gave $9,500 to Democratic State Senate candidate Rick Dollinger and his wife, Jennifer, gave $1,000 to a pro-abortion rights lobbying PAC that donated to Johnson and Dollinger.  read more »

The Stonewall Democratic Club, one of the city's largest gay political clubs, held an endorsement meeting last night.

According to a club member, here is who the club is endorsing in a few key races:

-Challenger Kevin Powell over incumbent Representative Ed Towns

-Incumbent State Senator Marty Connor over insurgent Dan Squadron

-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver over his two challengers, Paul Newell and Luke Henry

-Incumbent State Senator Kevin Parker over challengers Kendall Stewart and Simcha Felder

-Manhattan Surrogate's Court candidate Nora Anderson

Kendall Stewart, who is running for State Senate in Brooklyn, is plowing ahead with the notion that he knows how to get money for local community groups, despite the trouble two of his staffers got into for allegedly misusing public money intended for local community groups.

"I want to thank you for all the years of support and your fair and unbiased approach to reporting the news," Stewart says in this "press invitation."

Stewart and fellow City Councilman Simcha Felder are running in a Democratic primary against incumbent Kevin Parker.