NYC Election Results: Vito Lopez Keeps It Classy

Impact

What can we say about Vito Lopez? The longtime Brooklyn pol was a member of the New York State Assembly and chairman of the Kings County Democratic Party, until he resigned in May 2013 after one of the most lurid and ugly sexual-harassment scandals New York politics has seen in decades. By the time he left, he barely had any allies left in New York's political establishment.

But that hasn't stopped him! Lopez is now trying his luck running for a City Council seat in District 34, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of South Williamsburg and Bushwick and a small slice of Ridgewood, Queens. Lopez has largely made the campaign about his success in bringing affordable housing to the district, which — oh wait, never mind. The campaign is totally not about that anymore. City Council member Brad Lander, who represents Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood, tweeted this photo earlier today:

So, yep. A "noted human rights lawyer" has pointed out that 95% of all sexual-harassment allegations are unfounded. And therefore you should vote for Lopez, or something.

The best advice on handling this whole mishegoss probably comes from Salon's delightfully snarky Alex Pareene: 

In Brooklyn, you might already or soon be represented by a total asshole. Here’s the quick-and-dirty method of figuring out how to vote in downballot Brooklyn races: Google every candidate’s name plus “Vito Lopez.” If the candidate appears to have any sort of non-antagonistic relationship with the incredibly corrupt and slimy longtime Brooklyn political boss, vote for one of the other ones.