As Field Settles, Longtime Ex-Bronx Councilman Registers For Seabrook Seat

Larry Seabrook

With the deadline now passed to register for New York City’s matching funds program, seven people have signed up to receive public money in the race to replace ex-Bronx Councilman Larry Seabrook, who was convicted recently on corruption charges.

One of them seems especially intriguing: ex-Bronx Councilman Larry Warden, who served the district through most of the 1990s, and was Seabrook’s predecessor. Warden later briefly ran in (and dropped out of) a 2001 race for Bronx borough president, and ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2002.

The deadline to register for the Campaign Finance Board program was August 3, according to a press release sent out last week by the CFB, so unless a candidate self-funds (which seems unlikely) this will be as big as the field can grow.

One name surprisingly not on the list is that of Jamaal Bailey, a young district leader alongside Bronx Democratic chairman Carl Heastie, who Bronx insiders had said had a good shot at getting Bronx Democratic Party’s support. A source close to Bailey confirmed he was taking a pass.

Others who have registered with the CFB include:

-Johnnie Goff, who has been a member of Community Board 12.

-Pamela Johnson, another Community Board 12 member.

-Andy King, a former 1199 organizer, who has already declared his candidacy.

-Joseph Nwachukwu, a web developer.

-Cheryl Oliver-Simmons, a senior policy advisor for economic development for Congressman Jose Serrano.

-Michael Welch

Of course, this is no guarantee that Warden or anyone else registered for CFB matching funds will definitely be in the race (or will actually make the ballot), but filing CFB paperwork is obviously a strong indication that they are prepping for a run.

Warden has had an interesting relationship over the years with Seabrook, according to a 2003 clip from the website TalkBx.com.

Mr. Seabrook and Mr. Warden were once so closely aligned politically that they were known widely as “the two Larrys.” They belonged to the same political club. And in the 1990s, when Mr. Seabrook was a state senator and Mr. Warden served in the City Council, the two officials shared office space and often traveled together to political functions.

Mr. Seabrook left the State Senate in 2000 to mount a primary challenge (ultimately unsuccessful) to Representative Eliot L. Engel. Mr. Warden left the Council at the end of 2001, blocked by term limits from running for re-election, and Mr. Seabrook succeeded him in the Council.

After that, the Larrys drifted in different directions.

Mr. Warden, some Bronx Democrats said, was angered by what he considered Mr. Seabrook’s tepid support for his unsuccessful 2002 race for the State Senate.

Warden could not immediately be reached for comment, but at the number I called, he still described himself in an answering machine message as “Councilman Larry Warden.”