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By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Daily
Its a three-way fight to represent Sheepshead Bay in Albany! Voters will be choosing between incumbent Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, Republican Russell Gallo and Democrat-turned-Independent Ben Akselrod.
Steven Cymbrowitz vs. Ben Akselrod vs. Russell Gallo
Gallo and Akselrod are pulling out all the stops to stop Cymbrowitz from getting a sixth term, but the incumbent refuses to bite back.
Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz
• Democrat. Won the assembly seat in 2000 following the death of his wife, Assemblywoman Lena Cymbrowitz.
• Chair of the Environmental Conservation Committee’s Shoreline Protection Subcommittee.
• Age 58, married.
Ben Akselrod
• Lost to Cymbrowitz during the Democratic primary. Now running as an independent.
• Former Community Board 15 District Manager. Currently a manager at a nursing home.
• Age 39, married.
Russell Gallo
• Republican. Spent 16 years in the U.S. armed services that included a tour in Iraq where he provided security during the country’s first free election. Spent the last five years of active duty serving in the National Guard’s counter-drug task force.
• Lost a 2005 race against Councilman Dominic Recchia, where he earned 31 percent of the vote.
• Age 34, single.
The campaign
• Gallo accused Cymbrowitz of being a debate dodger after the incumbent decided not to attend a candidate night sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Community Group.
• Akselrod called out Cymbrowitz for not taking a side on the controversial Voorhies Avenue mosque, even though the house of worship is not in the legislator’s district.
• Cymbrowitz prides himself as “The only secular Jew in New York City who votes in favor of yeshivas and against immorality” — the “immorality” being gay marriage, which the legislator opposed when the Assembly voted on the issue in 2011.
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.