Three-Way Race For Brooklyn State Senate Seat Amps Up

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — A three-way race to claim a state senate seat covering much of Brooklyn is heating up.

Democratic candidates Jabari Brisport and Jason Salmon recently unveiled high-profile endorsements and ad campaigns in their bids for state senate District 25.

They face current Assemblywoman Tremaine Wright, who early on received the endorsement of the seat's current holder state Sen. Velmanette Montgomery.

It's a rowdy race for a seat that Montgomery held last election without any opposition. The district covers Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Park Slope and other west Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Wright, who currently represents Bed-Stuy and North Crown Heights, has the backing of not only Montgomery but also the influential Vanguard Independent Democratic Association and several black elected officials, Kings County Politics reported.

But Brisport and Salmon racked up endorsements of their own on Wright's left flank.

Brisport, who hails from Prospect Heights, has the endorsement of Brooklyn's Democratic Socialists of America, the Brooklyn Eagle reported. And this week prominent first-term state Sen. Julia Salazar endorsed Brisport in a Twitter video.

Salmon, who is from Clinton Hill-Fort Greene and worked as a Montgomery staffer, himself racked up significant recent endorsements from Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club. This week he released an online ad called "My Community" in which he talks about his entry into politics after NYPD officers shot one of his friends.

The state senate primary is June 23.