Contrary to popular misconception, Orthodox Jews are not the only voting bloc in Council District 44. This one seems to be breaking toward for the Republican.

I guess they weren’t won over by the Joe Lazar Jingle (mp3).

This did not stop State Supreme Court from tossing Judge’s name of the ballot for the March 23 special election. As reported by YourNabe.com, the Board of Elections had ruled 786 of Judge’s 1,221 petitioning signatures to be valid – just above the 765 threshold for a spot on the ballot. But the David Greenfield campaign took the matter to court, which threw out another 36 signatures. Judge is the second candidate thrown from the ballot, following the removal of Avraham Shlomo Tischler.

BK Southie awaits word from the Judge team regarding the next steps for the campaign.

Photo: Brian Hedden

(From left: David Greenfield, Jonathan Judge, Joe Lazar, Avraham Shlomo Tischler. Photo credit: Brian Hedden)

The Jewish Press organized a debate last week with the participation of four of the candidates running for the empty 44th City Council seat (click here for their coverage). The Orthodox news site Vos Iz Neias had video produced of the entire two-hour function (their analysis is here). All 12 video clips are reposted below.

And of course, I was there as both a resident of the 44th, and as the South Brooklyn blogger!

One of the participating candidates – Avraham Shlomo Tischler – has already been dropped from the ballot, following successful challenges to the meager number of signatures on Tischler’s petitions.

The Daily News portrayed the 18-year-old Touro College student as the truth-to-power candidate, as some sort of modern-day David striking fear into the Goliath campaigns of David Greenfield and Joe Lazar. It’s stories like this that make it hard for me to take the Daily News seriously.

Tischler’s performance at the debate was beyond dismal – he definitively demonstrated that he was not, in any way, even remotely qualified for the job of City Councilman. He even said at one point, “I will have a well-trained staff that I know will guide me through each and every step of the way… I will learn becoming a Councilman the right and proper way” (video clip 4 below the fold, 6:05). Actually, he said that a lot. As if voters were somehow looking for an intern to fill the vacancy in the 44th.

As for the grown-ups in the room…

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Reminder: The Jewish Press is organizing a debate between the candidates for Council District 44 (Simcha Felder’s old seat) this Wednesday, February 24th. Those candidates are (at last count) David Greenfield, Joseph Lazar, and Jonathan Judge. The debate will start at 7pm, and will be held at the Borough Park YMHA, located at 4910 14th Avenue.

The special election to replace Simcha Felder – the outgoing Council Member from the 44th District – will be Tuesday, March 23. The Jewish Press will hold a debate between the four candidates – David Greenfield, Joseph Lazar, Jonathan Judge, and Nachman Caller – on February 24 at the Borough Park YMHA. Greenfield and Lazar are already piling on their celebrity endorsements from the likes of Ed Koch (Greenfield) and Bill de Blasio (Lazar).

Candidates previously considered to have an interest in running are Ezra Friedlander, Moishe Oiring, Pinny Ringel, and Brooklyn Civil Court judge Noach Dear.

Greenfield and Judge were both spotted pressing the flesh at the 18th Avenue N-train station in the past eight days.

Four new potential candidates have emerged in the race to replace outgoing Councilman Simcha Felder in the 44th District. Confirmed candidates David Greenfield and Joseph Lazar, and rumored candidate Noach Dear may be joined by Ezra Friedlander (second-generation Borough Park native and the CEO of a government affairs-oriented PR firm), Pinny Ringel (a 13th Avenue businessman), Moishe Oiring (a former aide to Borough President Markowitz), and Jonathan Judge (president of the Brooklyn Young Republican Club).

Felder’s resignation is to be made official on January 31, at which time Mayor Bloomberg will set a date for the special election.

UPDATE [Jan-21-2010]: Add Seymour Lachman, author of the Albany exposee Three Men In A Room, as a potential candidate for this seat.