A legal battle ahead for Brooklyn Senate seat?

Posted March 21, 2012 By Alice Brennan

City officials are reviewing voting machine data this morning as both candidates in the 27th District State Senate seat race — Democrat Lewis Fidler and Republican David Storobin — have declared victory.

Unofficial results suggest Storobin holds a 120-vote lead over the Fidler in the battle to fill Carl Kruger’s seat in South Brooklyn, but at least 757 paper ballots have yet to be been counted. An audit and review by the Board of Elections could take up to 10 days.

Even then, the fight in this notably nasty contest might not be over. We want to know: Have any recent New York City races ended up in a Bush v. Gore–style court battle to decide who takes the crown?

If you have information or insight to share, write us, tweet @thenyworld or comment below.

What we found
The endgame in the most recent statewide election for State Senate, in 2010, shows just how tough the fight for these seats can get. With Republicans controlling the Senate by a slim 32 seats to the Democrats’ 30, every win counts big for both sides.

In 2010, Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer defeated Bob Cohen in Westchester’s 37th District by just 730 votes, while in Buffalo’s 60th District a state judge ordered a recount, in which Republican Marc Grisanti dislodged Antoine Thompson by 519 votes.

The most high-profile legal challenge was the race for Long Island seat between Republican Jack Martins and Democrat Craig Johnson.
Martins defeated Johnson by 451 votes, but Johnson challenged the result and ordered a recount. Johnson still wouldn’t concede defeat, but the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, backed his opponent’s victory and dismissed his case.

The New York World is published under Creative Commons' BY-ND 3.0 license. Unless otherwise noted, you are welcome to reprint The New York World's reporting. Except by prior arrangement, the following guidelines apply:

Credit The New York World, preferably by appending “The New York World” to the bylines already on the stories. Bylines must remain in the stories.
Do not edit stories, except to reflect relative changes in time or location (eg. “Yesterday, following months of uncertainty, Governor Cuomo...” may be changed to begin “In January,” or “Early this year”)
You may edit stories to accommodate style variations or to expand acronyms (eg. “TWU Local 100” may be written “Transport Workers Union Local 100”)

Stories reprinted online must:

include a link to the original story on http://www.thenewyorkworld.com
retain all links included in our original reporting
Retain in republished HTML a simple tracking code, provided in the body of each story as published on The New York World website.
include a syndication source tag directing search engines to the original story in The New York World
Do not republish The New York World wholesale or automatically
Contact our editor with any questions about this policy or to make arrangements to reprint The New York World stories under other terms.
This reprint policy is subject to change.

<h1>A legal battle ahead for Brooklyn Senate seat?</h1><a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dailyQ2-01.jpg');" href="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dailyQ2-01.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-full wp-image-2600" title="dailyQ2-01" src="http://www.thenewyorkworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dailyQ2-01.jpg" alt="" width="105" height="105" /></a>City officials are <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/nyregion/both-sides-declare-victory-in-bumpy-brooklyn-senate-race.html');" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/21/nyregion/both-sides-declare-victory-in-bumpy-brooklyn-senate-race.html">reviewing voting machine data</a> this morning as both candidates in the 27th District State Senate seat race — Democrat Lewis Fidler and Republican David Storobin — have declared victory.
Unofficial results suggest Storobin holds a 120-vote lead over the Fidler in the battle to fill Carl Kruger’s seat in South Brooklyn, but at least 757 paper ballots have yet to be been counted. An audit and review by the Board of Elections could take up to 10 days.
Even then, the fight in this notably <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/media.ny1.com/media/2012/3/12/video/ich_fidler_storobin_pt1_7055163.mp4');" href="http://media.ny1.com/media/2012/3/12/video/ich_fidler_storobin_pt1_7055163.mp4">nasty</a> contest might not be over. We want to know: Have any recent New York City races ended up in a <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html');" href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/00-949.ZPC.html">Bush v. Gore</a>–style court battle to decide who takes the crown?
If you have information or insight to share, <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/mailto/nyworld@thenewyorkworld.com');" href="mailto:nyworld@thenewyorkworld.com">write us</a>, tweet @thenyworld or comment below.
What we found 
The endgame in the most recent statewide election for State Senate, in 2010, shows just how tough the fight for these seats can get. With Republicans controlling the Senate by a slim 32 seats to the Democrats’ 30, every win counts big for both sides.
In 2010, Democrat <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nysenate.gov/senator/suzi-oppenheimer');" href="http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/suzi-oppenheimer">Suzi Oppenheimer</a> defeated <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.bobcohen2012.com');" href="http://www.bobcohen2012.com">Bob Cohen</a> in Westchester’s 37th District by just 730 votes, while in Buffalo’s 60th District a state judge ordered a recount, in which Republican <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nysenate.gov/senator/mark-grisanti');" href="http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/mark-grisanti">Marc Grisanti</a> dislodged <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.senatorantoinethompson.com');" href="http://www.senatorantoinethompson.com">Antoine Thompson</a> by 519 votes.
The most high-profile legal challenge was the race for Long Island seat between Republican <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.nysenate.gov/senator/jack-m-martins');" href="http://www.nysenate.gov/senator/jack-m-martins">Jack Martins</a> and Democrat <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.senatorcraigjohnson.org');" href="http://www.senatorcraigjohnson.org">Craig Johnson</a>. 
<a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/appeals-court-backs-martins-state-senate-win-1.2555446');" href="http://www.newsday.com/long-island/nassau/appeals-court-backs-martins-state-senate-win-1.2555446">Martins defeated Johnson</a> by 451 votes, but Johnson challenged the result and ordered a recount. Johnson still wouldn’t concede defeat, but the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals, backed his opponent’s victory and <a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.courts.state.ny.us/Reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_09357.htm');" href="http://www.courts.state.ny.us/Reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_09357.htm">dismissed his case</a>.

Increasing number of New York school children skipping vaccinations

More than 22,000 medical and religious exemptions were granted to students for the 2013-14 school year, up 27 percent from 2010-11, according to the state Health Department. Public and private enrollment over the same period remained largely flat.

New data provides first detailed look at military gear held by New York law enforcement agencies

Over the past several years, more than 120 law enforcement agencies across the state, from the NYPD to Tuckahoe, have obtained military-grade equipment through the Pentagon’s 1033 program, which transfers excess military equipment to state and local police across the country.