Lynn Nunes’ primary race against State Sen. Shirley Huntley does not seem to be the only campaign on his mind.
Nunes is one of 10 candidates who applied for matching funds with the City Campaign Finance Board on Tuesday in the race for the Council seat of the late Tom White.
Also on the list: Nunes’ sister, Elaine.
With petitions due next Monday—the day before the primary—this creates several different scenarios: if Lynn Nunes wins the Senate primary, his sister could capitalize on the Nunes high name identification to run her own campaign. Or if Lynn Nunes loses the Senate primary, Elaine could use her committee on vacancies to give the spot to her brother. Or, if both petition, they could run against each other.
Candidates looking to run must submit 899 valid signatures by Sept. 13.
Reached by phone, Nunes initially offered only that “someone related to me is most likely to get involved in the race,” but eventually confirmed that the person was his sister. Nunes did not return a subsequent call for clarification. A Nunes campaign aide declined to comment.
Candidates are not allowed to form vacancy committees to get CFB matching funds. Those who do apply will eventually be listed on the Campaign Finance Board’s website. The Board had received 10 applications on Tuesday, but more can be received provided they are postmarked Sept. 7.
The other candidates whose applications the CFB received included Martha Taylor Butler, the chief of staff for Assembly Member Michelle Titus; Nicole Paultre-Bell, the widow of Sean Bell; Ruben Wills, the former chief of staff for Huntley; Albert Baldeo, a former State Senate, Assembly and Council candidate who is running for district leader; Hettie Powell, a Forest Hills attorney; Charles Bilal, an imam from Jamaica; Vishnu Mahadeo; and Harprett Toor.
The race has already produced a split between two local powerbrokers: Assembly Member Vivian Cook is backing Wills, while Rep. Greg Meeks is backing Paultre-Bell Though Nunes’ campaign has been building momentum with endorsements from both theNew York Times and Daily News over the weekend, his decision to simultaneously apparently wade into the Council race also gave Huntley fodder to hit the 25-year-old making his second—and perhaps third, if the Council race goes through—run for office for being overly ambitious.
“Excuse me while I laugh,” Huntley said, snickering upon learning about Nunes’ plans. “He talks about all these reforms in the Senate, but this just tells me he wants to get elected to something, no matter what the office. I guess I’d have to say he’s an opportunist.”
