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February 4, 2016- by Steven Greer
I knew about this months ago when the head of the Manhattan Republican Party called me, wanting some help finding a candidate for the special election to fill Sheldon Silver’s seat in the assembly. Adele Malpass, head of the GOP for Manhattan, said that they were likely going to choose a person of Chinese heritage, since Chinatown was so important to the 65th District of the assembly. When I heard that strategy, I pretty much told her to go jump into the Hudson.
However, what the Post article, below, does not mention, is that Lester Chang is a Democrat, and a total unknown (There are no photos of him readily available).
That’s right. The Republican party has chosen a Democrat as a candidate. Adele Malpass is clueless about strategy.
Few things in New York politics are more feckless than the Community Board. The Republican party is one of them. I attended a meeting at their headquarters and was appalled at how weird were the people in attendance.
The Post reports, “A special election will be held on April 19 (to fill the seat vacated by the conviction of Sheldon Silver). Lester Chang, 54, a native of Chinatown, who now resides in Nolita, is an international shipping and logistics consultant and member of the U.S. Navy Reserves.
During a meeting at the Metropolitan Republican Club, Chang said it’s time for clean government after Silver’s reign of sleaze.
Change said he’s opposes to boosting the minimum wage to $15 an hour, calling such an increase a “tsunami” that will wipe out jobs.
He also supports education tax credits for parents who send their kids to private schools, and is against “dumbing down” admission standards to the city’s elite public high schools.
The 65th A.D. includes Chinatown, the Lower East Side, the Financial District and Battery Park City.”