City Council candidate in the District 11 Democratic June primary race, Abigail Martin, announced on Tuesday, Feb. 23, that she has received the endorsement of NYC Kids PAC, the only parent-led political action committee focused on NYC public schools.

 

NYC Kids PAC opposes the privatization of public schools, and advocates for the elimination of high-stakes testing and the reduction of class size and school overcrowding, among other issues. The organization advances its goals by supporting candidates for office who have demonstrated a commitment to improving New York City’s public schools.

 

Martin’s campaign said she is a parent of twin girls who are kindergarteners at P.S. 81, her family’s local elementary school in north Riverdale, and the same school her husband attended. “As an educator and as a proud public school parent, I understand the challenges facing children throughout New York City, which have been exacerbated by the pandemic,” she said.

 

“Our public schools must be equitable and a place where every child is given the resources and support they need to fulfill their individual potential. I thank NYC Kids PAC for the important work they do in advocating for public schools and for New York City families,” she added.

 

Martin, who was previously profiled by the Norwood News, is a social worker and an adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work. She previously received the endorsement of the Northwest Bronx Democrats in the District 11 race, along with Dan Padernacht.

 

As previously reported by the Norwood News, Martin and male district leader of the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced last month that they had both dropped out of the March 23 District 11 special election, citing health-related risks linked to the coronavirus, but said they still plan to participate in the June primary, which takes place on June 22.

 

Candidates were required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the March 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. Jessica Haller and Mino Lora, the latter having been ranked as a second choice candidate after Martin by NYC Kids PAC, are both running in the March special election, and announced at separate stages in recent months that they had each contracted the virus.

 

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. According to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotopedia, there are six candidates finally on the ballot in the District 11 March special election race.

 

These are retired NYPD detective, Carlton Berkley, Eric Dinowitz, a teacher and Democratic district leader for the 81st Assembly District, Haller, a tech entrepreneur and environmentalist, Lora, founder and executive director of the People’s Theatre Project, lawyer and Bronx CB 8 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 last August, endorsing Padernacht, as he did so.

 

Meanwhile, when it comes to the June primary election, Martin announced in January that she had raised $39,360 from 445 contributors in the first five months of her campaign. This includes 163 contributions from local District 11 residents, which in turn represents more than double the number of local contributions required by the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to qualify for its matching funds program. It also means that 36.6 percent of her total number of contributions came from local residents.

 

The voluntary, small-dollar, public matching funds program incentivizes candidates to rely on regular New Yorkers, rather than special interest groups and corporates, for contributions to their political campaigns. As a reward, for each dollar (up to a maximum of $250) contributed by a resident to a candidate’s campaign, the CFB program allots up to $8 in public funds to that campaign. Additional rules stipulate maximum allotment thresholds per contributor.

 

Martin has raised $20,403 in matchable donations, just $1,097 short of the $21,500 needed to receive the full match allowed by the CFB. Based on her fundraising totals thus far, she is expected to receive at least $163,224 in matching funds before the June primary.

 

“The support this campaign has received is a clear sign that the people of the Northwest Bronx want new leadership, and want a true political outsider representing us,” she said. “In the City Council, I will fight for every member of our community, and I will work to rebuild a just and equitable New York that is more affordable for working families, and those on fixed incomes.”

 

The average contribution to Martin’s campaign to date is $67.45, and 72 percent of her donations have been from people contributing $50 or less. “I would like to thank my fundraising team and campaign staff for their hard work,” said Martin. “Most of all, I would like to thank each and every person who has joined this effort, including the hundreds of small donors who are helping to grow this grassroots campaign.”

 

Under the CFB’s matching funds program, all donations from New York City residents between $10 and $175 are eligible to be matched with $8 in public funds for every $1 raised, up to a total of $21,500.

 

Meanwhile, in terms of the latest campaign contribution filings for the March special election race, according to the CFB, Haller leads in campaign contributions with $79,117, followed by Dinowitz with $72,062 Padernacht with $42,446, Lora with $35,810 and Berkley with $10,301. There was no information available for Kevin Pazmino who told the Norwood News he was, in any case, only accepting small contributions to his campaign.

 

The nonpartisan special election in District 11 was called by the mayor on Jan. 4 to find a replacement for former District 11 City Councilman, Andrew Cohen, who was elected as a judge to the Bronx Supreme Court in November and resigned from his City Council seat on Dec. 31. It is the one of the first two elections in the Bronx which will incorporate the new method of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), the other being District 15.

 

RCV is a voting method whereby voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference, instead of choosing just one. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, that candidate is the winner. If no candidate earns more than 50 percent of first-choice votes, then counting will continue in rounds. At the end of each round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated.

 

If a voter ranked the eliminated candidate first, then the next highest ranked candidate on the voter’s ballot will be taken into account in the next round of counting. The process continues as such until there are two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins. 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 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.

 

BronxNet aired the first of a series of debates between the District 11 City Council candidates on Feb. 2, and that debate which was hosted in conjunction with The Riverdale Press can be viewed online here. The Norwood News later provided a brief recap of the debate.

 

Northwest Bronx Indivisible and Riverdale Yonkers Society for Ethical Culture hosted a further virtual debate among the candidates on Sunday, Feb. 7, at 3 p.m. This debate can be viewed here.

 

Another debate was hosted by the Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition in conjunction with LAAL, a nonprofit supporting Bengali women in the Norwood section of the Bronx on Wednesday, Feb. 10. That debate can be viewed here. A further debate hosted by City Limits was held on Sunday, Feb. 14. That debate can be viewed here.

 

A Women of Woodlawn Candidate’s Forum will be held on Monday, Feb. 15, at 6 p.m. More details can be found here.

 

A City Council Town Hall, presented by the SAR High School EPG Club, based in Riverdale in the Northwest Bronx, will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 17 and can be viewed here.

 

A further District 11 City Council candidates’ forum was held on Monday, Feb. 22, hosted by the Fort Independence Park Neighborhood Association. A copy of the forum will be shared, once available.

 

Riverdale Nature Preservancy will also be hosting a virtual conversation with the District 11 special election candidates on Thursday, March 4 at 8 p.m. The Zoom link to join the conversation is as follows: https://tinyurl.com/RNPForum, and the Meeting ID is 852 4927 7543.

 

The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is now accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail in the special election. 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.

 

Early Voting Hours

Saturday	March 13, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday	March 14, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Monday	March 15, 2021	7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Tuesday	March 16, 2021	12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Wednesday	March 17, 2021	12:00 PM to 8:00 PM
Thursday	March 18, 2021	10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Friday	March 19, 2021	7:00 AM to 3:00 PM
Saturday	March 20, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM
Sunday	March 21, 2021	10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

 

The district includes Kingsbridge, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, Riverdale, Woodlawn Heights and part of Bedford Park. 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.