Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries trounced firebrand City Councilman Charles Barron Tuesday night in the Democratic primary to represent Brooklyn’s 8th Congressional District.
With 87 percent of districts reporting, Jeffries was leading with 72.5 percent of the vote, compared to Barron’s 27.5 percent — a far wider margin than many had expected.
“The political pundits said this was going to be a close race, but that was before the people had spoken,” Jeffries told supporters at a victory party at Sanders Studios on Wavery Avenue after news of the win broke.
At a gathering with his own supporters, a defiant Barron refused to congratulate Jeffries and instead accused him running a dishonest campaign.
“I will not be giving a congratulatory statement to my opponent tonight because of the campaign that he ran and the character assassinations that he performed on another black man,” said Barron, who vowed that “when the dust clears, the people will see that the fight has just begun.”
“Something bigger than a political movement was established here tonight. We built a movement of the people,” he said.
Jeffries and Barron had waged a heated battle to replace longtime Rep. Ed Towns, who announced in April that he would not seek reelection. The race appeared to be neck-and-neck heading into primary day, giving Democratic officials a scare that that Barron might defeat the party favorite.
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7 Responses
Apparently by a landslide, in spite of the media’s wave of support for Barron.
Akuperma’s showing signs of mental illness. The media did not support Barron, if anything, they supported Jeffries. Towns and Duke endorsed Barron, that’s all.
Baruch HaShem. The racist was defeated. A small light of sanity has been shed on the political process.
And the Unions who supported Barron, despite his racism and anti-semitism. They showed their true colors.
There was only one person here that ran a dishonest campaign, and it wasn’t Jeffries! B”H Jeffries won!
“Something bigger than a political movement was established here tonight. We built a movement of the people,” Not much of a movement judging by the vote totals Barron received after having the endorsement of Ed Towns. I am unaware of any media support for Barron.
Barron today is an angry bitter man, just as he has been in the past. He should soon join the other former Black Panthers who are no longer with us.
#2 – The media loved Barron. “Support” isn’t really the term I meant – but the media did everything to play up his candidacy. Jeffries is qualified and competent, meaning he’s dull. Racist nut cases boost circulation and audience.
Note that it wasn’t close. Given that the district is barely half-Black, a Black racist had very little chance of winning.