Mino Lora, candidate for City Council in the 11th District in The Bronx, and previously profiled by the Norwood News, picked up the endorsement of City Councilman and Deputy Leader Jimmy Van Bramer on Jan. 26. Lora is running in the March 23rd special election in the district. Van Bramer is chair of the City Council Committee on Cultural Affairs and Libraries, co-founder of the Council’s progressive caucus, co-chair of the Council’s budget negotiating team and a candidate for Queens Borough President. Lora is an educator and the executive director of the People’s Theatre Project.

 

Van Bramer said that arts and culture were the soul of New York City, and rebuilding the community after the pandemic would be vital to the recovery. “As the founder of a non-profit credited with helping lead the cultural renaissance of Upper Manhattan, I know Mino Lora will be a continued leader in the fight to center and invest in Black, Brown and immigrant communities,” he said. “The status quo isn’t going to cut it, it’s time for a progressive leap forward and Mino is the next generation of leadership.”

 

Reacting to the announcement, Mino said she was honored to receive Van Bramer’s endorsement. “He’s a trailblazer and, as a progressive leader and champion for the arts, has taken on the biggest fights to increase funding for our cultural institutions in NYC,” she said. “I’m grateful for his recognition of my nonprofit work and service to our immigrant and communities of color, and I can’t wait to expand on our shared vision of equity in the arts. Together, we will work to make sure our libraries and cultural programming are accessible to everyone.”

 

Among other candidates across the city, including Bronx candidate in the District 14 City Council race, Adolfo Abreu, Lora had also previously received the endorsement of the Working Families Party on Nov. 25, 2020.

 

On Thursday, Jan. 7, Lora confirmed she had contracted the coronavirus. “I tested positive for COVID-19, and am quarantining with my husband and our two children,” she said. “My symptoms are mild so far.” On Feb. 2, Jessica Haller, was the second candidate in the race (to our knowledge) to announce she had also contracted the virus.

 

Social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, Abigail Martin, and male district leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced in January that they had dropped out of the March special election, citing health related risks linked to the coronavirus, but said they still plan to participate in the June primary. Martin announced on Jan. 15 that she had raised $39,360 from 445 contributors in the first five months of her campaign, 163 of which were from contributors in District 11 more than double the number required by the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to qualify for its matching funds program.

 

Candidates are required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the special election. As reported by the Norwood News, that minimum had been 450 signatures until Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Jan. 7 that he was reducing it to 315. Some candidates had raised concerns during prior weeks about the impact of the signature collection process on people’s health, and had called for for the minimum signature requirement to be waived amid fears of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus through mass person-to-person contact.

 

When Martin and Sierra dropped out of the special election race, and Lora fell ill, Norwood News reached out to both the governor’s and the mayor’s offices a number of times on whether any consideration had been given to waiving the signature requirements completely, and since District 15 candidates are also required to gather the signatures for the March special election. We did not receive a response.

Other candidates in the District 11 special election race include retired NYPD detective, Carlton Berkley, male district leader for the 81st Assembly District and teacher, Eric Dinowitz, son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz who also represents that district, lawyer and Bronx CB8 Traffic and Transportation Committee Chair,  Dan Padernacht and freelance filmmaker, Kevin Pazmino, who is the most recent candidate to join the race. Dionel Then dropped out of the race in August, endorsing Padernacht, as he did so.

 

In terms of the latest campaign contribution filings (excluding refunds), according to the CFB, Jessica Haller now leads in contributions with $77,821, followed by Eric Dinowitz with $65,156, Dan Padernacht with $39,986, Mino Lora with $32,667, and Carlton Berkley with $7,705. For the District 11 special election, the most recent disclosure period ran from “beginning of fundraising” to January 11, 2021. There was no information available for Kevin Pazmino on campaign contribution filings with the CFB. We understand Pazmino announced his candidacy on Jan. 18.

 

The Bronx Democratic Party also recently hosted an informational session on Ranked Choice Voting which can be viewed here in conjunction with the group, Rank the Vote NYC. Norwood News checked with the City’s Campaign Finance Board about the expertise of Rank the Vote NYC and were advised that the group is a reputable source on the topic and is a voter education campaign that is run by Common Cause NY.

 

A debate between the District 11 special election candidates was broadcast on BronxNet TV at 7 p.m. on Feb. 2. and can still be viewed online on http://bronxnet.tv. The debate was followed by a Q&A with Lehman College students.