The south Williamsburg Satmar Jewish community is split between two rival brothers, Zalman Teitelbaum and Aaron Teitelbaum — who control the community’s Zalmanite and Aronite factions. The brothers have been at odds for years over control of the Satmar empire, previously led by their father, Grand Rebbe Moses Teitelbaumm and even got into a war this year over control of upstate Hasidic summer camps, which oddly played into the congressional race.

The Zalmanite faction, which is larger and has asserted greater political power in the past, has been affiliated with Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez, who was supporting Dilan. But the Aronite faction appeared to show new political strength this election, according to its leaders, though Dilan appears to have won the overall vote among Satmars. Velaquez’s campaign estimated a 60-40 split in favor of Dilan.

Still, Aronite leaders say that yesterday’s turnout was a benchmark for their community.

“We turned out a huge block vote for Nydia,” said Gary Schlesinger, executive board chairman of UJCare, an Aronite social services group.

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Volunteers have been picking up signs and receiving the day’s instructions since just before the polls opened at six this morning. The electioneering routine is familiar but today presents a rare opportunity for the Brooklyn Democratic leader- a chance to knock out a 20-year rival.

The last time he had a shot to defeat a political competitor was three years ago, when his candidate, Maritza Davila, lost to Councilwoman Diana Reyna in a primary by less than 300 votes. This time, Councilman Erik Dilan is waging a battle against Rep. Nydia Velazquez in a hard-fought race.

I caught up with Dilan this morning outside Vito’s clubhouse.

“I still want your vote,” he said. (Dilan had called me and asked for my vote a month ago, since I live in the district.)

He was headed to Cypress Hills to vote for himself.

“It’s been slow this morning, I’ve never seen it so slow,” he said, adding that he thinks turnout will pick up after work hours.

To check out more Primary June 26 coverage from City & State visit www.cityandstateny.com.

According to an OWS newsletter, Martinez was barred from participating in the debate because he hasn’t raised more than $5,000. Martinez’s has adopted a novel DIY campaign technique drawing upon crowd sourcing and donation of labor and expertise as opposed to dollars, a campaign style he has dubbed “Bum Rush the Vote.”

In the campaign’s eyes, low funding is the whole point. “To us, this represents a victory for people-powered, grassroots politics, not a lack of ‘viability!’ ” argued the campaign in a statement over the weekend.

But NY1 looks to funding and expenditures as evidence of a campaign’s seriousness. The OWS newsletter disclosed a statement from an NY1 senior political producer Michael Nitzky explaining Martinez’s exclusion from the debates, “Every candidate who has been invited to appear in our debates has filed with the FEC and shown that they have fundraised and spent money as a candidate. [Martinez's] campaign has not done so.”

NY1 political director and executive producer Bob Hardt concurred. The Village Voice reported that he said to Martinez’s angered supporters, “Several candidates who are on the ballot in several of the races have filed with the Federal Election Commission but shown no evidence of any campaign activity and have not been invited to participate in our debates. Can you provide any evidence that George Martinez has been running an actual campaign by getting donations from voters in the district and spending the money on basic campaign expenses? If so, we’d reconsider our decision.”