Anti-Semitic conspiracy theorist and New York City councilman Charles Barron was dealt a crushing defeat by Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries in yesterday’s Democratic primary in Brooklyn, a loss the divisive candidate attributed to "the white media."
Barron garnered just 28 percent of the vote to his opponent’s 72 percent.
The race between the radical Barron and more centrist Jeffries was viewed by observers as a test for moderate Democrats, many of whom rallied against Barron and his anti-Israel views even as he garnered support from Democratic power brokers such as AFSCME and the local affiliate of the Sierra Club.
"There is no place for candidates like Barron in serious parts of the Democratic Party, and Jefferies's overwhelming victory is just the latest example of that," one relieved Jewish Democratic activist told the Free Beacon. "Glad this sideshow is over."
One political expert told the Free Beacon that Barron’s outrageous beliefs hurt him among mainstream voters.
"I think what happened is that the hype of a potential ‘Representative Barron’ generated a lot of headlines because he’s such a controversial figure," said Kyle Kondik, House Editor at the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics.
That, combined with Jeffries’ cool demeanor and high profile backers, dampened the power of Barron’s radical base.
"Hakeem Jeffries never seemed all that worried, and there weren’t any public polls to prove or disprove the notion of a Barron surge," Kondik said. "Obviously, the notion of a surge wasn’t real. Jeffries, who is seen as a rising star, probably didn’t mind the additional attention devoted to his contest, either."
Barron was defiant throughout the evening, demanding a recount and refusing to congratulate Jeffries after early results indicated that Barron was likely to lose.
"When we launched this campaign we knew we were going up against ... the entire New York Democratic political leadership," the New York Daily News quoted Barron as saying. "You know you good when you made the governor do a robo call for a primary."
Later in his de facto concession speech, Barron went on the rampage, blaming his lopsided loss on the "white media," the "Wall Street elite," and his opponent, among other nefarious forces, according to the New York Times, which reported:
A former Black Panther and three-term City Councilman with a reputation for making outrageous remarks, Mr. Barron accused the media of trying to "assassinate us" during the race, and he blamed Mr. Jeffries for not defending him from the attacks, saying "it showed a lack of character."