Yuh-Line Niou is the best of an uninspiring field of replacements for Sheldon Silver

It’s rare that a local Assembly race garners city and statewide attention, but such is the case when an office is vacated due to the corruption of one of the most prominent state legislators of the last 20 years.

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s failings as an honest public servant set a low bar for his successor. Surely, any politically active citizen with a pulse and firm grasp of the issues would better serve the constituents of the 65th Assembly District. Unfortunately, the candidates to replace Silver in the forthcoming April 19 special election leave much to be desired.

All three candidates who sought our endorsement – Alice Cancel, a Democrat; Lester Chang, a Republican; and Yuh-Line Niou of the Working Families Party – support basic ethics reform, including disqualifying convicted public officials from receiving a pension – a requisite position in replacing Silver who, at times, showed flagrant disregard for providing honest services.

But Cancel’s ties to the former Assembly speaker through his Democratic club – which anointed her as his replacement – calls into question whether she would serve the district independent of the influence of Silver’s cronies.

Both Chang and Niou demonstrated a much more comprehensive understanding of some of the issues facing the district – from congestion pricing to education reform. Chang, however, indicated that he would not be the most independent-minded legislator despite running as a Republican, saying that he would be more likely to go along with the consensus on key policy votes, rather than consider issues independently on their merits.

Which brings us to Niou, a former Assembly staffer who has only lived in the district for the last two years, immediately raising the “carpetbagger” allegations that typically dog similar candidates. It was unclear to us whether Niou was driven more by her ambition to hold public office rather than a genuine desire to advocate for a district she claims to have grown familiar with while campaigning these last several months.

However, Niou’s positions on education reform – she spoke eloquently on fighting for much-needed school funding in the district – and commitment to being a vocal advocate for Chinatown, a long underserved part of the district, swayed our editorial board enough to endorse her to replace Silver for these next several months. Her experience as a top aide to Assemblyman Ron Kim in Queens will allow her to hit the ground running and, at the very least, continue to provide solid constituent services, an oft-overlooked aspect of Silver’s tenure. Niou also demonstrated an awareness of the fact that she would need to advocate to support nonprofits and other community stakeholders and programs left in a lurch now that funding previously directed to them by Silver has dried up.

The April 19 special election is essentially a hold-the-fort race until the Democratic primary in September, when a much a wider field is expected to vie for the seat. We encourage a diverse, qualified group of candidates to throw their hats in the race and give the people of the 65th District the Assembly member they deserve.