As the primary election date of June 25 for congressional, state, and political party positions approaches, the Bronx Democratic Party confirmed on June 3 that in the 80th Assembly District, the female district leader position is still vacant. It was previously held by the late Sandra Pabon who, as reported, died in the summer of 2023.

 

The party spokesperson said the male district leader position in Assembly District 80 is Remysell Salas and he has not sought re-election. The spokesperson added, “Currently running unopposed is Christine Culpepper for female district leader and Ardhimir “Ardy” Malziu for male district leader.” Culpepper is already the incumbent State Committeewoman for A.D. 80.

The spokesperson further confirmed that in the 82nd Assembly District, the position for male district leader (Part A) is also vacant since the late James Payne also died. Assemblyman Michael Benedetto currently represents A.D. 82, which covers much of the east Bronx.

 

The 82nd Assembly District is the only Bronx assembly district that has two parts, Part A, which is Co-op City, and Part B, which includes the communities of Country Club, City Island, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck, and parts of Morris Park and Westchester Square.

 

Part A is represented by Shirley Saunders as the female district leader. Part B is represented by John Doyle as male district leader and according to Doyle, incoming into the Part B female district leader position is Rebecca Nieves who will be succeeding Majorie Velázquez in that role. Velazquez is the former District 13 City Councilwoman.

 

Doyle further confirmed to Norwood News on June 5 that Saunders, Nieves and himself were all running unopposed in their respective positions and therefore there will be no primary for these positions. He further confirmed that following Payne’s passing, the Part A male position “will be appointed.”

According to the Party, district leaders are unpaid, volunteer, party officials who are elected by voters within each assembly district in the Democratic primary. Every two years, Democrats in each assembly district elect two district leaders.

 

The 80th Assembly District is represented by Assemblyman John Zaccaro Jr. and covers some or all of the neighborhoods of Norwood, Bedford Park, Bronx Park East, Olinville, Parkside Housing Project, Pelham Parkway, Pelham Gardens, Van Nest, Little Yeman, Morris Park, and Indian Village.

 

In response to some questions raised by Norwood News in early 2024 regarding what appeared to be outdated information listed on The Bronx Democratic Party’s website regarding various local positions held by elected officials, the Party spokesperson confirmed on June 3 that an elected official e.g. an assembly member or city council member is also allowed hold a second role within the Party.

For example, the elected official could also be a district leader or state committee member as in the case of Assembly Member Karines Reyes in A.D. 87 who was also listed on the party’s website as the female district leader for that district.

 

Former Democratic City Council Member for C.D. 13, Marjorie Velázquez, was also listed on the website as Part B female district leader in the 82nd A.D.

Meanwhile, District 12 City Council Member Kevin Riley was listed as the male district leader for the 83rd A.D.

 

District 18 City Council Member Amanda Farias was listed as the female state committee member for the 87th A.D.

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson was listed as the female district leader for the 77th A.D.

 

The spokesperson added that the party will be updating its website to reflect the most recent changes to these roles asap.

As previously reported, during a club meeting of The Unity Democratic Club on Nov. 16, 2023, held in Norwood, Matt Nisenoff, director of party building, and Paige Havener, VP of political affairs at the New Kings Democratic Club (NKD) in Brooklyn, shared their insights on local Democratic organizing in Brooklyn.

 

Havener explained that it was their understanding that the female district leader position within the Democratic Party had been introduced decades ago to encourage more participation by women in politics. They then talked about how NKB sued the Brooklyn Democratic Party to encourage more participation by people of all genders.

 

Havener said they and other candidates took a case against the Brooklyn Democratic Party whereby they refused to declare a gender for the district leader roles and won their case. “The rule now is that you have to have two people of different genders, but those two different genders could be male and female; male, non-binary; or female, non-binary,” they said.

 

In light of this news, Norwood News had asked the Bronx Democratic Party what was the election process for district leaders in The Bronx, if different from Brooklyn. A party representative said that in The Bronx, district leaders are able to run and identify as male, female and nonbinary. “As of right now, none of our district leaders identify as nonbinary,” the spokesperson said.

 

Attached are lists of the various candidates running in the various congressional, State and political party elections across the borough.

Meanwhile, according to a recent instagram post by soxdiddy, when Assemblyman Landon Dais (A.D. 77) went to speak to constituents in his district in recent days, he was apparently invited to compete in a block push-up challenge and by all accounts, the assemblyman rose to the occasion.

 

“He’s never afraid to roll up his sleeves and put in work with the people,” soxdiddy wrote. Dais broadly represents some or all of the neighborhoods of Highbridge, Morris Heights, Mt.Hope, Claremont, and Morrisania in the southeast Bronx.

 

He was announced as the Democratic nominee for the district at the Bronx County Committee meeting of the 77th Assembly District held on Jan. 18, according to the Bronx Democratic Party. The committee announced that the duly elected committee members voted unanimously to nominate Dais for the seat, vacated when, as reported, former Assembly Member Latoya Joyner announced her surprise resignation on Jan. 4. He subsequently won a special election held in February.

As above, the primary elections for Congress, State, and political party positions will be held on June 25. Early voting finished on Sunday, June 23. For more information on the election, click here.

 

Polls are open on Election Day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. To find your polling site, as well as additional information on the election and candidates, visit the New York City Board of Elections website at: www.vote.nyc/elections.