Chandra, a charismatic, 30-year-old lawyer, last week won the Republican nomination for City Council on Manhattan's East Side -- crushing the party leadership's chosen candidate by 67 percent to 33 percent.

That's a rare sign of vigor in an otherwise lifeless Gotham GOP, which often can't find even one candidate to contest a local race. And it portends something just as rare: a spirited general-election challenge.