District Leader Hector Ramirez is actively drumming up support for a 2010 run against 86th District Assemblyman Nelson Castro, the Norwood News has learned.

Though Ramirez has yet to make an official announcement, two sources close to him who requested anonymity, said that Ramirez was working to position himself for a run at Castro’s seat, which he will have to defend come next election season.

On Thursday night, Dec. 3, a fund-raising event for Ramirez’s candidacy was scheduled with tickets going anywhere from $25 to $500. The event was being organized by Fernando Aquino, a longtime Democratic Party operative who played a strong role in Fernando Cabrera’s upset primary victory over incumbent Council member Maria Baez in September.

The sources also said that if Ramirez does run, he will enjoy the backing of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who was also influential in Cabrera’s ascension to the City Council.

On the Monday before Thanksgiving, Ramirez looked the part of campaigning candidate as he handed out Thanksgiving turkeys to local residents with Diaz in University Heights.

Diaz spokesperson John DeSio would only say that the borough president has handed out a lot of turkeys (some 4,000, DeSio says) and that it was Ramirez who brought the gigantic banner that prominently features both Ramirez and Diaz, Jr. Clearly, Diaz, Jr. didn’t object to the photo op. But for now, DeSio said he couldn’t comment further.

Ramirez, a Dominican-born Bronx resident since 1995 and a professional accountant, was elected district leader in the 86th Assembly District, which includes parts of University Heights, Mt. Hope, and Morris Heights, in 2002 and has been re-elected three times.

In August of 2008, when Castro’s predecessor, Luis Diaz, left his position and took a job with Gov. David Paterson, the Bronx Democratic County Committee passed over Ramirez, a longtime party loyalist, and chose Castro, a relatively new face in Bronx politics, to fill the vacancy. Many, including Luis Diaz and Castro himself, were surprised by the decision made by then-Democratic County boss Jose Rivera.

In the end, Castro, a former registered Republican who moved to the Bronx from Washington Heights a few years ago, became the first Dominican assemblyman from the Bronx, not Ramirez.
But now, with Rivera out and Assemblyman Carl Heastie running the County party, it looks like we could be in for a serious fight between Democratic rivals in the 86th.