In the wake of a controversial and confusing Republican Party primary in Harlem's 70th Assembly District, some Harlem Republicans are still facing unresolved allegations and an unresolved primary election. The controversy associated with the Republican Party primary is based on the efforts of competing candidates for district leader in the 70th AD, Ms. Keisha Morrisey and Ms. Denise Johns.

Both candidates are insurgents, seeking to unseat the incumbent district leader Mr. Will Brown, who is also the GOP candidate for the New York City Council in the 9th CD. The three-way controversy ensued following the end of the designating petition process that was punctuated by each candidate challenging the petitions of the others by filing objections.

Subsequently, the incumbent Brown was knocked off of the ballot for not having the sufficient number of valid signatures. Following the defeat of his designating petitions knocking him off of the ballot, Brown filed an Opportunity To Ballot (OTB) giving him ballot status as a write-in candidate. However, it is alleged that Mr. Brown did not have the required amount of signatures to validate the OTB.

Interestingly enough, both insurgent candidates assert that the New York Republican County Committee and the Board of Elections advised voters that there was no Republican Party election. And voters at the polls were not permitted to cast a write-in vote, but some were permitted to vote only after they protested.

This writer is advised that the results of the GOP primary in the 70th AD are not yet definitive, but there is a rumor circulating promoting the victory of Mr. Will Brown in retaining his district leadership. On the other hand both insurgent candidates are pursuing separate strategies in appropriate forums to advance their cause.

The political plot thickens as the President of the Harlem Republican Club, Claude Sharrieff-Frazier; political (club) associate of Brown's is embattled in a legal dilemma that resulted in his arrest. The pending legal battle put the venue of the Harlem Republican Club, which is also the campaign headquarters for Brown's campaign for the New York City Council at risk.

According to Sharrieff-Frazier, "I was charged with unlawful eviction of a squatter and not sexual and physical harassment." However, the "squatter" has alleged that Sharrieff-Frazier has made sexually propositions to her, which she has rejected continually. "When he (Sharrieff-Frazier) comes to the apartment by himself, I always call his wife on the phone and have a general conversation with her until he leaves."

Insurgent candidate Ms. Keisha Morrisey said, "Sharrieff-Frazier was a co-defendant in the Supreme Court case that I filed last year which alleged the same sexual propositions as the squatter claims she has experienced." Ms. Morrisey said, "Mr. Brown was a co-defendant in that action as well, and he was charged along with other district leaders among others with conspiring to deny me the party's designation for Congress in the 15th Congressional District in 2004."

Also, Mr. Harold (Mawu) Straker, the current campaign manager of Mr. Brown's campaign for the city council is on the run to avoid arrest for assaulting the "squatter" to the extent that she required medical treatment. The incident reportedly occurred in premises of the Harlem Republican Club, where the "squatter" lives, a brownstone that some say is owned by Sharrieff-Frazier. Mr. Straker reportedly attempted to intimidate the "squatter" into moving from the Harlem club headquarters and physically
assaulted the "squatter" when she refused to move from the apartment.

Ms. Morrisey said, "Mr. Straker was also a co-defendant in my law suit because he also assaulted me in 2003, when he was the campaign manager for my race for the New York City council in the 9th CD."

According to Jose Amanuel, a longtime member of the activist wing of the Republican Party, "I think that there is more to this situation than meets the eye. Plantation politics is the order of the day in Harlem GOP politics, and the "official Negro leadership is protecting the masters plantation system."

"That protection includes insuring that there is no Republican Party primary election and running down field political interference against any organic community based political insurgency. I suspect, however that this may be their last stand."

Gary James is a leader of the community activist wing of the Republican Party, political consultant and freelance writer. James is represented by a prominent New York based literary agency and will soon release his book, which discusses New York City black politics on both sides of the aisle. Email: ConsultingGary@al.com.