Former New York City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito endorsed Melanie D’Arrigo in New York’s 3rd congressional district race on Tuesday, Feb. 8. Described as a healthcare advocate, organizer, activist, mother of three, and a leader in the Latino and Puerto Rican communities in The Bronx, D’Arrigo recently announced her candidacy for the seat which is currently held by moderate Democrat, Thomas Suozzi. Suozzi announced in November 2021 that he was running for governor.

 

Parts of the eastern section of The Bronx now fall under New York’s 3rd congressional district since Gov. Kathy Hochul recently approved the Democrats’ latest re-districting proposal for New York’s congressional districts. According to D’Arrigo’s campaign, Mark-Viverito’s support will help the candidate build up her grassroots base in the new district map.

I am running for Governor of NY as a common sense Democrat who gets things done.

I have the track record, common sense approach to governing & bold new vision to get it done. I can do it, because I’ve done it! Please take a look at my video and share. https://t.co/0GiQIja1qr

— Tom Suozzi (@Tom_Suozzi) November 29, 2021

 

“We are at a pivotal moment for our democracy, and we need true champions for working families to represent our communities in Congress – Melanie D’Arrigo is exactly that,” said Mark-Viverito in a press release announcing her support. “In this Congress, we have seen corporate Democrats sell out our communities for their donors. Working families in the Bronx hurt when the Child Tax Credit was allowed to expire. They suffer when climate action is not taken to combat environmental racism, and their health is impacted when Medicare for All is not passed. I know Melanie will not stop fighting until our communities get what they need, and I am excited to support her campaign and help her foster the movement for working families here in The Bronx.”

 

For her part, D’Arrigo thanked Mark-Viverito for her support, saying she made history and fought for progress as the first Latina Speaker of the New York City Council. “I am humbled to have her support for our campaign,” she said. “I have been out listening  to voters share the issues that matter most to them and expressing my commitment to be a tireless fighter for them and their families. With Melissa Mark-Viverito in our coalition, I know we can take our message from Long Island and Queens to the Bronx and Westchester to reach voters in every corner of this district.”

D’Arrigo previously ran for Congress in 2020, earning nearly 30 percent of the vote. Her campaign said this was despite her being outspent 9 to 1. “Her formidable coalition of progressive endorsers includes Brand New Congress, National Organization for Women (NOW), Empire State Indivisible, Matriarch, Progressive Women of NY, Her Bold Move, Moms In Office, Long Island Activists, New York Progressive Action Network, Long Island Network for Change, Indivisible (National), South Shore Dems, Blue America, and No IDC NY,” her campaign said.

 

 

They added that she also has the support of individual leaders including Zephyr Teachout who, as reported, announced last year that she intended to run to succeed Letitia James as New York’s attorney general, since James, herself, was, at the time, considering a run for governor. Teachout later withdrew from the attorney general race when James decided to stay in her current role.

 

D’Arrigo’s campaign said she also has the support of Jaslin Kaur, Danielle Brecker, Lauren Ashcraft, Miriam Bensman, Nick Haby, Nomiki Konst, Vigie Ramos Rios, Maria Kaufer, Shaniyat Chowdhury, Shawna Morlock, Bright D Limm, Amnimder S. Chahal, Ozzie Araujo, Marianne Williamson, Alexis Soterakis, Dr. Hildur Palsdottir, Serena Liguori, Rachel Klein, Ellie Musmeci.

 

 

On Monday, as reported, State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (S.D. 34) announced she was also running in New York’s 3rd congressional district race. Biaggi’s campaign site does not yet list her supporters/endorsements (that we can see) but given her progressive stripes, it would seem likely that the senator would aim to garner the support of at least some of the same organizations listed above.

 

No IDC NY, for example, was central to her campaign in winning her senatorial seat for the first time. Biaggi currently represents some of the parts of the Bronx and Westchester counties which are envisaged to fall under NY-3, if the latest redistricting proposal by Democrats is approved.

 

On Tuesday, Feb. 8, as reported, Biaggi received the formal endorsement of fellow progressive, Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), who also represents parts of The Bronx and Westchester counties.

 

Meanwhile, as reported by The Bronx Times on Tuesday, East Bronx residents have sent an open letter to Hochul, State senate majority leader, Andrea Stewart Cousins, State assembly speaker, Carl Heastie, Biaggi herself, and Assembly Member Michael Benedetto (A.D. 82), voicing their dissatisfaction with the new redistricting arrangements which sees the East of the borough essentially cut off from the rest of The Bronx, and falling into New York’s new 3rd congressional district (NY-3), together with parts of Queens and Long Island. “We have about as much in common with someone in Smithtown, Long Island as we do with someone on the planet Mars,” the residents wrote.