A special election to fill a vacancy for Harlem’s city council seat will be held on Tuesday—Valentine’s Day.
Only a small percentage of registered voters are expected for the race, which would fill the seat once held by Inez Dickens, who was elected to the state Assembly last fall.
State Sen. Bill Perkins, who has been endorsed by Mayor de Blasio, is the heavy favorite against eight other lesser known candidates.
The other contenders are: Perkins’ former chief of staff Cordelle Cleare; Caprice Alves; Larry Scott Blackmon; Charles Cooper; Marvin Holland; Athena More; Marvin Holland; Dawn Simmons and Todd Stevens.
Blackmon, vice president of Fresh Direct, has the backing of Keith Wright, the Manhattan Democratic leader and former Harlem assemblyman, and Dickens.
Holland, policy director of TWU Local 100, also has won some labor support.
Simmons, a Republican, has GOP support and is running on the “Rent Too Damn High” line.
It is a non-partisan election and candidates run under their own ballot lines.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The term is short-lived. The incumbent will have to run again in a September primary and November general election to serve a four-year term.
A Perkins victory would trigger a contest for his Senate seat.
Construction and development executive Brian Benjamin, chairman of Community Board 10 and finance chair of the Manhattan Democratic Party, has expressed interest in running. He has closes ties to party leader Wright.
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