Monserrate Considers Challenging Sabini
When state Senator John Sabini, who is from a very Democratic-leaning district in Jackson Heights, Queens, got arrested in Albany for drunk driving last month, I said that it wouldn’t be much of a threat to his re-election unless a Democrat ran against him in a primary.
That may now happen.
In this clip, City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, a former cop who came pretty close to ousting Sabini in 2006, talks about the possibility of making a rematch.
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John Sabini, nice guy or not, is a thing of the past. The vast majority of the 13th Senate district is comprised of "minority" communities--who will come out to vote, many for the first time, in 2008. Many immigrants who are eligible to vote but have not taken part in the electoral process have been politicized due to the national and local immigration debates. Many immigrants are itching to get to the polls--many others who aren't eleigilble to vote are eligible to make campaign contributions. Councilman Hiram Monserrate is perfectly positioned to take advantage of these circumstances. If a poll is conducted in the 13th senate district questioning who Monseratte and Hiram are I can guarantee that Monserrate will be a more recognizable name. It should not be a popularity contest but Monserrate is just out there more and taking the unpopular positions and not just giving the same old party line answers like these machine politicians do.
The 2008 elections will reveal a fact long known to activist and organizers in immigrant communities: there is a sleeping dragon in the body politic of this country--immigrants--and we have been forced to awake from our overripe slumber.
Let's also not forget that Monserrate was a US Marine before serving on the NYPD. And Monserrate was also one of the few members who refused to vote himself a pay raise on the City Council. This guy's one of those rare politicians who actually seems to have integrity.
I hope Hiram runs!
Monserrate may have beenone of the few members who refused to vote himself a pay raise but he was one of the many that took the money.
Lets face it people, who's the best person to represent this district? It's no longer going to be about whose got the countys blessing or who's next on line. Things are changing, both locally and nationally (lets hope) and now's the time to get back to ideology and principle, time to do the right thing for all, not just please the dwindling few who remain in power. Lets go Hiram... Right on all issues so far, and willing to stand up and fight the good fight, for what he believes in, for all that's right and not just convenient. Pa'lante Hiram.
He voted for a Real Estate tax increase, as a result rents have skyrocketed & now all the working class people in NY are struggling to make a living!