Williamsburg, NY – Lopez Ally Leading Restler

Williamsburg, NY – It appears that Vito Lopez has finally toppled nemesis Lincoln Restler.

Chris Olechowski, a longtime Lopez ally, is leading reform poster boy Lincoln Reslter by more than 200 votes for the hotly contested district leader seat, according to multiple sources.

“The Hasidim are bragging they’ve got it tied up,” the source added.

“The turnout in Zalmanite areas was very high all day. There were people waiting to vote. That’s a big deal,” another source added.

An Olechowski win would be a major victory for Lopez, who has made the race for the unpaid seat a major priority.

Still, the longtime Polish community activist has worked to distance himself from the scandal-scarred Lopez, calling for him to step down from his Assembly seat.

Restlter has told supporters he’s not backing down yet.

He angered Lopez after the political powerbroker balked at his reform proposals more than five years ago, leading to the creation of reform political New Kings Democrats club. Two year’s ago, Restler was one of the group’s only members to defeat a Lopez candidate.

“I think he can be thought of as the boy who lived,” a source said. “Not only did he win but he won as an anti-Vito message.”

But many political pundits saw that victory as a fluke, citing a lackluster campaign by Warren Cohen, the son of a longtime district leader.