Lancman to Challenge Turner in Ninth District: Report

Assemblyman Rory Lancman, D-Fresh Meadows, a lawyer whose first job as a legislator came after he replaced disgraced Assemblyman Brian MacLaughlin, will reportedly go after the seat of another shamed Democrat — former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner.

According to a report in the New York Times, Lancman is expected to announce Tuesday that he will be challenging U.S. Rep. Bob Turner, R-Forest Hills, in the Ninth District this year.

The seat was a candidate for elimination in redistricting — New York must lose two seats this year — but now the paper says it appears that the seat will remain as is.

That leaves Lancman, a state legislator who got his start in 2006, just nine short months to campaign to take Turner’s seat away after less than one full term.

, embroiled in an online scandal that broke when a less-than-modest picture found

Turner ran against Assemblyman David Weprin, D-Little Neck, who was faulted for running a lackluster campaign. His defeat was seen as a black eye for the Queens Democratic machine, which to that point had been very effective in replacing borough-wide legislators.

Lancman, whose name was mentioned during discussions prior to last year’s special election, will likely run an aggressive campaign after what was seen in 2011 as a weak effort.

During that election, Weprin, an orthodox Jew, was outcampaigned in the Jewish community —particularly in Brooklyn — by Turner, who won overwhelmingly among Jewish voters.

Lancman is also Jewish, and has been outspoken on Jewish and Israeli issues in the past. Expect voters in that community to be heavily courted over the next nine months.

Much of Lancman’s current Assembly district is east of Forest Hills. He lives in Hillcrest.