By Evan MacDonald
If you want to get a sense of how the Republican Party is changing in America, look no further than Southern Brooklyn.
Unlike the rest of the borough, this corner of Brooklyn has always been a reliable Republican Party hub. The 13th Congressional District, which includes Staten Island and the Brooklyn neighborhoods Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Gravesend, went to George W. Bush and John McCain in the past two elections.
But while established incumbents still hold sway over the area, grassroots groups like the Brooklyn Young Republicans and the Brooklyn Tea Party have gained momentum recently, creating a trichotomy that resembles the same shift the Republican Party is experiencing across the country.
Jonathan Judge, who has been president of the Brooklyn Young Republicans since 2008, said the group’s enthusiasm is due in large part to its youth. The organization, founded in 1880 by former Columbia University president and New York City Mayor Seth Low, was a response to the political machines that dominated city politics and sought to curb patronage, reform civil service, and end tariffs. The group today claims over 600 members.
“Young people always want to fix things,” Judge said. “Young people don’t want to go along with things they don’t agree with.”
His own disillusionment with established Brooklyn Republicans was greatly influenced by his candidacy in this year’s 44th City Council District special election. Judge was one of four candidates in the race along with Republican Kenneth Rice and Democrats David Greenfield and Joseph Lazar.
But Judge never made it onto the ballot. After collecting the necessary 765 signatures in order to declare his candidacy, Greenfield and Rice petitioned to invalidate signatures. Ultimately, after legal maneuvering by all the parties involved, Judge’s name was kept off the ballot.
What irked Judge most during the race, though, was that Republican State Senator Martin Golden and his chief of staff, Jerry Kassar, both endorsed the Democrat Greenfield instead of Judge or Rice. Brooklyn Democratic county leader Vito Lopez had previously endorsed Greenfield for the seat.
“If you’re a Republican, you shouldn’t be strengthening the Democratic majority in the city council, or supporting a Democratic candidate,” Judge said.
Ironically, after he was removed from the ballot, Judge endorsed Lazar, a Democrat. Judge said, in his statement announcing the endorsement, that Lazar was the only candidate not being backed by a party machine.
Golden’s campaign manager, Jeffrey Kraus, wrote in an e-mail that the senator did not endorse Judge or Rice because he wasn’t aware they were running until after he was committed to endorsing Greenfield. Furthermore, Greenfield and Golden had worked together in the past on a number of issues, including tuition tax credits for families with children attending private or parochial schools.
“The Senator believed that Greenfield would be an effective member of the Council whom he would be able to work with,” Kraus wrote. “It should be noted that Mr. Judge, after he was removed from the ballot, endorsed Democrat Joe Lazar. Mr. Judge had the opportunity to endorse a Republican, Mr. Rice, but was not inclined to do so.”
Greenfield eventually won 58 percent of the vote, to Lazar’s 40 percent. Rice finished with just two percent.
Other Republicans have also criticized. Russell Gallo, the 47th Assembly District leader and a host of Brooklyn GOP Radio, resigned from the Young Republicans in September arguing that Judge and members of his organization were are too concerned with undermining experienced Republicans, and that the group simply hasn’t affected enough change to be considered relevant.
“They should be activists,” Gallo said. “The young Republicans should be helping candidates on their ballots, and throughout the process.”
But Roy Antoun, a County Committeeman in the 46th District and the communications chairman for the Young Republicans, said the group’s members are active. He cited their attendance at the recent Students for Liberty Regional Conference at Columbia University.
Meanwhile, the borough’s Republicans have been split yet again with the emergence of the Brooklyn Tea Party, which formed six months ago in the wake of similar Tea Party movements that have sprung up across the country.
The group has drawn attention because of comments by its president, Dr. John Kenneth Press. Press believes Americans need to support “culturism,” an idea that each nation or ethnic group has its own distinct culture. Press says America’s cultural roots lay in Judeo-Christian teachings, and believes those teachings should be the foundation of American society.
Press has been criticized for his opposition to the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero, as well as to a planned mosque in Sheepshead Bay. He has been labeled as a racist, a claim he has denied and called unfair.
Press has been a frequent target of GOP-themed online blogs in the area, including a post written by Antoun. Press says he is all for political activism, but that Brooklyn’s Republicans need to stand together.
“One thing that kills Brooklyn (Republicans) is that there are people who are sniping at each other relentlessly,” Press said. “Why don’t they just help? We’re ultimately all on the same side.” He added that he has taken his campaign to such neighborhoods as Borough Park, Brighton Beach, Gravesend, Sheepshead Bay, and Crown Heights.
“We’re not really into the political machine,” Press said. “The time for the mild-mannered politician is over. We need someone who doesn’t have time for ribbon cutting.”
One thing Press and Judge agree on is that Republicans should at least challenge Democrats in every election. Press thinks that Democratic dominance in some areas might be the cause of Republicans’ reluctance to campaign for certain seats.
“Republicans don’t run candidates in many elections, and when they do, they don’t give them a lot of backing,” Press said. “Maybe the Republicans feel it’s not worth the while, to not waste their time and money. But I would hope that we would challenge every election with people that are qualified, and maybe win some seats, or at least put up a serious fight.”
Gallo, as a district leader, said having a Republican nominee in every election isn’t that simple, because sometimes there’s no one willing to run.
“The strategy we’ve adopted is to basically run a candidate in every race, to try to get the Democrats to spread their money out,” he said. “But it’s extraordinarily difficult. As a district leader, I can’t just make someone run for office.”
Press said he thinks the tension between groups is hurting the party.
“We need to be grown-ups,” Press said. “We need to know that in politics, not everyone gets what they want. If we can agree on 85 percent, that’s great.”
Antoun agreed with Press about tension within the party.
“The hostility and name calling needs to stop,” Antoun said. “We’re well beyond that.”
Still, he added, working with a group like the Brooklyn Tea Party might be difficult. While he agrees with their ideas about smaller government and fiscal responsibility, he added, he disagrees with Press’ views on “culturism.”
“We all believe in fiscal responsibility, but I don’t think the direction the Tea Party is taking will actually help the Republican Party. I think it will actually kill it,” he said. “You can’t just start declaring rights out of nowhere and declaring them universal to the United States. It’s very dangerous to Americans, because it makes us look very hegemonic.”
Gallo said he doesn’t see a way the groups can work together until some concessions are made.
“There’s no scenario,” he said. “I don’t see how that would ever be possible if you have a group that’s just anti-whoever. There’s just no way you can deal with people like that.”
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