SAN JUAN, PR — Three City Council members have emerged as early favorites in the race for speaker — with progressives rallying to Manhattan’s Melissa Mark-Viverito, a close ally of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, sources said.
During a flurry of activity at the annual Somos el Futuro conference in Puerto Rico, council members Dan Garodnick of Manhattan and Mark Weprin of Queens have also won early support as moderate alternatives to Mark-Viverito, who is considered to the left of even de Blasio.
Local 1199 of SEIU — the health and hospital workers union that supported a good number of victorious candidates in Tuesday’s elections, including the next mayor — flooded the annual conference of Hispanic legislators with operatives talking up Mark-Viverito.
“They’re being very aggressive,” one source said. The union even tossed a party to promote her candidacy Thursday night.
But some council members say there’s also significant push-back against the East Harlem legislator, both among several progressives and from Democratic Party county leaders who have previously played key roles in picking the speaker.
“The members are very concerned because most of the members do not get along with Melissa,” one council member said.
There are also concerns about her from business and real-estate interests, one source added.
The tug of war between the Progressive Caucus — which numbers 15 to 20 members depending on who’s doing the counting — and county leaders is complicated by the fact that de Blasio could play a major role in the race if he wants to.
“Gravity shifted,” one returning council member said of the mayor-elect’s influence. “There’s a pull toward a new pole.”
But some who are close to the negotiations cautioned de Blasio could lose a lot of political capital by forcing an unwanted speaker on the local legislature.
They describe the incoming administration’s support for Mark-Viverito thus far as “signaling” rather than outright “pushing” — but coming largely through the powerful union.
“Melissa has no momentum on her own,” said one source. “It’s all de Blasio and 1199.”
Council members Annabel Palma (D-Bronx), James Vacca (D-Bronx) and Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Queens) are also considered possible candidates in the race, where the public has no role.
Among the issues that have emerged are which candidates support the Progressive Caucus’ agenda for reforming council rules and whether the candidates have one or two terms left in office.
Current Speaker Christine Quinn’s heavy hand has made some members wary of electing someone to lead the body for eight years.
“There’s a lot of . . . gossiping going on . . . I’m just doing what I have to do,” said Weprin, who has two terms left in office. “We’re talking about issues, we’re talking about personalities we’re talking about who could do a good job.”
The race for speaker, on which the 51 council members will vote in January, has dragged through late December in previous openings. The next speaker needs support from 26 members to claim the mantle.
While his name was being mentioned everywhere throughout the hallways and ocean-view decks at the Condado Plaza hotel, de Blasio kept an extremely low profile since arriving Thursday. He spoke with reporters briefly at the governor’s mansion in Old San Juan, but didn’t have another public event until late Friday night at a reception thrown by the chair of the conference, Brooklyn Assemblyman Felix Ortiz.
The mayor-elect was scheduled to make himself ever more scarce over the weekend by taking a mini-vacation with his wife, Chirlane McCray, somewhere on the Caribbean island.