Excerpt:
The chairman of the board for the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Zead Ramadan, has opened up a campaign committee to run for the New York City Council.
Ramadan is seeking to replace Robert Jackson, a three-term lawmaker who is leaving because of term limits and running for Manhattan borough president.
Jackson and most of the local Democratic establishment is backing Mark Levine, a district leader and founder of the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan. Levine's candidacy received some attention outside the district when a fringe candidate sent emails attacking Levine because he is white.