Leandra Guzman-Feliz, anti-violence activist and mother of the late Lesandro “Junior” Guzman-Feliz, who at 15 was brutally murdered in the Bronx in June 2018, at the hands of gang members, announced her support for Ischia Bravo at a ‘Campaign Day of Action’ on March 9. Bravo is a candidate for New York City Council in The Bronx’s 15th District, and is also district manager of Bronx Community Board 7.

 

The tragedy galvanized the city, shook the Bronx to action and spawned the “Justice for Junior” campaign, as reported by the Norwood News. Speaking at the event, Bravo said when she started her campaign, she could never have imagined she would find herself months later standing side by side with Feliz. “This woman is a rock. I have never been more proud to earn the support of anyone in my career than I am to have her support today,” she said.

 

Bravo continued, “In honor of Women’s History Month and all mothers like us, ‘Thank you Leandra, for being here and supporting our mission. Thank you for endorsing our movement, and our message, as we work to bring change to City Hall.”

 

For her part, Feliz said she was happy to support Bravo, a mother who, she said, has the experience to represent other mothers at the City Council. “We need her vision and dedication,” she said. Bravo and Feliz were joined at the event by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., who has endorsed Bravo and has been seen campaigning for her across the borough. Also present were supporters and volunteers as well as contact voters in the closing days of the campaign.

 

“I have fought for our community for the last 16 years making sure we get the resources we need to thrive,” Bravo continued. “We need a City that represents us all; we need quality and truly affordable housing, fully funded schools, jobs and to protect our workers,” she said. Vowing to protect her neighbors’ small businesses, her public housing neighbors, she said she would fight for those living in poor housing conditions, those who are rent burdened, “preserving community fabrics, resources for our principals, teachers and parents so they can lead the next generation, and fully fund more cure violence programs to end meaningless tragedies among our youth.”

 

Bravo added, “We are owed a life of dignity and respect to excel, and that is what I will deliver to my community. With your support, we can send a home-grown leader and mother who has proven to have the experience and tenacity, to fight for us,” she said.

 

We also reported that Bravo was endorsed by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., in addition to prior endorsements by State Senators Jessica Ramos and Alessandra Biaggi, the Northwest Bronx Democrats, United Federation of Teachers, the New York City Central Labor Council, Assembly Member Nathalia Fernández, who represents the 80th Assembly District and who is currently running for Bronx borough president, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, City Council Member Diana Ayala, and civil rights leaders Tamika Mallory and Kirsten John Foy.

 

In addition, Bravo has also received the backing of 21 in ’21, a group that advocates for at least 21 women to hold elected office at New York City Council by 2021, and Vote Mama, which supports Democratic moms with young children running for office up and down the ballot and across the country, the Council of School Supervisors & Administrators (CSA), the Hotel Trades Council, NYC District of Carpenters, LIUNA-NY, UNITE HERE local 100, DC 9, NYS Iron Workers District Council, ASAAL, NYIC, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, City Councilman Brad Lander and The Jewish Vote.

 

In addition to Bravo, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotpedia, nine other candidates are running in the District 15 race, all of whom aim to fill the seat of former Councilman and now Congressman, Ritchie Torres, who was elected to Congress in November 2020.

 

These are Kenny Agosto, district director to New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, Elisa Crespo an education liaison for Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Oswald Feliz, tenant lawyer and adjunct professor at Hostos Community College, Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, Latchmi Gopal, a community organizer and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jose Padilla, former Independence candidate for both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, Arial Rivera-Diaz, a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections and former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Community Board 6 District Manager, John Sanchez, and Altagracia Soldevilla, another community organizer.

Candidates were 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.

 

A Board of Elections public hearing was held on Feb. 4 to assess which candidates had collated the minimum number of signatures needed to proceed. Troy Blackwell, a former White House and Obama administration aide, and Lilithe L. Lozano, a former district chair of NYCHA’s Bronx North council, did not make the ballot according to the Board of Elections. Julian Sepulveda, an official at the Department of Education, had suspended his campaign in November, endorsing Crespo as he did so.

 

Some City Council candidates had previously raised concerns about the impact on people’s health of the signature collection process, and had called for for the signature requirement to be waived amid fears of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus through mass person-to-person contact.

In the District 11 race, candidates, Lora and Haller, announced at different points that they had each previously contracted the coronavirus. Meanwhile, as reported by the Norwood News, Marcos Sierra and Abigail Martin have withdrawn from the District 11 special election, both citing health risk concerns associated with the virus, though both have said they plan to participate in the June primary.

In terms of campaign contributions, since we last reported on the amounts raised by the District 15 candidates, according to the latest New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) figures, Sanchez continues to lead with $62,014, now followed by Bravo with $43,755, Crespo with $39,321, Feliz with $32,572, Gopal with $18,573, Ferrara with $9,567, Soldevilla with $8,147 and Agosto with $5,127. There is no campaign contribution data listed for Padilla and Rivera-Diaz.

 

A District 15 candidate’s forum with six of the ten candidates in the District 15 special election race was held on Saturday, Feb. 13, hosted by Little Africa Bronx News, a “Social Impact Strategies” project, an intersection of community relations, issue advocacy and public policy. The forum can be viewed here. Mona Davids, founder and publisher, issued a Facebook statement following the event, explaining that only viable candidates had been invited to participate in the forum.

 

A District 15 debate among nine of the candidates was subsequently organized in partnership between the League of Women’s Voters of New York City and BronxNet with co-sponsors, Dominicanos USA, NALEO Educational Fund, The Bronx Times, The James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center, and The Riverdale Press. It will be broadcast on Monday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on Optimum 67, Fios 2133, and can also be watched on BronxNet’s YouTube account online here. Soldevilla communicated to BronxNet that she was unable to make the debate.

 

A further candidates forum was organized by the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance on March 8. This can be viewed here.

 

 

For official information on ranked choice voting, go to the NYC Campaign Finance Board FAQ page or the New York City Board of Elections website.

 

The Bronx Democratic Party 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.

 

The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail. Further information can be found here or by calling the Bronx Board of Elections at (718) 299-9017 and selecting Ext. 1875.

 

Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Early Voting Period is from March 13, 2021 to March 21, 2021. Voters must vote at their assigned early voting site. Find your poll site and view a sample ballot here: https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc/.

Whoever wins the March 23 special, nonpartisan election will serve until Dec. 31, 2021. Future representation in the District beyond that point will likely be determined via a June 2021 primary and a November 2021 general election.