Do You Live In Brooklyn City Council District 44? Vote Today To Fill Vacated Seat: Heshy Tischler, State Sen. Simcha Felder Special Election

Update: This election was won by the Democrat candidate, State Senator Simcha Felder with 81.7% of the vote.  The State Senate seat in Pennsylvania was also flipped to Democrat during the special election yesterday which was in Lancaster County. This was in a county where 53% of the population is registered Republicans versus only 29.8% registered as Democrats.  The last time this was held by a Democrat was in 1890, by John Hoover, who only served for one year.  This seat was vacated by the resigning Republican Ryan Aument. James Malone will now serve on the State Senate in Lancaster County.  

Today, starting at 6:00am, the polls open for a special election for the recently vacated City Council seat in that district.  The two candidates running for the office are Harold “Heshy” Tischler and State Senator Simcha Felder.

The seat became vacated when Councilmember Kalman Yeger won the election for Assemblymember in the New York State Assembly.  Since regular City Council elections are held at the end of next year, this election is for a very temporary office.  Whichever candidate wins will have to run again next year.

A similar special election took place in New Jersey’s 10th District, where a special election was occurring.  In that instance, several candidates were demanding inclusion in the special convention for the Democratic nominee.

As this is a local and special election, voter turnout is expected to be low.  However, this is likely because no one knows the election is even happening.  According to reporting by City & State NY, only 288 ballots have been cast during early voting in this race, which ended yesterday.  All additional votes will be cast today, and they will be counted together with the early voting ballots.

Even though this is a special election, anyone who knows about it should vote in it.  As we have reported on previously, it is actually the smaller city-level elections that have the most impact to residents of the community.

City Council members have a lot of sway over local city politics, and these elections are always on an off-presidential election year.  Such as in 2025, the election will be held for all of the City Council members along with the Mayor’s office.  These offices tend to have a more direct impact on the lives of people in the area, as they handle zoning, city and state aid, public safety, and other local issues.

From Heshy Tischler’s website: “Heshy Tischler, affectionately known as “Uncle Heshy” or “The Big H,” is a lifelong South Brooklyn resident, community leader, and host of The Just Enough Heshy Show. He’s been married to Linda for over 30 years, with three sons and grandchildren. Heshy is deeply generous, having welcomed 21 individuals into his home, including formerly incarcerated individuals, offering shelter, guidance, employment help, and a sense of family. His unwavering dedication has made him a trusted and beloved figure in his community.”

From Ballotpedia about Sen. Simcha Felder: “Simcha Felder was born in and lives in New York. Felder earned an M.B.A. from CUNY’s Baruch College. His career experience includes working as a certified public accountant, professor of management at Touro College and CUNY’S Brooklyn College, deputy comptroller for budget, accounting, administration, and information technology in the New York City comptroller’s office, and as a tax auditor for the New York City department of finance”

If you live in this district, passing by the polling place on your way home from work is a great way to get your voice heard.  Polls are open until 9pm.

When everyone who can vote gets out to vote, the results will better reflect the wishes of the community.  City Council District 44 is shown below.  To find your polling site, enter your address in the relevant boxes on this site. Then go to the polling site and let your voice be heard.

Brooklyn District 44. Image Credit – NYC Board of Elections

Banner Image: Vote. Image Credit – Yamu_Jay

Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer

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