Interview with former State Senator David Storobin, who is running for New York City Council in the 48th Council district.
YWN: What prompted you to run, and how do you assess your chances?
David Storobin: This was the strongest part of my Senate district where we got nearly 70% of the vote. The lines of this district go from Avenue L down to Brighton Beach and Sheepshead Bay. This district has voted for a Republican Mayoral, Gubernatorial and Presidential candidate in every election going back decades. I also get a very good vibe from the people as I campaign with so many people in all the different ethnic and religious communities being very supportive.
YWN: Will you overcome the November race and get the same support, in the Jewish community, you got in March 2012?
DS: Yes, I fully expect that the people who supported my candidacy in the March 20, 2012 elections will be with us this time. Most have already told me so.
YWN: What are the issues you are running on, and what will be your focus in the city council, as a member of minority, to pursue what you have started in the few weeks you were in the Senate?
DS: I will continue to fight for more education funding for both private and public schools. We need to expand after school vouchers and fight to push through regular school vouchers as well. As you know, I sponsored the repeal of the Blaine Amendment (this amendment forbids school vouchers) in the Senate, but because I was in Albany only 11 days, it was impossible for me to pass school vouchers. I will continue to fight for vouchers as a Councilman. We need to lower taxes and reduce bureaucracy to create jobs, particularly in this economy. We need to help small business. And obviously, being a sponsor of the repeal of gay marriage, I believe we should continue to fight back against liberals who are imposing their agenda on us.
YWN: Are you guaranteed the full support of the Republican Party this time around?
DS: When I saw the Republican Senate Majority Dean Skelos in March, he brought up the conversation about my run and encouraged me to jump in. Senator Marty Golden, Congressman Michael Grimm and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, the only three Republican elected officials in Brooklyn, have all been very supportive and very helpful. Marty Golden in particular.
YWN: Do you have any regrets about the Senate run in Borough Park last November?
DS: We ran a good clean race focusing on the bills that I sponsored to improve education, reduce crime, create jobs, fund health care. We did much better than people thought we would, winning about 40% in Borough Park despite having a very difficult opponent. I’m very proud of the fact that so many young people in Borough Park were excited about my candidacy, and our data based on the breakdown of the electoral districts shows that we won the under-40 vote.
YWN: Since you have the backing of the Conservative and GOP County, will you endorse a Republican for mayor in the primaries?
DS: I like Joe Lhota. I disagree with him on some social issues because I’m more conservative, but I really like the fact that he was Rudy Giuliani’s Deputy Mayor and in fact was the Acting Mayor was Rudy was out of New York. Joe was part of the team that cleaned up New York, both literally in terms of making the streets cleaner and figuratively in terms of making the streets safer. Politics is a team sport and Joe was part of “Team Giuliani” so he should get some of the credit for the City’s amazing recovery. I believe he’ll make an excellent Mayor.
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
What David Storobin does not mention is that Michael Nelson a Democrat has won that district every time he ran or he never would have been elected. Now that Michael Nelson is forced out by Term Limits he is endorsing Chaim Deutsch to replace him as Councilman.