Lopez faces tough, uphill race for City Council
Vito Lopez, the Brooklyn assemblyman accused of asking young female staffers to massage him, touch his cancerous tumors and join him in hotel rooms, resigned on Monday from the Legislature amid sexual harassment allegations.
Lopez said many times that he was resigning not because of the charges, but to run for the City Council in the 34th District in Williamsburg and Bushwick, his historic power base. But a cursory glance at the race shows that Lopez has an uphill battle, to put it mildly.
Lopez’ main opponent is Antonio Reynoso, chief of staff for Councilwoman Diana Reyna (currently on leave). He has a professional-looking website featuring a high-powered list of endorsements, some of which include the United Federation of Teachers, Local 1199 SEIU, the Working Families Party, and three Democratic mayoral hopefuls – Christine Quinn, Bill de Blasio and John Liu.