Democrat David Weprin said yesterday that President Obama’s sagging popularity among Queens and Brooklyn voters cost him the election for ex-Rep. Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat.
In a stunning upset, Weprin was trounced by Republican Bob Turner, whose campaign had tied him to the president.
“The message of the campaign was ‘Send Obama a message,’ ” said Weprin, a Queens state assemblyman. “I think the problem was that he’s the president and people are frustrated, and it’s just natural to take it out on the top guy — or the top guy’s party.
“As much as I tried to make it about David Weprin or Bob Turner, I don’t think that resonated to voters. I think that voters looked at it as a referendum on the president,’’ Weprin said.
Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 to 1 in the district.
During one press conference, Weprin refused to say whether he backed Obama’s re-election. In fact, he did not mention the president in his literature, nor did he seek Obama’s endorsement.
And Weprin criticized the president’s policies toward Israel.
But while Obama was an albatross for Weprin, political experts said other factors contributed to the Democrat’s loss — including the widely shared view that he was a lackluster candidate whose campaign committed strategic blunders.
Meanwhile, Orthodox Jews and other conservative voters pulled the lever for Turner in large numbers to protest Weprin’s vote for gay marriage. Weprin himself is an Orthodox Jew