Brooklyn district leaders yesterday scrambled to put themselves in position to fill the power vacuum left by the felony conviction of the now former Brooklyn Democratic Party chief, Clarence Norman Jr.

One district leader, Joseph Bova, 52, of Bay Ridge, announced his candidacy to become chairman of the party. Assemblyman Vito Lopez, 54, of Bushwick and Ridgewood, said he was strongly considering a run. Sources close to the party mentioned two other possible contenders: Assemblywoman Annette Robinson and the party’s acting chairwoman, Freddie Hamilton.

With the party badly fragmented and bereft of leadership, and candidates needing support from just 21 district leaders for victory, the race to succeed the disgraced former leader appeared to be wide open. District leaders will choose their next chief at an executive committee meeting that is expected to take place in late October, following the Jewish holidays. Likely contenders spent yesterday making calls to party leaders to gauge their standing. Mr. Lopez told The New York Sun he was “within three votes right now” and described his support as “broad-based” along racial and geographic lines.

The race was fully under way a day after Norman, who led the party for 15 years, was convicted of violating election law and falsifying business records. A jury in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn found that he intentionally solicited donations during his 2000 and 2002 Assembly campaigns that exceeded the legal limit of $3,100, and then tried to cover them up. Norman, 54, faces a maximum of eight years in prison, with sentencing set for November 29.

Self-described party reformers, particularly Alan Fleishman, a district leader, say they hope to use the conviction of Norman to push to clean up corruption. The reformers are calling for sweeping changes to the opaque system of nominating judges and justices.

Declared and potential candidates, however, said the biggest problem for the party isn’t allegations of judicial corruption but the Democrat’s shrinking power. They criticized its ability to turn out Democratic voters and to decide elections.

Mr. Bova, a project manager for the New York City School Construction Authority, said his goal is to turn the organization “into a political machine it was at one time.” Criticizing Norman’s leadership, he said, “I think there’s apathy. There hasn’t been much emphasis on the organizational infrastructure of the party.” He said he would also focus on making Brooklyn “a Republican-free zone.”

Mr. Lopez, a social worker by profession who was first elected to the Assembly in 1984, described himself as a “unity” candidate who would bring back “respectability” to the party organization. Running for chairman, he said, “has not been my lifelong dream. I believe someone has to step up and try to do this.”

While Messrs. Lopez and Bova played down the criticism of the county’s judicial nomination process, one Democratic leader, Council Member David Yassky, who represents Brooklyn Heights, said the issue should be of paramount concern during the lead-up to the election. “The judges are a problem because the party regulars spend all of their time and energy to try to hand out these plums of judgeships, rather than developing a policy agenda,” he said. Mr. Yassky yesterday attempted to hold a press conference on the subject in front of City Hall, but aborted it because he didn’t line up enough people to attend, he said.

Historically, Democratic Party chairmen in New York City who assumed the position following an unexpected vacancy of the office have held power for relatively shorter times. John Sabini, who is now a state senator, served less than a year as interim Queens chairman after Donald Manes, who was implicated in the Parking Violations Bureau scandal, resigned from the post and committed suicide. George Friedman succeeded the Bronx chairman, Stanley Friedman, who was convicted of racketeering in connection with the same scandal, and served eight years.

As the party attempts to move beyond Norman’s legal problems, prosecutors are gearing up for his second trial stemming from the four indictments against Norman that were handed down by Brooklyn’s district attorney, Charles “Joe” Hynes in 2003. Jury selection for the second trial is scheduled for November 7. Norman faces charges that he stole $5,000 from his re-election committee and put the money to personal use.