Divisive Councilman Barron Will Run for Assembly

BROOKLYN

Councilman Charles Barron, whose aborted congressional run earlier this year brought out an array of national officials to ensure that the outspoken lawmaker does not get to Washington, is now setting his sights on Albany.

Barron, who represents East New York in the city council but is term-limited from running again, said Monday he will run for his wife’s Assembly seat. His wife, Inez Barron, is running for his Council seat.

As usual, Barron, who has made openly anti-Semitic and anti-white remarks in the past, unveiled his campaign in a colorful way.

A video released by Barron shows him excitedly pointing to clear plastic bags covering a statue of Thomas Jefferson and a portrait of George Washington at City Hall.

“I finally did it. I bagged Thomas Jefferson,” Barron declares. “And I’m on my way out of the City Council up to Albany so I can bag the governor and bag the speaker.”

The items had been covered since City Hall was undergoing construction.

According to Politicker, Barron is likely to be the favorite for the East New York-based assembly seat.

However, Chris Banks, an African-American anti-poverty activist who lost a council race to Inez Barron two years ago, has already set up an exploratory committee to decide if he should take on the Barrons again, Joel Schnur of Schnur Associates, a public relations firm, told Hamodia.

Banks, who has toyed with another race against Inez Barron, this time for city council, is waiting for Gov. Andrew Cuomo to declare his intentions before announcing his candidacy for the Assembly seat. It is unknown if Cuomo will, if Inez Barron wins the Council seat, call a special election or leave the seat vacant until the ordinarily scheduled elections at the end of next year.

Barron, who once interrupted a speech by Gov. Andrew Cuomo at a reception for the Association of Black and Latino Legislators, vowed to make his voice heard in the state Legislature as well.

“I plan on speaking truth to power up there,” said Barron. “We have a black, Latino and Asian caucus up there that I think can be more powerful and influential and I’m going to organize and work closely with them to do that.”

A poll showing Barron potentially winning a congressional race last year galvanized national Democrats to support Hakeem Jeffries, his primary opponent. President Barack Obama posed for a picture with Jeffries, and Democratic donors poured money into his campaign.

Jeffries ended up winning with approximately 75 percent of the vote.

A Barron Assembly run would probably spur similar opposition, though on the state level rather than the national.

This would not be the first time a political swap occurred. In 2010, Assemblyman Mark Weprin ran for his brother David’s city council seat, while David ran for Mark’s Assembly seat. Both brothers, who are Democrats, won their contests.

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