"I am a life-long resident of Bushwick, Brooklyn - a beautiful community besieged by gun violence" - Jesus Gonzalez.

*Mr. Gonzalez will be live chatting about gun control and school safety with Radio Rookies and Youth Radio from 1-2pm.

We've posted before about the financial dealings in the 54th Assembly District in Brooklyn. The three candidates are all pulling money from their networks of donors, and we had been asked--sometimes sarcastically--when we'd breakdown the donations to see, mostly, who had done the most fundraising in district.

Well, folks, ask and you shall receive is our mantra over at the Empire blog. Thanks to the map wizardry of WNYC's John Keefe, we've been able to break down the data from the Board of Election to paint a fiscal picture of where the candidates are getting their support.

First, some background and general info. What you're looking at are the donors to each campaign, not the individual donations. Looking at the number of unique donors is a better measure than total number of donations. The individual donors were then tagged to the map using their address information. Some of the addresses didn't compute, meaning a small percentage -- less than two percent -- aren't present on the map. Corporate, PAC and other group donations were combined with individuals in all averages and tallies.

Here are the raw numbers:

The first thing you notice is that, despite calls from a number of quarters for a breakdown of in-district donations, the truth is not one candidate managed to get into double digits when it comes to either total donations, or the percentage of money raised.

That being said, the Towns and Gonzalez campaigns have the highest totals, respectively. In truth, these ridiculously low in-district numbers shouldn't be surprising. The area we're talking about is a poor one, and raising tens of thousands of dollars in-district would have been a tall feet.

Still, no one can really claim to be pulling their support--at least financially--directly from the people they represent.

What's interesting about the map below is how close to home the candidates ended up raising money. Take a look for yourself and let us know what you think.

It looks like Assembly hopeful Rafael Espinal's campaign is missing some of its paperwork. According to the New York State Board of Elections website, the Espinal campaign failed to file anything for the last two filings. The most recent filing was due 11 days before Election Day (so last week). Espinal's folks blew by the previous filing, due 32 days prior to Election Day.

An email to Espinal's campaign has been sent. Their response will be posted.

Meanwhile, the Towns and Gonzalez campaigns have filed, and here's where they stand heading into the final week:

Towns

• Total raised so far: $128,956
• Total spent: $85,826.58
• Cash on hand: $43,129.42
• Notable: Manhattan Democratic Party chairman Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright had his campaign committee donate $250 to Towns'. "Sometimes personal relationships do get a chance to override political concerns," the assemblyman said.

Gonzalez

• Total raised so far: $130,195.53
• Total spent: $92,603.60
• Cash on hand: $37,591.93
• Notable: The campaign paid the Working Families Party Campaign Committee $23,333 for field service work.

Jesus Gonzalez (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

Jesus Gonzalez pointed up at a colorful wall mural. Figures wield phones and video recorders on an unfinished scene depicting some sort of suspect police behavior. “What other elected official would have a social justice mural commissioned?” he asked.

He was using the future perfect tense; Gonzalez hasn’t been elected to anything yet. But he is running to be the next representative to the New York State Assembly from the 54th district in Brooklyn.

His achievements as a community organizer thread throughout the 26-year-old’s conversations. The mural was one notable landmark. Before that it was the high school he helped save from closing. That led him to last year’s fight to save student Metrocards from cuts, which he helped lead. Then there were the baggers at the Associated supermarket he helped organize for a better wage.

He is slim, handsome and intense. His vocal inflections and pace are borrowed from another community organizer, now President of the United State. But mingled in there is an almost religious passion that jives with his first name.

“I know, for me, this is really a spiritual commitment to this district,” he says not only about his campaign, but about the 13 years he says he’s put in as a social justice advocate. In a tight three-way race between Gonzalez and his two opponents, he is a true believer in a battle between the gospel of democratic justice against the evil of corrupt Democratic Party politics.

But the groups backing Gonzalez’s campaign have interests that run far deeper and further than the race for the 54th Assembly District. And in this way he is no different than his opponents: Rafael Espinal, the Democratic establishment pick, and Deidra Towns, daughter to Congressman Ed Towns and sister to the previous Assemblyman.

Make the Road By Walking, the Brooklyn Democratic reform movement, and the Working Families Party are gambling big to get Jesus Gonzalez in the Assembly, and may help remake Brooklyn Democratic politics in the process.

- The Jewish Voice has endorsed Republican for Congress in the 9th District:

Alec Hamilton / WNYC

For New Yorkers in the 9th Congressional District, and for those who have grown restive over the intrusion of the "nanny state" in the affairs of their daily lives, the decision on September 13 couldn't be clearer. Political change is desperately needed and we, the people, are charged with chartering our own course, of becoming masters of our own fate, and captains of our own ship. Let's send a bold message to President Obama by electing Bob Turner to Congress and saying "no" to more of the same.

- The New York Times has endorsed his opponent, Democrat David Weprin:

Colby Hamilton / WNYC

When Representative Anthony Weiner resigned in disgrace in June, he left his diverse district without a voice in the House of Representatives. On Sept. 13, voters in that Queens and Brooklyn district can choose his replacement.

Their options — chosen, unfortunately, by the parties’ leaders instead of in open primaries — are Assemblyman David Weprin, a Democrat, and Bob Turner, a Republican and former communications executive. The choice is clear: Mr. Weprin would represent the district with far more expertise, sensitivity and fiscal rationality.

- So did the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association. PBA president Patrick J. Lynch:

We know we can trust David Weprin to fight to protect the Medicare and Social Security benefits working families rely on, and his background in finance and his service as the chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee will be of great value during these difficult financial times. David has been an effective and honest public servant who will represent us well in Congress. The New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association is proud to endorse David Weprin, a true friend of law enforcement, for the United States Congres .

- Assembly hopeful Jesus Gonzalez got a boost in his three-way race out in Brooklyn when the Albany-reform focused New Roosevelt Initiative endorsed him today. New Roosevelt's founder Bill Samuels:

Courtesy of the Gonzalez campaign.

Bosses love elections without opponents, but they’re bad for democracy and bad for New York.  Residents of the 54th are lucky that a bright, dedicated reformer like Jesus Gonzalez, a Democrat who is running on the Working Families Party (WFP) line has stepped forward to challenge this autocracy. The system is broken, disgraceful and must be changed. I applaud the valiant efforts of Gonzalez and WFP in their continued efforts to reform Brooklyn politics by letting voters have a real choice and that is why I fully support Gonzalez’s candidacy.

- Another Assembly hopeful, Phil Goldfeder, announced United Federation of Teachers'  President Michael Mulgrew will endorse his campaign tomorrow.

The Gonzalez campaign announced the endorsement of SEIU Local 1199 earlier today.

“Jesus Gonzalez is the best candidate for Brooklyn's working families. He is a strong community organizer with a proven record of fighting for workers' rights,” Kevin Finnegan, Political Director of 1199 SEIU, said in a statement. "He is a leader with the vision and passion to bring good jobs, affordable housing and responsible development to the residents of this struggling community."

[To hear the candidates in their own words, check out the videos of the debate on the Brooklyn Politics Blog. Apologies to Colin for my fat head getting in the frame.]

(L to R) Towns, Gonzalez and Espinal. (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

At their best, candidate debates--especially intra-party ones, and this intensifies the further you move down the political ladder--can be sport. Because of the unpolished candidates, the unapologetic provincialism, and the passions brought out by local factions fighting over the tiniest pieces of the pie, they can become combative, chair-throwing, name-calling, finger-pointing affairs.

More often they are just the snooziest. There are two people essentially agreeing on all the issues. Their appeal to individual voters is based on the slimmest of nuanced differences.

Last night's debate in the Cypress Hills section of Brooklyn, between the three candidates running for the open seat in the 54th Assembly District, veered toward the latter. In fact, it wasn't until the debate had moved past the hour mark that the distinctions between Deidra Towns, Jesus Gonzalez and Rafael Espinal became fully understood.

By Alec Hamilton, additional reporting by Colby Hamilton

(Courtesty of the candidate's Facebook page.)

Deidra Towns is running to succeed her brother as the 54th Assembly District representative in Brooklyn. She’s also the daughter of Congressman Ed Towns—a fact that could explain why she’s getting a significant amount of financial support from out-of-state donors. According to a WNYC analysis of state Board of Election filings, a full third of the nearly $91,000 she has raised came from outside New York.

This is in contrast to her opponents, Democratic Party pick Rafael Espinal and Work Families Party-supported Jesus Gonzalez, who have raised, respectively, four and fifteen percent of their campaign chest from non-New Yorkers. The Espinal campaign has raised a total of $74,440, while Gonzalez leads all fundraising efforts with $100,632 raised so far.

Receiving support from out-of-state contributors is nothing new in local politics, but Deidra Towns’ filings reveal the dominating influence Congressman Towns has had on her fundraising efforts. A quick look at some of the biggest donors listed in the two filings submitted to the state Board of Elections show a number of donations that come from the campaigns of sitting Congressmen, funds setup by Congressmen, and lobbyists connected to Congress, as well as donors who also gave to Congressman Towns.

Espinal speaking with a potential voter. (Colby Hamilton/WNYC)

The Espinal for Assembly campaign office is tucked in the wedge of Bushwick between the J/M/Z and L trains, its windows covered in campaign fliers, on a block with a mix of three family homes and newer buildings giving off a condo vibe. It's 5:30 in the afternoon. A gaggle of just under a dozen volunteers are picking up clipboards and literature, a swatch of ethnicity that matches the evolving demographics of the district: mostly Latino, but a number of African-Americans and a few whites; all young.

They head out to make contact with potential voters ahead of the special election scheduled for September 13. Across the street Rafael Espinal can be seen, carrying black plastic bodega bags. The former aide to City Councilman Erik Martin Dilan and pick of Democratic Party boss Vito Lopez for the open seat in Northeast Brooklyn's 54th Assembly District, Espinal went out to get ice and water for office workers and volunteers.

"He's always working," notes Michael Olmeda, his campaign manager. After Espinal drops off the water, everyone gets into separate cars and head out to go door-to-door fliering in near-by public houses. The voters in these houses have traditionally been supporters of the former assemblyman, Darryl Towns. Towns's sister Deidra is one of two other candidates Espinal faces in the fight to be the first new representative from the district in 18 years.

"We're talking about dealing with three separate factions who think they have a mastery of the district," Olmeda says as he takes a right on Bushwick Avenue. Olmeda should know: He worked with Darryl Towns for 15 years before splitting with the family over the unwillingness of Congressman, and dad to Darryl, Ed Towns to step aside so his son could get a shot at his seat.