Lotto Millionaire Isaac Sasson Eyes Assembly Seat

Self-funding lotto millionaire Isaac Sasson, who narrowly lost a City Council bid in 2009 and a state Senate bid in 2010, is now seriously weighing a run for Assemblywoman Grace Meng's seat, according to political consultant Jay Golub, a key advisor during Sasson's 2010 campaign. "He is weighing his options," Golub said in an email. "Many of his strongest supporters and leaders in the community are encouraging him, but he hasn't ruled anything in or out as of yet. He should have a decision early next week." As we reported recently, Korean-American business leader Myungsuk Lee is [also eying a run](http://www.cityandstateny.com/korean-american-business-leader-newsman-eying-mengs-seat/), as is Yen Chou, who beat Sasson narrowly in the 2009 City Council primary in Flushing. The Council race was ultimately won by Republican (now Democrat) Peter Koo. In 2010, Sasson lost a fairly close three-way race to State Sen. Toby Stavisky, but apparently has decided not to take on Stavisky in her redrawn district this year. A Sephardic Orthodox rabbi, Sasson has a strong natural base in Flushing, but his campaigns in the past have brought clashes with Flushing's growing Asian-American population, especially in 2003, when he ran against then Councilman John Liu. He won a $13 million dollar jackpot several years later. The Queens Democrats delayed picking a candidate to run for Meng's seat on Monday, but are expected to pick a candidate soon. Sasson, after running against county-backed candidates several times, would face long odds in landing that particular jackpot. Of course, there's no guarantee the seat will even be open, since Meng could potentially lose her congressional bid and run for Assembly re-election.