Brooklyn: Freshman Rep. Mike McMahon drowned in a Republican tsunami as newcomer GOP challenger Michael Grimm trounced him by a 51.5 to 48 percent vote, early returns show. Comment.

Brooklyn: Two Bushwick centers affiliated with Assemblyman Vito Lopez — one of which who’s already under investigation — played host to serious election fraud that helped secure a Lopez victory last month, poll workers charged this week. Comment.

Brooklyn: Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez has strengthened his control of the borough’s political establishment by more than doubling the number of hand-picked loyalists in party leadership positions. Comment.

Brooklyn: Meet the new Boss — same as the old Boss. Comment.

Brooklyn: Here’s our amazing roundup! Comments (1).

Brooklyn: There were few primary election upsets in our southern Brooklyn coverage area, but that’s to be expected in New York City democracy, where a man awaiting a trial for punching out a photographer and a woman who is already collecting her retirement pension face only token challenges. Comment.

Brooklyn: Bernard Catcher, a democratic district leader and power broker who helped launch the legislative careers of Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-Sheepshead Bay), Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Mill Basin), Assemblyman Alan Maisel (D-Mill Basin), state Sen. Carl Kruger (D-Brighton Beach), and a litany of other Brooklyn politicians, died on Aug. 20 after a prolonged battle with cancer. He was 70. Comments (3).

Brooklyn: Assembly candidate Doug Biviano blasted away at incumbent Joan Millman in a debate last week, hammering her for taking her pension even as she works as a lawmaker, lambasting her for backing transit cuts, and for flip-flopping on housing inside Brooklyn Bridge Park — but the harshest word he had for Millman was that she’s “nice.” Comments (2).

Brooklyn Borough President: Call it Marty’s “con”-cert series. Comment.

Brooklyn: Congressional hopeful Kevin Powell’s faltering campaign to unseat 27-year incumbent Rep. Ed Towns (D–Fort Greene) was dealt a death blow on Friday after reports indicated that he owes the taxman $615,000 — and then tried to divert attention by decrying Towns’s political consultant for “nasty dirision.” Comment.

Brooklyn: Here’s our roundup one day after all the petition signatures are in. Comment.

Borough President Markowitz wants to build a $64-million open-air concert hall inside Asser Levy Seaside Park in Coney Island. The plan is controversial because the new venue would be close to two synagogues and city law currently forbids amplified music so near houses of worship (though that law is currently being changed to accommodate Markowitz’s annual concert series). With the amphitheater about to get its final approval, we asked two neighborhood machers to weigh in. Click below to read their opinion pieces.

None of the five elected officials who represent the block of Voorhies Avenue where the Muslim American Society hopes to build a mosque showed up at the anti-mosque rally on June 27, so we tracked down these elected officials and get them on the record. Here’s what they had to say (or, more accurately, did not have to say). Comment.

Looks like a flip-flop from the former Fire Commissioner district attorney. Comment.

Queens: Queens Democrats criticized Gov. David Paterson’s decision to veto much of the budget passed nearly three months after it was due by the state Legislature Monday, saying it could be a particularly bad blow for borough schools. Comment.

Brooklyn: State Sen. Carl Kruger clammed up this week when asked about federal charges levied against a local restaurateur who’s donated thousands of dollars and held fund-raisers for the embattled pol. Comment.

Queens: John Messer wants to reframe the conversation in Albany from tax-and-slash to something more forward-looking. Comments (1).

Queens: Just as it looked as if state Sen. Joseph Addabbo (D-Howard Beach) would be free of opponents for re-election in a contentious western Queens district, former City Councilman Anthony Como,a Republican, said he would challenge the one-term senator. Comment.

Council District 20: Paying dues is the key to making it onto the northeast Queens political map, Democrat and Republican political operatives say, unless a potential candidate has serious money and connections. Comments (1).

Mayor: High-profile Queens Republican campaign operative John Haggerty Jr. was indicted Monday by a Manhattan grand jury for allegedly stealing $1.1 million funneled to him through Mayor Michael Bloomberg last year, the Manhattan district attorney said. Comments (1).

Queens: A Roslyn, L.I., doctor seeking to oust U.S. Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Bayside) in November called the congressman an out-of-touch elitist during a meeting of the Queens Village Republican Club last week in Bellerose. Comments (4).

Council District 25: Corona and Elmhurst-based immigration reform advocates, including City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (D-Elmhurst) and Councilman Danny Dromm (D-Jackson Heights), were arrested last week during a civil disobedience protest outside the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service building in Manhattan. Comments (2).

Brooklyn: This is not some twisted anti-lawyer joke! Ralph Perfetto is actually facing a year in jail for helping a pal in a 2008 case. Comment.