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By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Daily
La Chaim!
After much speculation and anticipation, Chaim Deutsch, Councilman Michael Nelson’s chief of operations and founder of the Flatbush Shomrim, has finally declared his intentions to campaign for his term-limited boss’s council seat.
Deutsch has no previous experience as an elected official, has never run a campaign, and he has yet to report even a dime in contributions to the city Campaign Finance Board, the shomrim founder is rich in one sort of political capital — goodwill.
“Chaim Deutsch did more than anybody else for the community, more than any elected official, more than anybody,” said Manhattan Beach Community Group president Ira Zalcman of Deutsch’s work after Hurricane Sandy. “I told him people were hungry, there was food, I told him people were cold, he was there with blankets, he was there with heaters. His ability to mobilize forces and get the things that people needed is amazing.”
“After Sandy, Chaim Deutsch and his team were out on the streets before anyone,” said Bay Improvement Group president Steve Barrison. “They were cutting down trees and distributing hot food, they were there when no one else was.”
The efforts of Deutsch and his shomrim squad to provide comfort and supplies to the Brooklyn families — who went to sleep homeowners and awoke as refugees — haven’t been overlooked.
Zalcman’s group awarded Deutsch a plaque for his efforts, the Bay Improvement Group gave him one of their prestigious Oscars just last week, and countless other groups have decorated Deutsch with honors and trophies for his efforts in the aftermath of Sandy. He sometimes jokes that he needs to add an addition to his Midwood home now to house all the awards he’s received.
If goodwill is measured in medals, trophies and plaques, Deutsch has got more than he knows what to do with. So the question becomes, what is all that goodwill worth?
With Deutsch joining the race, there are now five contenders running in one of the most crowded fields of any council race, in a district radically transformed when the 48th council district was redrawn recently. The Orthodox Jewish voting base that traditionally dominated the district has been sliced away, and the district was reshaped into a so-called “Super Russian District.” That puts Deutsch, an Orthodox Jew himself, in an unexpectedly difficult position as one of the few non-Russians in the race.
He does have the support of his current boss, Councilman Nelson, which political strategist Hank Sheinkopf says should help Deutsch garner support among secular Jewish voters and Nelson’s supporters.
“I think he is, without a doubt, the most qualified person for the job,” said Nelson. “He knows the whole operation, he knows how to get things done. He’s helped so many people over the years, and he has the wherewithal and the connections to help people not only with disasters, but with day-to-day stuff too.”
In any case, ethnicity could actually help Deutsch in a Democratic primary with three Russian candidates — Ari Kagan, Igor Oberman, and Michael Traybich — who may split the Russian vote enough ways to favor a non-Russian candidate, according to Sheinkopf.
“The Russian candidates each have different strengths, but it’s going to be hard for anyone to win without cutting the other one up,” said Sheinkopf. “So, you might see some ‘candidacide’ amongst the Russians, which could result in an unexpected victory for a non-Russian candidate.”
The money race could still leave Deutsch behind, however.
Igor Oberman, with a war chest bursting with over $85,000, has already stopped fund raising and is ready to start campaigning in earnest. Community Board 15 Theresa Scavo, who aborted a 2009 bid for Nelson’s seat after the council extended term limits, has $35,000 left over from previous fund raisers.
It won’t be clear until May’s filing deadline exactly where all the candidates now stand financially, but Deutsch, having only recently declared his candidacy, is clearly starting on the back foot.
“If he can raise enough money,” said Sheinkopf, “then he could be a player.”
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.