Page 553 - Demo

P rim ary N ight A t V ictory H eadquarters:Owens Wins Landslide Victory OverDV DAD T * VI AD * i * i i v / i i i n i u v / nLess than 90 minutes after the polls closed Tuesday, and with only 20 percent of the election districts reporting their vote counts, incumbent Central Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens (12th District) declared victory in his Democratic primary race against Roy Innis.%u201cWhen the statistics are unmistakenly clear, I see no reason to draw it out,%u201d said Owens to a crowd of some 175 enthusiastic supporters gathered at the Wishco Manor reception hall on Eastern Parkway. %u201cWith 20 percent of the vote in, 79 percent is for Owens and the rest is for that other fellow. I estimate that 75 percent of the total vote will be for my candidacy.%u201dPrior to his announcement, Owens walked through the crowded, red-walled banquet room talking to well-wishers, campaign workers and personal friends, knowing that his victory was assured. The scene was in sharp contrast to the early days of the campaign when Innis, the chairman of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), moved to Brooklyn from Harlem and announced his plans to run against Owens, seeking his third term in the House.The campaign was expected to pit liberal vs. conservative politicians before what Owens called %u201cthe second Blackest and one of the poorest Congressional districts in thethe excitement fizzled and strong support for Owens became apparent.Innis, who still made many of the traditional campaign rounds distributing leaflets and community meetings, began to find less time to campaign, turning his attention toward other interests outside the 12th District. He even made a week-long out-oftown speaking trip in late August.In announcing his victory Tuesday night, Owens spoke at length about what he sees as the symbolism behind his win. %u201cThe voters have rejected the notions of Ronald Reagan, Ed Meese, Jerry Falwell and Roy Innis,%u201d he said, %u201cand all those who have said that Black voters are far more conservative than their Black leaders.%u201dOwens continued, %u201cI am a practical progressive and a workhorse for my district and the voters know the kinds of positions I have taken. The returns from my district show that the voters want me to fight to jnaintain what we have because they know that with Ronald Reagan in Washington they have suffered some losses.%u201dThe Congressman added that he was ashamed that the %u201cBlack leadership has allowed Roy Innis to masquerade as a Black leader.%u201d He took the opportunity to again hit Innis with some of the accusations he had raised against him during the campaignInnis To Return As Congressmemberagainst the Independent-registered-tumedDemocratic candidate, calling him a %u201crank opportunist,%u201d %u201ca swindler,%u201d and a %u201ctax cheat.%u201d%u201cThis is the beginning of the end of Roy Innis%u2019 role as a spy of the opposition,%u201d Owens, said, adding that he wants to see CORE returned to its original place as a vehicle for Black people in their struggle for civil rights. %u201cI want to now see the end of Roy Innis%u2019 reign as the leader of CORE.%u201d Even though Innis heads the national CORE organization, theurooklyn cuapter of the group has t-oritirrucu its support of Owens.Although the campaign may have become subdued, the victory celebration at Wisco Manor was a rousing one. Owens%u2019 friends and supporters sampled buffet fare and listened to Motown recordings honoring the two-term Congressman%u2019s renomination for the November election ballot. Many seemed suprised at the speed of the victory announcement, but most had sat impatiently waiting for Owens to make an acceptance speech, knowning that it would be the end of the formalities and the beginning of the party.Given the low voter turnout in the primary election %u2014 Owens estimates that it was between 14,000 and 15,000 %u2014 the vote counts went fast. %u201cWith the circumstances of this election, where there were no glamorous races at the top of the ticket, the low voter turnout was not unexpected,%u201d he said.With a general election eight weeks away, the election workers and voters attending Owens%u2019 victory party Tuesday paid little attention to the Republican challenge they face in November. Last week, it was reported that Innis was considering a race in November as a Republican against Owens. However, according to Clarence John, chairman of the Country Republican Party%u2019s committee on vacancies, Innis will not be a candidate.('on tin ucd on Pune 5State Senator Montgomery Wins Handily This Time Over A Former FoeBY LIZ KOCHPrimary night Tuesday was quite a different one from the one that State Senator Velmanette Montgomery remembered two years ago in the first run of her race against then-incumbent Anna Jefferson.The opponents were the same this year, but the tables turned and Montgomery was the incumbent. It was quickly apparent as volunteers streamed into her Myrtle Avenue headquarters Tuesday that this year was no re-run of that tight 1984 Democratic Primary election %u2014 Montgomery had a resounding victory on her hands.Confidence was exuded by the Montgomery stalwards even before the first votes were in. And when the first call came %u2014 the phone rang only once before it was snatched from the receiver %u2014 a burst of applause sailed forth that was just a hint of the enthusiasm that was to come.%u201cWhat%u2019s the analysis?%u201d asked one volunteer as the first results from the 45th election district of the 57th A.D. were carefully written down, showing a 90-17 spread in Montgomery%u2019s favor. %u201cThe major networks are holding off on their projections, but I think we have it,%u201d came the boisterous reply.The Senator, meanwhile, was calmly giving an interview to two students from Columbia University. Glancing for a moment at the wall where the tally was being posted, she just smiled, then turned her attention back to the interview.%u201c Yes, I%u2019m nervous,%u201d she said as the numbers continued to mount. %u201cYou%u2019re always nervous,%u201d she said as her eyes fluttered back and forth across the tally sheets. After a long day out on the streets where she spent the final moments before the polls closed urging residents of her district to vote, she sat weary, but smiling, and stopped only momentarily as she spotted some election districts that favored her opponent. The Bedford-Stuyvesant districts particularly caught her attention as she recalled her slim margin of victory over Jefferson in 1984 and knew that this was the area Jefferson regarded as her political stronghold. But even here in 1986 she claimed a decisive victory, winning the majority of the election districts by a wide spread.In the race two years ago, Montgomery had conducted a vigorous campaign against Jefferson, who was initally ruled off the ballot and only reinstated a day before thevoting. The major issue that year was the incumbent%u2019s close political relationship to former State Senator Vander Beatty, who went to jail for election fraud two years earlier. This year the race was based not so much on issues as on the history of the candidates and the Beatty association dogged Jefferson as Montgomery stressed here record in Albany.%u201cThis year was very different than last time,%u201d says Montgomery thinking back. %u201cLast time was much closer and really scary. This time is much better,%u201d she said smiling and repeated, nodding with certainty, %u201cThis time is much better.%u201dOver the hour after the polls closed volunteers who dropped off their tally sheets paused by the Senator%u2019s side to proudly show her the numbers and as more and more people crowded into the already crowded room, it became apparent that a victory would have to be claimed so the celebration could begin. Finally, when the room was filled wall-towall with people and the ceiling was filled, wall-to-wall with balloons, a cheer rose that signaled the moment had arrived. With over 60 percent of the votes in and a decisive spread of 6,759 votes to 2,933 was charted onthe board, Montgomery rose to extend her own applause for the occassion.%u201cI would like to give you our State Senator,%u201d volunteer Charles Haggard declared. Park Slope Assemblyman Jim Brennan was on hand to share in the moment, and shouted to the clapping campaign workers, %u201cWe love Velmanette in Park Slope!%u201dStanding before a crowd that was spilling out onto Myrtle Avenue, Montgomery pointed to those present as proof positive she had broaded her appeal. %u201cI did get a mandate,%u201d she said. %u201cI did get a census. That%u2019s what I promised and you see that promise in this room. This was a long and grueling day because people were slow in going out to vote, but it was a good, good day,%u201d she said.For the future, Montgomery promised that the election was just one step in the right direction. %u201cI intend to work twice as hard,%u201d she said, %u201cbut the work I need to do cannot be done without all of your working beyond this night.%u201d Montgomery was interrupted in her speech for one more bit of good news as the election results from her own home election district showed an overwhelming 166-9 vicContinued on I'agc 5Courts Rule There Is No Race For Assembly In 52nd A. D.Jeffrey Golkin (left) and Andy LaBella (right) discussing the Sept. 4 Federal court decision that removed them from the 52nd Assembly District Democratic Primary ballot. (Phoenix/Taylor Photo)BY ROB TAYLORThe final days before Tuesday%u2019s Democratic Primary proved to be gruesome and frustrating for many Downtown Brooklyn area candidates who pitched their final and unsuccessful battles in Federal courts to be returned to the ballot.For Andy LaBella and his running mate, Jeff Golkin, their court-approved candidacies for the 52nd Assembly District seat and Democratic District Leader position were short-lived. After a series of appeals of a N.Y. State Supreme Court ruling that invalidated their candidacies because the number of signatures on their joint designating petition was not separated for each candidate, the two were returned to the Democratic Primary ballot by a Federal judge on Sept. 2. Two days later, Sept. 4, they were off again when a Federal Court of Appeals panel including Circuit Judges George Pratt, Walter Mansfield and I^awrence Pierce, issued a stay of the Federal District Court decision that had reinstated them.In another case, Sept. 3, Judge Kevin Duffy of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled against Bedford-Stuyvesant Assemblymember A1 Vann and Ft. Greene Assemblymember Roger Green, who were also removed from the Democratic Primary ballot for cover sheet technicalities.We iidve a severe figiu left in us,\Golkin during a press conference after the Circuit Court%u2019s decision. %u201cWe have a responsibility to the public to go forward.%u201d On Sept. 5, four days before the election, Golkin and Isabella flew to Washington to try to convinceCircuit Justice Thurgood Marshall of the U.S.Supreme Court to hear a final appeal and let them run against the incumbent Assemblymember Eileen Dugan and the District leader running mate, John McElhinney.With weary faces from the legal work required to file the seemingly endless number of appeals and from a series of work periods lasting through the night, the two candidates appeared downtrodden as they made their presentation. Golkin was shaken by the decision and La Bella was completely subdued and did not make any comment during the evening press conference.After Abe Hirschfeld, a one-time candidate in the Democratic primary race for Lt. Governor, dropped out from his race when iiie Stale Court of Appeals refused to hear anappeal of a similar technicality that had knocked him off the ballot, Golkin adopted his own case as a type of %u201cmoral crusade%u201d claiming that people should vote for I^aBella and him, regardless of their positions on localissues, because their removal from the ballot %u201chad made a mockery of the democratic process.%u201d%u201cThis is a threat to what we all stand for,%u201d he said. %u201c Andy LaBella is a local hero and that%u2019s why we%u2019re going forward.%u201dGolkin also charged that the U.S. Court of Appeals panel had given the matter no substantive review. %u201cAn hour after we submitted out papers, the decision came down,%u201d he said.However, a written opinion is expected by the judges, but with the primary election so close, they ruled as fast as possible.%u201cI%u2019m not bitter; I%u2019m disgusted,%u201d added Golkin. %u201cWe stand for freedom of choice, the right of franchise and we have an established record to show. Andy and I together are stronger than we ever were and the people of the 52nd Assembly District will remember what Eileen Dugan has done to keep us off the ballot.%u201dDespite the legal problems they have faced during this campaign, Golkin and I^aBella say they will be candidates in 1988 and say they will again challenge Dugan and McElhinney.In contrast to I,aBella and Golkin, Vann and Green, two of the state%u2019s most prominent black politicians, were keeping their comments to a minimum, hoping against the uuu&, liial a ouiut woulu return them to liie.rDemocratic Primary ballots.It appears that the Federal court decision to return Golkin and LaBella to the ballot for two days was a fluke decision as similarC 'onttnued on I%u2019une 5September 11, 1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 3