For Jonathan Ortiz, the first Democratic candidate to officially enter the 15th Congressional District race, the hardcore campaigning starts at 5:01 p.m. on weekdays. On weekends, Ortiz is in full-blown campaign mode.

After leaving his day job as director of the Phipps Neighborhood Financial Empowerment Center, the South Bronx-bred Ortiz and his team can be spotted door-knocking and distributing literature across the district. Ortiz, a lover of media, also relies on various mediums to amplify his message for greater equity in the South Bronx.

And Ortiz, 33, is running this grassroots campaign with zero support from the Bronx Democratic Party, and he likely won’t get it. He’s instead relying on shoe leather canvassing to get the word out to residents. He parallels his experience to be an unknown to Bronx Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who rose to political super stardom after defeating Joe Crowley in the congressional primary last year.

“When I knocked on the door of many Bronx Democrats, none of them opened the door to help me, and I’ll say it straight out. No one said, ‘Oh listen, I’ll show you how this works.’ None of them,” said Ortiz in a telephone interview with the Norwood News, adding he’s researching how to run a federal campaign online.

Ortiz is the first candidate to enter the contest well before the current seat-holder, Congressman José Serrano, announced he won’t be running for re-election. He established a committee back in November 2018, well before Serrano announced his retirement, criticizing Serrano over his opting for street renaming events and “giving out free turkeys” over policy making.

With Serrano having announced his retirement, a slew of candidates have already declared well before next year’s June primary. They include Assemblyman Michael Blake and Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., and likely Councilman Ritchie Torres (he’s hinted at declaring a run soon), all seasoned legislators with a campaign apparatus (Ortiz pledges that “the money will be there” to aid his campaign) that has helped them win elections. He’s still forging ahead, even as supporters for other candidates have urged him to drop out since it could split the Hispanic vote.

Ortiz frames his candidacy around reforming policies he believes contribute to the cycle of poverty. That includes reforming student loan debt and changing the standard to which people are charged rent, proposing the federal government “stop basing people’s rent on their gross income,” but on their net income.

Though he’s started months before his rivals, Ortiz’s candidacy may be overshadowed by the growing number of candidates. He’s willing to drop out under one condition: “If they go ahead and they address every single thing on my agenda, I’m willing to drop out. If they’re willing to do it. You know what I mean? But as long as they’re not doing, or proposing, or supporting that does these things, I’m gonna be here for the long haul. I have nothing to lose.”