Gowanus Lounge Friday Political Roundup: Endorsements, Polls and a Dead Heat

As the heated Brooklyn Democratic primary campaigns head into the crucial final weekend of electioneering there is, of course, news to report.

The candidacy of 57th Assembly District candidate and Community Board 8 member Bill Batson has clearly been picking up steam. This week's Brooklyn Papers endorses Batson, saying that opponent Hakeem Jeffries' "inability to take a clear position" on the Atlantic Yards project is "problematic" and praising Batson for being "a strong opponent" of the plan and for being a "strong voice" in the fight against arsonist landlords. The paper's nod in the State Senate, 18th District goes to Velmanette Montgomery. The Brooklyn Papers has also endorsed David Yassky in the 10th Congressional District and Rep. Eudolphus Towns in the 11th.

Still trying to figure out who's who? Check out the The Brooklyn Papers handy guide to the "primary election smackdown." It links to articles on all the key local races.

No Land Grab also offers up its endorsements--dividing candidates into "the good, the bad and the ugly"--and informational guides. Check them out here. NLG prefers Chris Owens in CD10, Charles Barron in CD11, in addition to Batson in the Assembly race and Montgomery in the State Senate contest.

The Daily News is reporting that polling shows the CD11 race is a dead heat, with Yvette Clarke and David Yassky polling 20 percent, and Carl Andrews and Chris Owens at 19 percent. Twenty-two percent are still reporting that they are undecided, which means that last-minute campaigning and get-out-the-vote efforts will determine the outcome.

Results are in from the Brooklyn Record online poll. Notable results: Bill Batson polled 27.3 percent in the Assembly District 57 race, but more than 50 percent report they are still undecided. In the hot CD11 race, David Yassky led the pack with 28.8 percent, but Chris Owens finished a strong second with 26.6 percent; 33 percent are undecided. In the CD10 contest, Charles Barron led with 15.5 percent, with 66 percent undecided.

The Brooklyn Downtown Star concludes that 11th Congressional District candidate David Yassky "now has the implicit endorsement of Mayor Michael Bloomberg," but notes the notorious Wyckoff Gardens heckling and chocolate-covered donut throwing incident during the press conference about the $600K worth of security cameras at the housing complex. The article quotes residents saying Yassky has been MIA on public housing issues. The Brooklyn Papers, though, says the doughnut was, in fact, thrown at Yassky, not at Hizzoner, as the Manhattan-based press reported.

Planet PLG's unscientific poll of the 11th CD race (see their graphic, above) was won by Chris Owens with 36.1 percent, followed closely by David Yassky with 33.4 percent. Carl Andrews drew 20.2 percent and Yvette Clarke trailed far behind with 10.3 percent. All meaningless, but still interesting. The Broooklyn Record/Brownstoner poll results should be out soon.

With large Orthodox communities in both the 11th and 10th Congressional District, The Jewish Week reports that Israel is a major issue and that supporters of candidates David Yassky in CD11 and Rep. Eudolphus Towns in CD10 in particular "have launched a massive campaign."