Karim Camara

Jordan Thomas, the founder of Brooklyn for Barack, was flying home last week from Denver, where he was a field organizer, when a question popped into his head.

Could he still organize people in time for the mayor’s race, and do it without using Obama’s name?  read more »

Michael Bloomberg’s office just sent out a transcript of a statement he delivered at the budget hearing today congratulating Barack Obama on his election last night.

His tone about the presidential result was positive, but from a transactional point of view, yesterday's elections were a mixed bag for the mayor.  read more »

Assemblyman Danny O’Donnell of Manhattan: "She knocked it out of the park" and her call for party unity was “as clear as she can make it.”

City Councilwoman Melissa Mark Viverito of Manhattan: “It was inspiring. What she was doing was giving us a charge” and “telling us we've got a job to do.”

City Councilman Diana Reyna of Brooklyn: "It was the most powerful performance."

Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn: “Hopefully, she silenced a lot of the dissenters by showing that she is passionate about Obama’s candidacy.”

Here’s a shot from an event in Brooklyn yesterday where central Brooklyn lawmakers who supported Barack Obama in the February 5 primary announced they’re endorsing Representative Ed Towns for reelection.

“I made the decision to support Senator Obama because of his message of change,” said State Senator John Sampson, in a public statement. “I made the decision to support Congressman Towns for this same reason. Towns’ seniority in Congress enables him to build strong relationships and alliances in order to bring the change needed that will move our great borough forward.”

The other elected officials included Towns' son, Assemblyman Darryl Towns; State Senators Eric Adams and Kevin Parker; State Assemblymen Hakeem Jeffries and Karim Camara; and Borough President Marty Markowitz.  read more »

Democratic Congressional challenger Kevin Powell has been linking himself to Barack Obama in one way or another for some time now. But his effort to compare himself to the presidential nominee may suffer after tomorrow.

At 2 p.m. at Brooklyn Borough Hall, a number of local elected officials who are also Obama supporters--State Senators Eric Adams, Kevin Parker and John Sampson, along with Assembly members Karim Camara and Hakeem Jeffries--will be endorsing incumbent Ed Towns for re-election.

UPDATE: Powell fund-raiser Arthur Leopold responding by first noting that the Towns campaign put the wrong district number in the release--it says the 13th, but Towns represents the 10th Congressional district.  read more »

Here are the highlights from yesterday’s press conference where a number of gay activists from Brooklyn criticized Republican State Senator Marty Golden for joining a lawsuit to block state agencies from recognizing same-sex marriages performed outside New York.

At the event, activist held signs calling Golden a “bigot,” and accused him of “homophobia,” primarily for signing onto this lawsuit.

They also announced a plan to put pressure on six legislators from Brooklyn -- Dov Hikind, Nick Perry, Steve Cymbrowitz, William Colton, Peter Abbate, and Annette Robinson -- who voted against same-sex marriage last year. (Two legislators, Alec Brook-Kransy and Carim Camara, abstained.)

As the clip above seems to show, those six legislators won’t get hit with the kind of rhetoric that Golden got hit with (although activist Allen Roskoff tries.)

Here’s some clarification on what exactly happened to the tape that Assemblyman Karim Camara told me was destroyed.  read more »

Here is Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn saying the City Council’s slush fund scandal should prompt state lawmakers to review their own use of member items.  read more »

Assemblyman Karim Camara of Brooklyn, who was arrested for D.U.I. last year, says a police videotape related to the case has been destroyed, leaving officials without what he called “the one objective piece of evidence.”  read more »

How many black elected officials from Brooklyn were at the rally for Barack Obama on the City Hall steps this afternoon?

Enough that State Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem muttered to himself at the podium, “Oh man, we’re going to have to mix this up a bit.” He then introduced state Senator Eric Adams--who's from Brooklyn.  read more »