HIKIND SUPPORTS FELDER

“We shouldn’t castigate an elected official for being independent. We should praise him!”

Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is outraged at talk about expelling fellow Democrat, Simcha Felder from the party after the State Senator-elect announced he would caucus with the Republicans.

“The hypocrisy of this discussion is almost beyond belief,” said the Assemblyman. “Simcha Felder is an honorable man who has not sold out in any way. He made no campaign promises that I am aware of other than to faithfully serve the best interests of his constituents, which is what he is doing by aligning himself with the party that best represents his constituents’ philosophical preferences. While many of his constituents may be Democrats, they also clearly supported Republicans.

“Every Democrat is good for the people? That doesn't make sense. Every platform that the party takes suits every district, every voter? Being an elected official should never imply knee-jerk allegiance to a party. Simcha would have won this election regardless of whether he ran on the Republican line or the Democratic line. People voted for his experience and his integrity and that’s what he’s already delivering. He has never been dishonest with the people.”

Assemblyman Hikind pointed out that many Democrats supported Mayor Michael Bloomberg when he ran for re-election on the Republican line in 2005 and 2009.

“We shouldn’t castigate an elected official for being independent,” said the Assemblyman. “We should praise him!”

Assemblyman Hikind will be discussing this issue on “Fred Dicker Live From the State Capital” on Talk Radio 1300 AM, today at 10:35 am.