By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
City Councilman Charles Barron has anounced his challenge to sitting Council Speaker Christine Quinn, garnering the endorsements of prominent city politicians.
Barron, a Democrat from Brooklyn, announced his run for Council Speaker at a City Hall press conference Sunday, citing the lack of diversity of city leadership, according to the Daily News.
“The mayor’s white, the speaker’s white, the public advocate is white," Barron said at his announcement.
"The controller is Asian and yet 62% of the city is people of color, 55% is black and Latino and we don’t even have one person. No representation. That is unacceptable.”
Reverend Al Sharpton immediately endorsed Barron, with whom he shared a 45-day jail sentence in 1993 for a 1987 protest.
Barron also received the support of controversial council figures, among them his former Chief of Staff Viola Plummer, who was fired by Quinn over comments threatening the "assasination" of Councilman Leroy Comrie, the News reported.
Quinn has served as council speaker for three years and recently unveiled a food program to address the production and distribution of healthy foods in the city, according to the New York Times.
Barron accused Quinn of serving Mayor Michael Bloomberg's interests on the council.
