Controversial Brooklyn Congressional Race Starts to Shape Up

The heated fight for Major Owens' Congressional seat gets hotter as City Council member Yvette Clarke has landed three important endorsements - two from big unions and the other from Congressman Anthony Weiner. Brooklyn's 11th District covers Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Park Slope, and the race has already attracted four would-be candidates (who would likely be elected to the seat in November): City Council members Clarke and David Yassky, State Senator Carl Andrews, and Owens' son, Chris Owens, with Yassky the only white among the three black politicians. Now, with these two endorsements, signs are indicating that Clarke's campaign is getting stronger. And that Weiner is thinking to the 2009 mayoral race by endorsing a black woman with Caribbean roots (her mother is Jamaican). From the NY Times:

When asked if his endorsement was made with the expectation of support in 2009, Mr. Weiner said, “My only thought about 2009 is that Yvette Clarke will be an incumbent member of Congress.”

Ms. Clarke added: “I am here today to get the endorsement of the congressman. But I will be looking at that ’09 race very, very closely.”

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer endorsed Carl Andrews in June, as did NY State's biggest union, and Owens was endorsed by his father (of course) as well as the Brooklyn chapter of NOW.

Primary day is September 12. In the past four Congressional elections, the Democratic nominee (Major Owens in all four) won by over 85% of the vote. And did you know that Major Owens has "rap poems" on his official Congressional website?