This article has been updated.

A collection of elected officials in Brooklyn are backing candidates running against Vito Lopez’s preferred choices for state committee spots, putting them at odds in a race that could ultimately determine who holds the title of county leader in the years ahead.

Jumaane Williams, Tish James and Diana Reyna are endorsing Lincoln Restler, the 26-year-old activist seeking the male state committee spot in the Assembly district represented by Joe Lentol, which covers Ft. Greene, Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Restler is running against Warren Cohn, the son of Lopez ally Steve Cohn, who opted not to run for another term shortly after Restler announced his candidacy earlier this year.

Restler is one of several people seeking seats on the state committee in Brooklyn in what amounts to proxy opposition to Lopez’s leadership.

“If there was ever a moment where voters are disgusted with the status quo, it is right now, right here in New York City, in New York State, in Brooklyn,” Restler said Wednesday, during a break from campaigning. “We’re coming full force.”

In addition to the three Council endorsements, Restler has also gotten an unofficial nod of support from Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who, along with James and Reyna, serves on the committee on vacancies Restler has appointed for the petitions he is carrying. Running on a platform of reforming the judicial selection process and getting the county committee to back more committed progressive, Restler said he hopes to repurpose some of the field success and voter engagement of the 2008 Obama campaign in his and other state committee races.

The three endorsements, Restler said, fit with that approach, which he said he hoped would eventually lead to a win in September and, eventually, a replacement for Lopez at the head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party.

“Should I have the privilege of being elected to serve on the state committee, I will fight to build a new coalition of colleagues to bring in new, progressive, reform minded county leadership,” Restler said. “Brooklyn deserves better.”

Williams, who won his Council seat last year against party-backed incumbent Kendall Stewart in a district that does not overlap at all with the state committee district, called Restler’s approach “what we need in our politics in general in New York City.”

As for the prospect of eventual retaliation against him from Lopez, who is known for having a long memory for people who have opposed him politically, Williams steered clear of direct comment.

“I assume he’s going to do what he can do to make sure his candidate is elected,” Williams said. “The better conversation happens after the election when whoever wins, we all sit down and figure out what’s best for the community.”

Williams and James are also backing Latrice Walker, the counsel to Rep. Yvette Clarke who is running for the district leader/state committee slot being vacated by the wife of Assembly Member William Boyland Jr. Walker has been endorsed as well by Clarke, Boyland and Council Member Charles Barron. (Williams is also backing a separate state committee candidate of his own in the Assembly district that overlaps more closely with his Council district, and Barron is backing two candidates in the Assembly district represented by his wife, Inez.)

Walker is making her first run for office, going up against Council Member Darlene Mealy, who is seeking to add the unpaid position to her portfolio. Mealy, whose ties to the Brooklyn county leadership have grown since she switched her vote on extending term limits in 2008 and who has twice run against members of the Boyland family, is being supported by Lopez.

James, too dismissed the significance of crossing Lopez.

“I can’t worry about the retaliation from Vito Lopez every time I want to endorse and support a qualified candidate,” she said. “I really have to think about what’s in the best interest of the electorate.”

James also steered clear of saying anything negative about Mealy, insisting her decision was motivated purely out of an admiration of Walker, whom she praised through two strong comparisons.

“She’s like the young, female version of Barack Obama over here,” James said, predicting a repeat of the electoral fervor the president inspired in the neighborhood when running in 2008. “I’m feeling the Latrice Monique Walker phenomenon here in Brownsville.”

Later, praising Walker’s determination and commitment, James added, “What I see in Latrice is, I see me, about 20 years ago. Latrice is a young Tish.”

Walker said her candidacy is about trying to knit closer connections between her community and the local elected officials. Mealy, she said, would be unable to accomplish this, given that she is already an elected official herself.

As for what would happen if Mealy were to be elected, Walker said, “To me, it’s a paradox of politics, because you leave the constituents chasing their tail, and in the end, no one ever receives anything.”

If elected, Walker said, she would work to improve constituents’ access to jobs and internships, as well as to get involved with issues related to public housing, which makes up a significant portion of the district. On the state committee, she said, she would push for more diversity when making judicial selections.

More than anything, though, Walker sees her goal as getting more attention for a community she said is mined for votes during elections only to be ignored by government in between.

“This is the community that’s always forgotten,” she said. “This campaign is definitely going to bring Brownsville to the forefront of everyone’s minds.”