Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., the socially conservative Democrat representing the Bronx’s 18th Council District, formally declared a run for the 15th Congressional District long held by Congressman Jose Serrano who opted not to seek re-election after nearly 30 years in office.

Diaz is the second candidate to formally declare a run in a contest that’ll likely be one of the more closely watched and hotly contested. The first candidate to file was by political newcomer Jonathan Ortiz, according to federal campaign filings.

“I could do a lot there in Washington,” said Diaz, in a phone interview with the Norwood News. Diaz formally announced at Maestro’s Caterers in Morris Park a day after releasing a statement indicating he will run.

Diaz’s announcement comes weeks after comments he made saying the New York City Council is controlled by homosexuals, a move that cost him seat and the complete dissolution of the Committee of For-Hire Vehicles. Diaz, who’s made controversial comments throughout his entire political career, is a social conservative Democrat and did not apologize for his comments.

“I am not progressive, I’m a conservative Democrat, and a conservative Democrat has no voice,” said Diaz, saying he’s the opposite of staunch progressive liberal Democrat, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, representing the 14th Congressional District in the East Bronx and parts of Queens.

Diaz, who was voted to the Council in 2017 after a decade in the state Senate, did say he can work with her on issues. “I can work with anybody,” he said.

Diaz is the father of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., a mainline Democrat with aspirations to run for Mayor of New York City.

The elder Diaz was among the names under consideration for mulling a run. The earliest was Diaz’s colleague in the Council, Councilman Ritchie Torres, who represents the 15th Council District. Torres, who is gay, considers himself a progressive liberal.

But Torres is still holding out on whether he’ll run. Diaz and Ortiz were joined by another candidate, Tomas Ramos, who formally launched his congressional campaign over the weekend. Ramos, who grew up in Washington Heights and mentors with young people in the South Bronx, said in a statement that voters need to “stop sending the same politicians to Washington.”

“I’m beholden only to our community-the people living in housing developments and working several jobs just to make ends meet,” wrote Ramos in his statement.

The 15th Congressional District spans the entire South Bronx, the poorest congressional district in the country and one long held by Serrano since 1990. Though the South Bronx has risen from some of its worst years, it is still plague with poverty, poor health outcomes, and low graduation rates when compared to the rest of the city.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.