The northwest Bronx saw an early, and extremely competitive, primary in June for the 13th Congressional District. In September, there will be a handful of Democratic primaries for state races in northwest Bronx districts. Some will be competitive. Others, probably not so much.

Perhaps the most intriguing race will pit incumbent Naomi Rivera against challenger Mark Gjonaj in the 80th Assembly District, which stretches from Norwood through Morris Park.

Unseating an incumbent in the Bronx is never easy, especially one backed by the Bronx Democratic County Committee and the Rivera clan (Naomi is the daughter of Assemblyman Jose Rivera and brother of Council majority leader Joel Rivera). But Gjonaj is bringing serious resources to the table. According to his latest campaign finance disclosure report, Gjonaj has raised $167,818 from 369 donors. Meanwhile, Rivera has raised $101,647 from 109 donors.

Gjonaj recently opened a campaign office on Bainbridge Avenue in Norwood (and also has one in Morris Park), while Rivera is hosting a series of family-friendly outdoor movies on Mosholu Parkway.

Naomi’s father Jose Rivera is facing a considerably less-well-funded challenger in Ricardo “Ricky” Martinez, a longtime community presence in Bedford Park who is fighting cancer along with one of the Bronx’s most wily political veterans in the elder Rivera.

But Martinez claims Rivera should be kicked off the ballot for putting his challenger’s name on his petition without Martinez’s permission as an alternate Judicial Delegate. Martinez, the current State Committeeman in the Fordham/Bedford Park district, says he told Rivera specifically not to put his name on the petition in any capacity.

“It’s an illegal petition,” says Martinez, who has a hearing with the Board of Elections on July 30.

In the 33rd Senate District, Gustavo Rivera is facing a relatively unknown challenger in Manny Tavarez, who claimed in a Daily News article to have the backing of Congressman Charlie Rangel, whose own district now includes most of the 33rd District. Rivera backed challenger Adriano Espaillat in his failed bid to unseat Rangel. A Rangel spokesman disputed this claim.

According to his website, Tavarez is a sports agent who lives in University Heights and has worked on campaigns for District Leader Hector Ramirez and Councilman Fernando Cabrera.

After redistricting, the 33rd District no longer includes Norwood and Bedford Park. Those neighborhoods are now part of the 36th Senate District, which is currently occupied by Ruth Hassell-Thompson who isn’t facing a challenger in the primary. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the 81st Assembly District, which includes Norwood, Woodlawn, Kingsbridge and Riverdale, is also running unopposed.

The primary is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 13.

—Reporting contributed by Chloe Rickert and Sarah Ramirez

Ed. note: A version of this article appears in the July 26-Aug. 23 print edition of the Norwood News.

admin

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.