54th AD race has light online presence so far
8:21 pm • 16 April 2011
Since the race for the 54th Assembly District has apparently begun, I decided to look into what both candidates have done online so far.
Looking around online, I found a Rafael for Assembly Facebook personal page (that you have to “friend” instead of “like”) and a Deidra for Assembly Facebook fan page.
Espinal’s page publicly includes a lengthy biography detailing his connections to the district while Towns’s page has a couple statements suggesting ways for supporters to get involved.
Deidra Towns additionally has a contribution page set up, an apparent Campaign HQ at 11 Crescent Street (the address of the North Brooklyn Independent Democratic Club), and a web domain http://townsforassembly.org/ which was registered over a month ago on March 4th.
I’m unaware of anything further that has been established by Espinal. In a late March interview he stated that he has yet to hire a campaign manager or fundraising team, but I think it’s likely that he’s at least begun to do both.
It should be noted that Assembly races do not typically draw heavy web presence (only one sitting Assembly Member in all of Brooklyn has a Twitter account), and the 54th Assembly District, as one of the poorest areas in New York, is not exactly ground zero for iPad apps and the like.
Update: Actually, this is part of Espinal’s biography on his Facebook page I was unaware of:
Rafael learned to value hard work at a very young age. Upon coming to America, both his father and mother found work in local sweat-shops.
Update II: A local source informs me that Rafael Espinal’s Campaign Manager is Michael Olmeda, currently in the employ of Senator Martin Dilan, the father of Councilman Erik Dilan, whom Rafael Espinal is the Chief of Staff for.
Interestingly, Olmeda is also the former Chief of Staff of former Assemblyman Darryl Towns.
I might as well note that Deidra Towns had already begun to staff up more than a month ago.
