The candidacy of New York City Councilman Charles Barron for Congress against New York State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries to replace the retiring Edolphus Towns has attracted much more than the usual interest.
Despite his notorious reputation for mindless anti-white, anti-Jewish and anti-Israel diatribes, and the sterling credentials of Assemblyman Jeffries, Mr. Barron’s support among voters in the 8th Congressional District seems to be growing.
It should be noted that in addition to his vile and vitriolic outbursts, Mr. Barron happens to rank at the very bottom among council members in terms of delivering funding for social services.
The following is an important analysis by a leading Brooklyn community activist concerning what’s at stake in this contest and the need for our community to come out to vote – for Mr. Jeffries:
The Voting Season
By Chaim Deutsch
It’s that season again; everyone is counting on your vote and every vote counts. It is a time for some serious reflection.
Living in the U.S. since birth, many of us take the right to vote for granted. We fail to realize the influence we have on government legislation through elected officials. While it may seem like your voice is just one of millions, the organized weight of a bloc vote actually has the power to affect legislation in a very significant way.
A voting bloc is a group of voters motivated by common interests and concerns. Often, voting blocs occur among ethnic or religious groups, though there may be many other reasons for different people to join together for increased voting power. Issues like the economy or war may also create powerful voting blocs in specific regions.
Understandably, candidates will often go out of their way to accommodate needs and wants of organized voters since their voice is very powerful and carries much clout comes election season. As a religious community with varied needs and concerns throughout the year, electing officials who are sensitive to our requirements is of utmost importance. And achieving it is entirely possible using the power of our bloc vote.
The elections taking place on June 26 are not regular elections. They are primary elections, which are held by political parties to determine a candidate for the race in the general elections in November. In the Jeffries-Barron race, since the overwhelming majority of voters in the 8th district are Democrats, one of the two is almost guaranteed to win the general election.
On June 26 we face an extremely important election. We urge you in the strongest terms to energize your community and encourage friends, family and colleagues who live in this newly redistricted area to vote for Hakeem Jeffries. We should not stand by and permit Charles Barron to bring his brand of intolerance to Congress.