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The 20th state Senate district encompasses a motley mix of neighborhoods spanning the width of Brooklyn, from Sunset Park to Brownsville, and has produced the past two Brooklyn borough presidents, Marty Markowitz and Eric Adams. But it hasn’t produced much lately: Since Adams moved to borough hall in January, the seat–like so many across the borough vacated by ascension or arrest–has been empty.
Rubain Dorancy, Jesse Hamilton and Guillermo Philpotts are vying to fill it. All three seek the Democratic nomination for the seat in the September 9th primary. A primary win is usually tantamount to election in a district where Democrats outnumber Republicans 17 to one.
At a debate on Tuesday night on Brooklyn Independent Media, co-sponsored by BRIC, CityLimits.org and the Center for Law and Social Justice at Medgar Evers College, the candidates exchanged their views on housing, education, public safety, engaging youth and navigating power politics in Albany. Take a look:
Brooklyn Independent Media will host another debate next Tuesday, August 19, from 7 to 9 p.m. featuring the two candidates for the Democratic nomination in the 54th Assembly district (Bushwick, Cypress Hills, East New York), Erik Dilan and Kimberly Council. The event can be seen in person at BRIC House, 647 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn or watched on Brooklyn’s Time Warner Cable 756, Cablevision 70, Verizon FiOS 46, and online at BRICartsmedia.org/bkindiemedia.
If you live in the 54th district and have a question you’d like answered in the debate, email it here.