Christine Quinn, New York City Council Speaker, faces tough competition from challengers Yetta Kurland and Maria Passannante-Derr. Kurland, an openly gay civil rights attorney, has received substantial support from the LGBT community. Quinn, also openly gay, seems to have alienated a large section of the LGBT community. Several major endorsements from the gay community have gone to Kurland over Quinn. Passannante-Derr, an attorney, also chairs Community Board #2 and comes from a family with deep political ties to the area.
