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  Satmar Group Endorses Bill de Blasio for Mayor, Setting Stage for Election Day Battle
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ContributorRBH 
Last EditedRBH  Sep 06, 2013 01:23pm
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News DateWednesday, September 4, 2013 06:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionThe political leaders of half of Brooklyn’s Satmar Hasidic community announced they would back New York City Democratic mayoral frontrunner Bill de Blasio today, setting the stage for an epic get-out-the-vote showdown in Williamsburg next week.

“All in all we felt it’s a no-brainer, the shidduch between him and us,” said Isaac Sofer, a leader in the Satmar group led by Rabbi Aaron Teitelbuam. Sofer cited de Blasio’s support for aid to private religious schools as among the reasons for his sect’s endorsement of de Blasio.

The de Blasio campaign confirmed the endorsement in a statement released to the New York Observer. The followers of Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum, the larger Satmar group in Brooklyn, announced on August 27 that they would support Democratic mayoral candidate Bill Thompson.

The two halves of Satmar have struggled to demonstrate their influence since the sect split amidst a succession feud in 2006. The competing endorsements mean that power of Satmar leaders from both factions will be tested during the mayoral primary on September 10. The de Blasio endorsement is an opportunity for leaders of the Aroni faction, which is seen as weaker, to demonstrate their political muscle.
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