It was an early fall afternoon, and as the sun played peekaboo between buildings, Rabbi Stephen Roberts canvassed the courtyards of the Jacob Riis Houses and surrounding high-rises in Alphabet City.
The Independent candidate for New York State Senate District 27 – which runs from the East Village to parts of the Upper West Side – he approached everyone he saw, hoping that handshakes and an “Amen” or two, could convince voters to fill in his bubble on the ballot.
Alphabet City residents were surprised to see Roberts strolling their neighborhood. “This is the only politician who’s shown up,” Angel Rosado, 45, said, as Roberts pinned a campaign button to his coat. “Nobody comes here.”
Roberts, 57, a health care and disaster relief chaplain who’s never held elected office, prefers to think of himself as a “public servant” rather than a politician. His platform includes legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana, creating middle-income affordable housing and a single-payer health care system.
The rabbi said he was inspired to run by Bernie Sanders’ suggestion that his supporters seek office, even though he shares many positions with the Democratic incumbent Brad Hoylman.
Both are also gay, married and West Village residents. But “I’m not running as a gay man,” Roberts said. “I’m just the better man.”
Not everyone agrees. Some people have criticized Roberts for running because they believe they’re already well represented. “Hoylman is the only one in office who makes sure we have what we need,” said Dereese Huff, 50, president of the Campos Plaza Tenant Association in the Lower East Side.
Determined to Defy the Odds
Yet Roberts remains undeterred. He said he has distributed 40,000 leaflets, met 25,000 constituents and raised about $50,000 from donations and his own funds. “While Brad is relying on politics to get him elected, I’m relying on me to get elected,” he said.
The Hoylman campaign declined multiple requests for comment.
But John Murphy Jr., 65, a private equity investor, was eager to comment on his support for Roberts: “I’m impressed with his intelligence and think he could be a real leader,” he said. “He comes across as a very moral man.”
Roberts credits his mom with giving him the moral and ethical values he considers to be the core of his campaign. Carol Roberts, now 80, was the Palm Beach County Commissioner during the 2000 election recount. “She was that lady on TV who the Supreme Court told to stop the Florida counting,” he said.
It’s unlikely that this contest will hang on any hanging chad-checking. Hoylman has won his recent elections by wide margins but it’s unknown how much of a threat Roberts poses. “They don’t conduct polls in races like these,” said Michael Amadeo, 39, Roberts’ campaign manager. “It’s too expensive.”
So, trudging through the district, Roberts supplemented his leaflets with mini bars of soap that he handed out like a deli worker slinging salami slice samples.
“On Election Day, I want you to use this before you go to vote,” he deadpanned. “Help me clean up Albany.”
