Nicole is in

From the Daily News:

Four years after her fiancé's death on their wedding day, Nicole Paultre Bell is focused on Election Day.

Bell, who typically marks her November by the anniversary of Sean Bell's death in a 51-shot police fusillade, is intent on winning a vacant City Council seat from Queens.

"What happened to me four years ago - I didn't expect that to happen," Bell said in an exclusive interview with the Daily News officially announcing her candidacy.

"This is what life threw my way. It made me realize that there are serious problems out there."

The once-tragic figure says her platform centers on education reform and elderly care - and improving police and community relations.

The inexperienced candidate running to replace the deceased Thomas White Jr. already faces one obstacle: The 26-year-old single mother of two doesn't live in the Jamaica, Queens, district she wants to represent.

Former City Councilman Allan Jennings, one of her opponents in the Nov. 2 special election, was quick to attack Bell's announcement.

"She has name recognition?" snapped Jennings. "So did George Bush. But he couldn't get elected in this district."

Bell widow may run for White's seat

From the Daily News:

Sean Bell's fiancée has the potential to turn a crowded Queens City Council race upside down - if she moves into the district.

Up to a dozen candidates are looking at jumping into the competition to fill the unexpired term of the late Councilman Thomas White Jr.

Nicole Paultre Bell, whose fiancé died in a hail of police bullets almost four years ago, brings name recognition and a heart-stopping personal story.

She declined to outline her political plans, though a source close to her confirmed she is considering a run.

She lives outside the district in Far Rockaway, and is still registered to vote at her mother's house in Suffolk County. Under state election law, however, Bell would have to move into the district by Election Day - and get 899 signatures from registered voters on her nominating petitions.

Bell has been a regular at the Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network, and may be able to count on his support for a run as well.