The final tally is in and corrupt FORMER party boss Vito Lopez wins one last race even as he disappears in disgrace. From the Lincoln Restler campaign:

More than a month after the last ballot was cast, the Board of Elections determined yesterday after counting more than 12,000 votes by hand that we came up 19 votes short - 50.08% to 49.92%.

It has been a crazy roller coaster ride over the past month. At different moments we were certain we had lost and at others equally confident that we had pulled it out. What I do know is that phenomenal community support propelled this campaign forward. I am proud of the campaign we ran and our ability to secure 83% of the vote in Greenpoint, 86% of the vote in the Northside, and 93% of the vote in Fort Greene. In contrast, more than 91% of the votes my opponent received came from one block of voters in the Hasidic community.

Accusations of fraud have been leveled at the Hasidic community that gave Vito Lopez's candidate the win, but Restler has decided not to contest the results further.

19 votes. If ANYONE tells you their vote doesn't count so why bother, slap them in the face. If just 20 more reformers came out to vote in the Democratic primary, Lincoln Restler would have won re-eleciton and Vito Lopez's last hurrah would have been a narrow loss rather than a narrow win.

If one thing comes out of this, I hope it is that reform minded people in Brooklyn stop ignoring primaries!

In the mean time, if you want to help build the reform movement of Brooklyn, please join New Kings Democrats, Lambda Independent Democrats, or Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats. These clubs are the best way to make a difference locally.