Black Candidates Say They Won’t Exit Primary, Despite Sharpton’s Expected Call for Unity
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Days before the Reverend Al Sharpton is expected to call on Brooklyn leaders to unite behind a single black congressional candidate in a crowded Democratic primary, the three black candidates said they would not drop out.
Political leaders say a fourth candidate, who is Jewish, could end up representing the 11th Congressional District, which is about 60% African American and Caribbean, if the majority of voters are split among the three black candidates.
Running to replace Rep. Major Owens, who is retiring from Congress after 24 years, are Council Member Yvette Clarke, state Senator Carl Andrews, and Mr. Owens’s son, Christopher, who are black. Also in the race is Council Member David Yassky, who is Jewish. Before Mr. Owens, the seat was held by the first black woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm.
Mr. Sharpton will call on Brooklyn leaders to unite behind a single black candidate in an attempt to ensure that a minority candidate will continue to represent the district. The call will come during Mr. Sharpton’s keynote speech on Saturday to the Black Brooklyn Empowerment Convention, being held at the Concord Baptist Church of Christ in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
The fear of splitting the black vote led one candidate to drop out. Assemblyman Noah Nickolas Perry dropped out last week and endorsed Ms. Clarke. “It was incumbent upon me that not any old Democrat be elected to represent this district,” Mr. Perry said. He said he hoped other candidates would “make the right decision that would benefit the community rather than our own selfish ambitions for moving up the political ladder.”
None seems ready to do so.
Mr. Andrews reaffirmed his plan to run, citing his record in the state Legislature and results from polls conducted by his campaign. “So not only am I not dropping out, I am going to win,” he said. On Thursday, Mr. Andrews will be joined by the state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer, and other supporters on the steps of City Hall for his first major campaign event.
Later that day, the younger Mr. Owens is having a fund-raiser. “I’m strongly committed to the campaign and I am not dropping out,” Mr. Owens said.”
“Yvette has every intention of finishing this race,” Ms. Clarke’s campaign manager, Christopher Lanier, said.
