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By Vanessa Ogle
Brooklyn Daily
Steven Cymbrowitz vs. Ben Akselrod
Longtime incumbent Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D–Sheepshead Bay), who ran against his opponent Ben Akselrod in the primaries, is facing him again in the general election. Akselrod secured the Republican nomination with 46 write-in votes on Sept. 9, but didn’t accept it until Oct. 24.
Steven Cymbrowitz
DEMOCRAT. Chairman of the Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Committee.
Became Assemblyman in 2000 after his wife — then-Assemblywoman Lena Cymbrowitz — died in August of 2000.
60, married. Two children.
Ben Akselrod
REPUBLICAN. President of the Bay Democrats.
41, married. Five children.
The campaign
Cymbrowitz and Akselrod also ran against each other in the 2012 primaries. Throughout their campaigns, both candidates have engaged in religiously and racially charged mudslinging. This year, Cymbrowitz said Akselrod — who served subpoenas on a Friday to signers of Cymbrowitz’s nominating petition — was “insensitive” to observant Jews. Akselrod said Cymbrowitz trivialized the Holocaust by using it to justify his spending in a Munich souvenir shop. Both candidates called each other “racist.”