Eric Dinowitz, Democrat running for City Council in the 11th District special election, set for March 23, has been endorsed by both U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres and Bronx Democratic Chairperson, State Sen. Jamaal T. Bailey.
Bailey, who represents 25 percent of the 11th Council District, said he was proud to announce his endorsement of Dinowitz in the race. “Eric has been serving the children and working families of the Bronx as a special education teacher since he graduated college, and he knows what it takes to ensure our most vulnerable residents have the resources and support that they need,” he said.
The senator said Dinowitz continued to teach throughout the pandemic, and served the community by delivering thousands of meals to those in need. “As Chair of the Committee on Aging for Community Board 8, Eric is dedicated to helping our seniors live with dignity and have accessible transportation available to them,” he said. “He is the kind of leader that will get things done in the Council, and has the record of public service to back that up. I know the people of the Northwest Bronx will be well-served by Eric in the City Council, and that’s why I am putting my strong support behind him.”
Meanwhile, Torres described Dinowitz as a progressive who can get things done, and that that was what the Northwest Bronx needed. “I am proud to endorse Eric for City Council in the March 23rd special election,” he said. “As I stand up to extremism in Washington, I want to ensure the people of the Bronx, my home, are given a voice in the Council to deliver a just recovery. Eric is the kind of leader we need at this critical point in our city’s history.”
Torres said that as an educator and longtime labor activist, Dinowitz has served the traditionally underserved – children with special needs and workers fighting for fair treatment and livable wages. “He also serves as a Democratic district leader, and chair of Community Board 8’s Aging Committee, where he has advocated on behalf of our older adult population, delivering thousands of meals over the course of the pandemic,” he added. “This is the kind of leadership you can count on when Eric is elected to City Council, and I am putting my full support behind him.”
Reacting to the news, Dinowitz said he was honored to have the support of both elected officials describing Bailey as a leader in criminal justice reform and police accountability, and a voice for families in the Bronx. “I look forward to working with him [Bailey] on the city level to ensure that the voices of children and working families here in the Bronx are uplifted and that our older adults get the support they need as we recover from this pandemic,” he said.
Meanwhile, Dinowitz said Torres has shown strong leadership for years, serving the people of the Bronx in the City Council and is now bringing that leadership to Congress. “I have followed Congressman Torres’ career as he has broken barriers as the youngest member of City Council, the first openly gay member from the Bronx, and now, the first openly gay, Afro-Latino member of Congress,” he said. “I am so grateful for his support, and will emulate his passion for public service as I make my way to City Council.”
Photo courtesy of Eric Dinowitz
As reported by the Norwood News, the district leader for the 81st Assembly District whose father, Jeffrey Dinowitz, is the current assemblyman, has also been endorsed by Congressman Adriano Espaillat, the United Federation of Teachers, amid some controversy, by the Benjamin Franklin Reform Democratic Club as well as by Bronx Borough President Ruben Díaz Jr.
Eric Dinowitz has also been endorsed by New York City Council Members Danny Dromm and Mark Treyger.
Source New York City Campaign Finance Board
Other candidates in the District 11 special election race include retired NYPD detective, Carlton Berkley, environmentalist and tech entrepreneur, Jessica Haller, activist, founder and executive director of the People’s Theatre Project, Mino Lora, 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 in August, endorsing Padernacht, as he did so.
Social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, Abigail Martin, and District Leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, announced earlier this month that they had dropped out of the March special election, citing health related risks linked to the coronavirus, but said they still plan to participate in the June primary. Martin announced on Jan. 15 that she had raised $39,360 from 445 contributors in the first five months of her campaign, 163 of which were from contributors in District 11 more than double the number required by the Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to qualify for its matching funds program.
Candidates are required to gather a minimum number of signatures from local residents in order to qualify for the ballot in the 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.
Photo by José A. Giralt
Lora, announced on Jan. 7 that she had contracted the coronavirus and was self-isolating as a result. She added she had not been out collecting signatures, though her staff had been.
In terms of the latest campaign contribution filings (excluding refunds), according to the CFB, Jessica Haller now leads in contributions with $77,742, followed by Eric Dinowitz with $65,386, Dan Padernacht with $39,986, Mino Lora with $32,667, and Carlton Berkley with $7,180. For the District 11 special election, the most recent disclosure period ran from “Beginning of Fundraising” to January 11, 2021. There was no information available for Kevin Pazmino on campaign contribution filings with the CFB. We understand Pazmino announced his candidacy on Jan. 18.
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 first election in the Bronx which will incorporate the new method of Ranked Choice Voting (RCV).
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.
Dinowitz is a father of twins, a public school special education teacher and has lived in the Northwest Bronx his entire life and is raising his family here.
The District 11 special election will be held on March 23.
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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.
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