Mathieu Eugene

Barack Obama has relatively strong support from local elected officials in and around the 11th congressional district in Brooklyn, the heart of his support in New York City.

But the district's newly-elected Congresswoman Yvette Clarke supports Hillary Clinton,  read more »

Tonight, I'm going on New York 1 News' reporters roundtable for, among other things, a look back at the major news stories of 2007.

I discussed this with a few readers at a bar not long ago, and there was some debate as to which was a bigger story: the ongoing problem of Alan Hevesi's financial indiscretion or Eliot Spitzer's eventful first year in Albany.

But there are other possibilities: Michael Bloomberg leaving the Republican Party, inciting speculation about a presidential campaign; Tom Suozzi's affection; Spitzer's quest for humility; Andrew Cuomo's investigations; Al Sharpton's continued relevance; a New York Post reporter quitting her job to cover the war in Iraq.

Personally, I'm still awed by Mathieu Eugene winning three elections in a single year.

So, what were the biggest, most memorable, must-remember stories of 2007?

Your nominees?

Here are unofficial results from the city Board of Elections:

In the Staten Island District Attorney's race , with 92 percent of the precincts reporting back, incumbent Republican Dan Donovan got 17,523 votes (67 percent). Democratic challenger Mike Ryan got 8,527 (32.7 percent).

In the City Council race in Brooklyn, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting back, incumbent Democrat Mathieu Eugene got 3,024 votes (90.4 percent). Republican challenger Clarence John got 322 votes (9.6 percent).

In the civil court judicial race in Brooklyn, with 100 percent of the precincts reporting back, Democrat Noach Dear got 7,634 votes (65 percent). Republican James McCall got 4,106 votes (35 percent).

There are a more local election results here and here.

And here are links to more results for races in and around Dutchess County, Erie County, Mt. Vernon, Nassau County, Syracuse and Westchester County.

Here's one of the pieces of literature being handed out by City Councilman Mathieu Eugene of Brooklyn, reminding voters to "re-elect" him tomorrow.

In case you forgot, he's running for his Council seat for the third time this year.

Eugene's latest opponent is a Republican named Clarence John.

 

 

 

 

 

Gotham Gazette just released a nice analysis of individually sponsored member items from this year’s city budget.

According to the group, the king of member items is David Weprin of Queens, who got $736,500 for his district by funding 31 projects there. Councilman Leroy Comrie, also of Queens, funded 80 projects for a total of $710,857.

The district with the fewest dollars brought into it is in Brooklyn, where the Council’s newest member, Mathieu Eugene funded 10 programs for a total of $46,500. Helen Foster of the Bronx funded just one project, but it was worth $102,187.

The full report is here.

The City Council has voted down a proposal to co-name four blocks of a street in Brooklyn after black nationalist Sonny Carson. The vote was 15 for and 25 against, with seven abstentions. Notable votes: Bill De Blasio, who worked on David Dinkins' mayoral campaign with Carson, voted no. Oliver Koppell, who voted no, said "we are not voting on the civil rights movement." Mathieu Eugene, in one of his first votes, abstained. Mike Nelson of Brooklyn voted no, and retold a story of how Carson came into the classroom where she was teaching and said he didn't want a white Jew teaching his children.

Mathieu Eugene's latest campaign finance numbers were just posted.

He raised $22,450, and spent $51,147. (Most of it on consultants.)

Which makes his June 4 fund-raiser a bit of a necessity.  read more »

I missed this at first, but shortly after the culmination of Mathieu Eugene's tortuous ascent to the City Council, he went up with a web site to promote a re-election campaign that will represent his third run for the same office in the space of a year.

The picture here of Eugene with Rep. Yvette Clarke and her mother, Una, is from Eugene2007.com, which was created on May 3rd. That's just a few days after, as his biography puts it, he "made history when he won two special elections to become the first Haitian-born elected official in the state of New York."  read more »

Someone who attended Speaker Christine Quinn’s press conference yesterday was kind enough to send over this transcription of her explanation of the new, voluntary certification process for incoming Council members. (Newly sworn-in member Mathieu Eugene, who couldn't take his seat the first time he won election because he couldn't demonstrate that he met residency requirements, opted not to participate in the voluntary certification.)

Here's Quinn:

“In an effort to make that determination, we created a process, a voluntary process, where an individual could sign a form that would basically serve as an affidavit. In that affidavit, you would swear and attest, by a punishment of perjury, that you meet the requirement of the State Public Officers Law. Also voluntarily, we asked that you provide us with documentation backing that up. We always, based on the requirement the Attorney General gave us, had - and have - the right and ability to conduct our own independent investigation to confirm whether or not an individual meets the requirement of that law. We had hoped - and hope whenever we have a new member - that they will voluntarily comply, sign the form, and give us the information.

More after the jump.  read more »

Mathieu Eugene was just sworn into the City Council, according to a reader who, unlike me, is at City Hall today.

Interestingly, though, Eugene still hasn't signed the Council's official paperwork affirming that he is eligible to hold office. Eugene, you'll remember, had some trouble meeting Council requirements after he first won election to the office.

"They're satisified he met all the requirements to hold office," Eugene spokesman, Scott Levenson, just told me, referring to the City Council.

Speaker Christine Quinn is expected to address the matter at a press conference before today's meeting of the full Council.

And for anybody keeping track, score one for Eugene's main adviser, Una Clarke.

The saga that is the second special election in Brooklyn isn't over, but it's pretty close.

With 53% of precincts reporting, Mathieu Eugene had 1,156 votes (48%), Wellington Sharpe had 657 (27%) and Harry Schiffman had 561 (23%), according to a spokeswoman for the city's Board of Election. As for absentee ballots, there are only 159.

 

Don’t get too excited about that voting mishap that City Council candidate Mathieu Eugene complained about this morning.

“He somehow got it jammed,” said city Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez. “It was working before and after, and he was able to vote.”

I ran into City Council candidate Mathieu Eugene outside PS 139 in Brooklyn today, shortly after he voted for himself.

 Eugene, with a cadre of campaign supporters up and down the block handing out his literature, told me that when he tried voting for himself, the lever in the booth was stuck.

 "The machine didn't work," he said.

 

A few minutes later, one of his opponents, Harry Schiffman, passed us on his way to get some coffee. He said he had no trouble voting.

I'm not sure where this is running. But here it is: Una Clarke, Mathieu Eugene and a camera.

(Video after the jump.)

Here is yesterday's decision by Brooklyn federal judge Nicholas Garaufis, who reinstated candidate Wellington Sharpe on the ballot for an April 24th City Council election on the grounds that his opponent Mathieu Eugene had an "unfair advantage" in the petitioning process.

This new election, in case you haven't been following, was made necessary because Eugene, the winner of an initial election on February 20 for the same seat, failed to prove his residency in the district.

The Eugene campaign maintained in the days after the election that they were going to be able to demonstrate that he had, in fact, lived there on Election Day, as is required, and they staged a public relations campaign in which reporters were invited to visit Eugene's new apartment in the district to document evidence that the place was, in fact, inhabited. (Pots on the stove! With food in them!)

But the campaign never did come up with the basic paperwork that would have settled things, and some time after the City Council started investigating, Eugene -- who also claims he is a qualified physician, but has never documented it -- abruptly stopped contesting the residency issue and declared that he intended to run in a second, re-run special election.

Garaufis ruled that based on Eugene's timing, he had an "unfair advantage" over other likely candidates in preparing to qualify for the ballot in the second race.

"Eugene claims that on March 5, 2007, when he invited his supporters to attend his March 8, 2007 rally, he had no inkling that he would request a Second Special Election. Eugene, who also claims to be a physician, lacks credibility on this point," Garaufis wrote.

The judge went on to say, "I therefore find that Eugene knew no later than March 5, 2007 that he would request a Second Special Election, and that he was therefore the only potential candidate able to begin circulating petitions on March 9, 2007 immediately upon the Mayor's announcement that there would be a Second Special Election."  read more »

An informed reader tells me that a federal judge in Brooklyn is hearing testimony from a consultant to Mathieu Eugene and a high-ranking City Council aide to determine whether Eugene got an unfair advantage in his second run for City Council.

Eugene, for those of you who haven't followed this strange tale, won an initial special election for a council seat in Brooklyn, but didn't take office after he was unable to prove that he was a resident in the district.  read more »

Pending their official certification as official City Council candidates, Mathieu Eugene and the gang will participate in a forum tonight in the lead-up to a second special election for the 40th Council seat in Brooklyn.

The event, to take place at Vox Pop, will be happening just hours after a 1:30 hearing at the city Board of Elections to determine which candidates will appear on the ballot.

One prospective candidate, Darly Brutus, was already removed because none of her petitions had witnesses, according to a BOE spokesperson.

-- Azi Paybarah

New York's presidential primary will be on February 5.

New York's top judge threatened to sue state lawmakers for not giving judges a pay raise.

The city's health department will be stricter in the way it checks restaurants.

No one person can change everything in Albany, according to an analysis in the Times Union.

A student loan company under investigation by the AG paid graduate tuition and gave money directly to some student loan officers.

One of Mathieu Eugene's rivals in a City Council special election said he's ineligible to run.

Mike Bloomberg said the UFT is like the NRA.

Bloomberg added: "You're either with our children or against our children."

The Post editorial board wonders if "Eliot Spitzer been swallowed by the moral swamp that is Albany?"

And the Daily News editorial board likes Cuomo's investigation of the student loan industry.

-- Azi Paybarah

One of the candidates in the special April 24th City Council election in Brooklyn has filed a legal challenge to front-runner Mathieu Eugene, contending that Eugene shouldn't be able to run to fill a vacancy that he created.

Sharpe's campaign said Eugene, who won the initial special election but was unable to prove to the City Council that he met residency requirements necessary to take office, is in violation of the state's Public Officers Law Section 30: 1.

"This individual has lied to us and therefore has no integrity," Wellington said in a statement.

The full statement is below.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Mathieu Eugene's opponents have come up with a new legal argument to try to prevent him from running again for that City Council seat in Brooklyn's 40th District that he won, but then was unable to occupy because of his inability to prove that he was a resident. Heartbeat News, a Brooklyn-based paper, quotes an advisor to another candidate in the race, Wellington Sharpe, arguing that it might be illegal for Eugene to run to fill a vacancy that, technically, he himself created.

According to the paper, Burke said, "Eugene's declination of the office and his refusal to execute his oath of office conclusively brought about a vacancy in that office," and, "This circumstance appears to renders[sic] ineligible as a candidate to contest the Special Election that is called to fill the said vacancy he created. I submit that he is ineligible."

Another election lawyer I spoke with today said that statute usually refers to election scenarios different than the one in Brooklyn's 40th district, where Eugene declined to prove to the Council that he met residency requirements to hold office after the City's Board of Elections declared him the winner of a special election in February.

The final list of candidates will be determined on April 11 when the city's Board of Elections verifying who submitted enough valid signatures on their petitions.

Messages left this morning for a lawyer and spokesman for Eugene's campaign were not immediately returned. (I know. It's the holidays.)

Also worth keeping in mind...All this arguing is over a term that ends on December 31. More on that here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mathieu Eugene won the first election for the City Council's 40th District, but in the fund-raising for the rematch this April, he's trailing. Here are the contributions each candidate raised so far, according to the city's Campaign Finance Board:

$5,250-Mathieu Eugene $6,603-Harry Schiffman $1.073-Marie Gina Faustin $0- Wellington Sharpe

Also worth noting is the fact that Schiffman is participating in the matching funds program and Eugene isn't.

So far, Eugene spent $1,600, more than anybody so far. The money went towards paying rent at his campaign headquarters, and to Una Clarke, a consultant whose advice he's apparently taking with a grain of salt.

UPDATE: Wellington Sharpe raised $17,777 according to updated figures from the CFB. -- Azi Paybarah

The City Council is doing things a little differently these days, ever since Mathieu Eugene won the vote but failed to prove he met the residency requirements to take office.

After the re-run special election in April, before anybody is sworn in, they'll have to submit documentation to the Council that they meet various requirements to hold office, including not only local residency, but U.S. citizenship.

That last part made one of Eugene's backers, Una Clarke, incensed when I spoke with her recently.

"I would never ever allow him to do that," she told me.

The information is public, she explained, and the Council staff should be able to get it themselves.

Clarke also had this to say: "I am angry about the issue because whenever you are an immigrant you have to go through more scrutiny than anybody else to make sure that you give to America what it gives to you in return. And how many other immigrants have they ever asked? Is it because he's a black immigrant that he would have to do that? Is it because he's a Haitian that he would have to do that? Or is it because he comes from the Caribbean that he be asked to do that?"

A spokesman for Eugene, Scott Levenson, indicated the candidate probably won't be taking Clarke's advice on this.

"Mathieu Eugene will gladly comply with any requests required by the Council in order to fill in the seat," he said.

-- Azi Paybarah

Here is a list [pdf] of the candidates who handed in petitions to the city Board of Elections by yesterday's deadline.

Mathieu Eugene will appear on the first ballot line because he handed in his petitions first.

Also, one of his challengers currently lives slightly outside the district. In Queens.

-- Azi Paybarah

Another wrinkle in the already interesting City Council race in Brooklyn's 40th District:

It turns out that Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes has donated money to Mathieu Eugene, the candidate who won the February special election to fill the seat but never took office. (Eugene failed to prove that he lived in the district at the time of the election.)

The contribution, made on Feb. 3, was for $250.

The practice of a DA getting involved in a local race is not illegal -- a spokesman for the city's Conflict of Interest Board said there is no regulation barring them from making political contributions -- but it is frowned upon by good government advocates.

"Very strange," is how the Citizens Union executive director Dick Dadey described the contribution.

"I don't think it's illegal but it certainly raises concerns," he told me.

"What," he asked hypothetically, "if something were to arise, with political corruption, with Mathieu Eugene?"

Hynes, through a spokesman, defended the contribution he made, and rebuffed the notion of any impropriety.

Here's his quote, as read to me by a spokesperson:

"I rarely contribute to political campaigns but I like and respect Dr. Eugene. I have appeared on his Haitian television show several times. He has given us space for one of our neighborhood offices. There is neither the perception of impropriety nor conflict of interest in my choosing to contribute to his campaign."

According to a search of the city's campaign finance board database, which goes back to 1989, this is the first personal contribution Hynes has made to a city candidate.

-- Azi Paybarah

Mathieu Eugene isn't the only candidate from the first special election in Brooklyn's 40th Council District to enter the second special election in that district. Wellington Sharpe, who had a modest results earlier, confirmed he's running again. And this time, he said he'll have the support of one-time Yvette Clarke staffer Nancy Ramos, who'll be in some kind of managerial position.

The second-place finisher, Jennifer James, is expected to make a statement about the race later today.

There are grumblings that other candidates from that first race may jump into this special, special election.

Candidates have until March 21 to file petitions in order to appear on the ballot.

-- Azi Paybarah

The question of Mathieu Eugene's residency credentials is now a talk show punchline.

From radio host Ron Kuby this morning:

"It turns out that he is a a white woman from Poughkeepsie."

You can listen to the clip here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Councilman-elect Dr. Mathieu Eugene, while not conceding that he didn't meet residency requirements to hold office, said today he wants the mayor to call another special election for the seat. And yes, Eugene will be a candidate in that race.

Eugene read from a statement and was surrounded by a cadre of supporters who quickly ushered him away from reporters without taking questions.

Later, Eugene's spokesman, Scott Levenson, said the "lack of clarity" in this part of election law is to blame.

UPDATE: From Bloomberg spokesman John Gallagher:

"Once the Mayor receives written correspondence from Mr. Eugene confirming that he is not taking the seat he is certified for, he will call a special election."

FURTHER UPDATE: According to the city Board of Elections, the soonest this election could be held is April 24.

-- Azi Paybarah

The Times looks at the potential downside for Rudy Giuliani of being a New Yorker.

Giuliani leads Hillary Clinton in two of three crucial swing states and pretty much breaks even with Hillary's base of female voters, according to a recent poll.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson addressed his alleged issues with women.

Among the partners at the law firm George Pataki joined is George Bundy Smith, whom Pataki declined to reappoint to the state's Court of Appeals.

Joe Bruno said the governor's health care spending plan doesn't put patients firsts, and that "anybody that doesn't need a psychiatrist" can see that.

Former Lt. Governor Mary Donohue may not become a federal judge after all.

A homeless advocacy group said the mayor is behind his goals to reduce chronic homelessness.

Councilman-elect Dr. Mathieu Eugene of Brooklyn has not given the City Council proof that he met residency requirements to hold office.

Eugene is not a licensed doctor in the United States.

The federal government is probing the Yonkers City Council.

NJ Governor Jon Corzine is facing more questions about the gifts he gave to the union leader he dated before his election.

A Suffolk official apologized for saying he'd load a gun and start shooting at day laborers if they congregated outside his home.

And Arnold Schwarzenegger has a Hummer that smells like French Fries.

-- Azi Paybarah

Citizens Union just released a statement applauding the City Council for investigating the residency claims of Councilman-elect Dr. Mathieu Eugene.

"While it can be debated as to how long a candidate should have to live in a district to represent that district, it is in the best interest of voters for there to be a clear record of residency established at the very least by Election Day, and quite possibly sooner."

The full statement is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

An email disclosing Speaker Christine Quinn's cell phone number was sent to dozens of activists who were asked to call her and insist that she swear in Mathieu Eugene.

The email has rapidly circulated among politically active Haitian New Yorkers unhappy that questions about Eugene's residency have prevented him from being sworn in after his victory in a February 20th special election. At Quinn's behest, the Council is investigating whether Eugene -- who would be the first Hatian-American to join that body -- moved into the district in time to meet residency requirements for taking office.

The email -- written and signed by "Mark" -- was sent to Eugene's campaign spokesman, a local Haitian newspaper, the email account of someone who works for a local district attorney and a bunch of others.

A slightly redacted version is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

For what it's worth, I'd say this email exchange is an indication that Councilman-elect Mathieu Eugene is well within the sphere of influence of the Clarke family.

Following an earlier email to supporters about a Thursday rally in support of Eugene, this email was just released:

"This email was sent out by staff, in error under Dr. Una Clarke's header. She was not directly involved in the planning and so all enquiries have best to be directed to the organizers at the office - Friends of Mathieu Eugene, at (718) 940- 2006."

-- Azi Paybarah

With questions still in the air about whether Councilman-elect Mathieu Eugene has met residency requirements to take office, the city Board of Elections just confirmed that it has a date-certain -- Thursday, at 1:30 -- to certify the results of the Feb. 20th Council elections.

"Someone is going to be certified this Thursday," spokeswoman Valerie Vasquez said.

What if Eugene is found ineligible?

"If it's contested and found that we have to have another election, we'll do that," she said.

That would be the second election for the seat. And since it's a special election, the term will finish at the end of this year.

-- Azi Paybarah

Okay.

A spokesman for Councilman-elect Mathieu Eugene just told me -- not for the first time -- that Eugene absolutely possesses a lease that should clear up the issue of whether or not he had established residency in his district by the time he was elected.

"I did see a lease dated February 1st," said the spokesman, Scott Levenson.

But as stories about the issue have noted, the campaign will not make that lease public. Levenson explained the decision not to display the lease -- which, it seems, would be the easiest way to make all of this go away -- has to do with the fact that the Council is actively investigating Eugene's claim of residency on what the Eugene camp believes to be faulty grounds.

"We disagree with the Council position that he had to be a resident of the district on the day of the election," Levenson said. "Now that the Council had made a ruling that differs from our interpretation, that is our sole focus. Because if you uphold our position, that residency is required prior to certification, none of this becomes an issue."

Levenson said the dispute will likely be resolved in court.

-- Azi Paybarah

The City Council will start interviewing Mathieu Eugene's family, landlord, and neighbors to find out whether the Councilman-elect was living in the district at the time of the election, a requirement for taking office.

According to one neighbor who spoke to the Daily News, things don't look good.

A downstairs neighbor, Daphne Charles, 28, said she remembers hearing people move in upstairs only "late in the week" of the Feb. 20 election.

If Eugene is disqualified from holding office, that would create another vacancy for the seat. The mayor would then have to call another special election, according to Jerry Skurnik.

-- Azi Paybarah

Because of "credible allegations" about Mathieu Eugene's place of residence leading up to and on the day of his election, the City Council will launch an investigation to determine whether he meets residency requirements to hold office, Speaker Christine Quinn said in a public statement just now.

Both Vincent Ignizio and Dr. Eugene will be asked to sign an affidavit that affirms they each meet the qualifications for office (age, citizenship, etc), including residing in his district on the day of the election. This includes providing documentation of meeting the qualifications, which could include but not be limited to a lease, drivers license, rent payment, electrical bill, etc.

Because credible allegations have been made about Dr. Eugene's residency, we will also begin an investigation to determine whether Dr. Eugene had established residency on Election Day. This investigation will include, but not be limited to, talking to Dr. Eugene, his family, his landlord and neighbors.

The full statement is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Here's a political alliance you won't see every day.

On his Curtis and Kuby radio show this morning, liberal attorney Ron Kuby said the lawsuit filed against City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to force her to swear in Republican Councilman-elect Vinny Ignizio "seems like a meritorious case."  read more »

The lawsuit from outspoken political activist Frank Morano, who works at Kuby's radio show, claims that residents in Ignizio's districts are unjustly unrepresented now because of issues surrounding the results of a different City Council election held in Brooklyn on the same day, Feb. 20. (That other election was won by Mathieu Eugene, who has been dealing with a residency issue.)

Here's a view of the City Council, where Speaker Christine Quinn is discussing a package of legislation aimed at improving safety at night clubs.

Note the empty desk behind her. That's where Yvette Clarke used to sit and, presumably, where Mathieu Eugene would have been sitting if he had been sworn in. He and Vinny Ignizio, who also won a Council Seat during the February 20 special election, have yet to take the oath of office.

For whatever reason, the results of their elections still haven't been certified by the city's Board of Elections.

-- Azi Paybarah

Why is this so difficult?

Here are some accounts of the explanations from the campaign of Councilman-elect Mathieu Eugene about when he moved into the district that just elected him.

His campaign spokesman told me shortly after his election that he had signed a lease at an address in his district at the beginning of February.

Then this, from Dave Seifman in the Post:

Eugene's campaign manager, Joe Placide, said Eugene had signed a lease for an apartment in the 40th District on Feb. 1 - nearly three weeks before the results of the election were in.

And a series of odd no-comments to Errol Louis:  read more »

There's no question that Eugene, the first Haitian-born candidate elected to the Council, was living in Canarsie - miles south of the 40th Council District in Flatbush - during his campaign for the office.

• 35 comments

Joe Placide, the campaign manager for soon-to-be City Council member Mathieu Eugene, just told me that his candidate has signed a lease for a three-bedroom apartment in his new district.

He says that the lease was signed on Feb. 1, pending the result of the election.

-- Azi Paybarah

Errol Louis has more on the residency problems facing newly elected City Councilman Mathieu Eugene, whose swearing-in ceremony was just postponed. because he lives outside the district.

[UPDATE: Eugene's campaign manager called to say that neither newly elected Council member was sworn in today because the outcomes were not certified by the city's Board of Elections.]

A reader reminds of a certain irony in the fact that Eugene's strongest supporter in this race, former Council member and current Representative Yvette Clarke, lambasted her opponent last year for moving three blocks into the district a year before the race started.

Eugene's campaign manager, Joe Placide, told me yesterday that his candidate is still looking signed a lease February 1 for an apartment.

-- Azi Paybarah

An informed reader emailed over a rough breakdown of the results of Tuesday's special Council election in Brooklyn.

It turns out that Mathieu Eugene's union-backed victory was just as thorough as the overall numbers indicated. He was the top vote-getter in nearly all of the Assembly districts that lie at least partly within the Council district.

The only one he lost was the 44th Assembly District in Park Slope.

A more detailed analysis should be ready by Friday when the city's Board of Elections finalize the results. But here, according to my source, is how the order of finish broke down:

42nd Assembly District - Flatbush, Midwood Mathieu Eugene (almost 50 percent) Jennifer James Wellington Sharpe Richie Leithland 43rd Assembly District - Crown Heights/Flatbush Mathieu Eugene Jennifer James Wellington Sharpe Jesse Hamilton 44th Assembly District - Park Slope Harry Schiffman Moe Ravzi Joel Toney Mathieu Eugene 57th and 58th Assembly Districts - Clinton Hill, Brownsville Mathieu Eugene Wellington Sharpe Jennifer James/Jesse Hamilton (close 3/4th) -- Azi Paybarah

Unofficial election results from the city's Board of Elections have Dr. Matthieu Eugene and Vincent Ignizio as winners in the City Council races in Brooklyn and Staten Island.

Which proves Republicans can still win on Staten Island, and 1199 (which backed Eugene) can still get things done in Brooklyn.

Here are the unofficial results.

Staten Island With 100 percent of the precincts reporting Vincent Ignizio 72.09 percent 3,902 votes

Emanuele Innamorato 27.9 percent 1,511 votes

368 paper ballots to count.

Brooklyn

With 96.77 reporting

Matthieu Eugene 34.21 percent 1,935 votes

Jennifer James 15.15 percent 857 votes

Wellington Sharpe 11.74 percent 664 votes

Harry Schiffman 7.78 percent 440 ballots

Moe Razvi 7.32 percent 414 votes

Jesse Hamilton 7.25 percent 410 votes

Zenobia McNally 6.22 percent 352 votes

Richie Tulloch 4.93 percent 279 votes

Joel Toney 4.30 percent 243 votes

Karlene Gordon 1.11 percent 63 votes

-- Azi Paybarah

Ten Creole translators from the citys' Board of Elections were dispatched to the top ten Haitian polling sites in Brooklyn's 40th Council district, where there's a special election today.

Joe Placide, a former David Dinkins staffer running Dr. Matthieu Eugene's campaign, said that there have been issues at some polling sites. "Primarily with Haitian-speaking people, that's where we are seeing," he said.

"We're having a lot of problems."

The campaign also sent three lawyers to three other polling sites, according to Placide.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. Anthony Weiner is endorsing Dr. Matthieu Eugene, who, if elected, would be the first Haitian-born elected official in New York City history.

It's a move that could figure into to Weiner's possible bid for mayor in 2009, when he would be jumping into a racially diverse field that include City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion. (The same was said when Weiner endorsed Yvette Clarke last year for Congress.)

So just to tally: Eugene now has the support of Weiner, the Clarkes and SEIU 1199.

-- Azi Paybarah

Just announced: health care workers union 1199 SEIU has endorsed Mathieu Eugene for the City Council in Brooklyn.

Video of Alan Hevesi's plea is here.

Sheldon Silver gets a lot of pork, as do several other members of the Assembly, according to The Albany Project.

Silver went out of his way to avoid a fight with Eliot Spitzer.

There's been more chatter about a Senate Republican deflecting from his conference.

Anthony Weiner talked about the REPUBLIC Party in Congress today. The video is here. [added]

Gary Ackerman wondered if the US military is more scared of gay people than terrorists.

Ben looks a bit closer at Hillary Clinton's position on Iraq.

34 percent of voters in a nationwide poll say they never heard of George Pataki.

Not enough Anna Nicole Smith? 20/20 is doing an hour-long special.

And pictured above is a happy Sheldon Silver.

-- Azi Paybarah

I've been waiting for the mud to start flying in the special election for Brooklyn's 40th City Council district. And the wait is over.

Not long after Dr. Mathieu Eugene was formally endorsed by the congresswoman who most recently held the seat, one of his opponents noted that Eugene doesn't live in the district. "This location is in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, miles outside of the District," said Joel Toney's campaign in a public statement. "Mathieu Eugene therefore has a moral and political obligation to explain his candidacy in the context of his refusal to live in the very community he seeks to represent, and among the voters he been attempting to deceive into believing that he is a resident of their community."

Moral obligation? Deceive? What exactly is all this about again?

There have been grumblings about the residency of another candidate in the race, but nothing has been as pointed as Toney's attack. It seems over the top to say the least, but it's also a little premature, according to the law.

A person running for City Council has to live in the district "on the day they're elected," according to election law expert Jerry Goldfeder (with whom I've discussed residency issues before).

Either way, I have a feeling this is a debate that won't end until Feb. 20th.

-- Azi Paybarah

It looks like the Haitian-American Council Steering Committee has found their candidate for the special election for the City Council seat Yvette Clarke vacated with her election to congress.

Ferdinand (Freddy) Zizi was endorsed by Haitian-American leaders, ac