Keith Wright wins Ben Franklin Club endorsement

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Assemblyman Keith Wright has won the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club’s endorsement in the race for outgoing Rep. Charles Rangel’s seat.

Thirty-seven out of 50 members of the club, one of the most active and influential of its kind in the Bronx, voted to endorse Mr. Wright on Wednesday night.

The endorsement marked a shift from the last two Democratic primaries for the 13th congressional district, in which the club, led by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, supported state Sen. Adriano Espaillat. He remains among about a half dozen contenders this year and attended the endorsement meeting, but did not speak.

 “[Mr.] Espaillat, who is sitting here, is someone I have voted for more than once and I don’t have any regrets whatsoever,” Mr. Dinowitz told club members before the vote, held at the Tibbett Towers’ community room. “[Mr. Wright] has a tremendous record in the Assembly, he chairs the Housing Committee and you know the Assembly is the one house in legislature that has been great as possible on housing issues.”

Other members of the club’s leadership, including Councilman Andrew Cohen and his Chief of Staff Daniel Johnson, highlighted Mr. Wright’s promise to establish a constituent office on the Bronx side of the 13th district, which mostly covers Upper Manhattan.

“In the four years that the congressional district has included parts of the Bronx, we have not had a Bronx office for Congress,” said Mr. Johnson, the president of the Ben Franklin Club. “[Constituents] have to travel down to 125th Street to receive services in regards to immigration and other federal services that Congress people provide.”

The endorsement was in keeping with the tone set by the Bronx political establishment. Earlier this month, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. held a press conference endorsing Mr. Wright.

On Wednesday night, Mr. Cohen had positive words for all of the candidates, who include Upper Manhattan Assemblyman Guillermo Linares and Clyde Williams, a former official in Bill Clinton’s presidential administration.

“I have personally met with several of the candidates and really grilled them on a number of stuff and I can really say that all of the candidates are good Dems and I think they would all have positions… in Washington that we would by and large be satisfied with,” Mr. Cohen said in an interview. “I really am convinced that Wright is committed to the Bronx and he can be counted on and that he is really going to serve us in the way that we are entitled to.”

Mr. Cohen said that of the candidates he spoke to, Mr. Wright was the only who “unequivocally” promised to open an office in the Bronx. Other candidates including Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Williams have made similar promises in interviews with reporters.

Keith Wright, Ben Franklin Club, Jeffrey Dinowitz, Anthony Capote

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