Photo by Miriam Quiñones
Yesterday, March 8, on International Women’s Day, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera, City Councilman Brad Lander, and The Jewish Vote (TJV) announced ranked choice endorsements of certain progressive women candidates ahead of the Bronx special elections on March 23 in District 15 and District 11.
According to a joint press release, with early voting starting on Saturday, progressives are looking to support transformative candidates and send more women to represent them in the City Council. Rivera, who represents the 33rd senatorial district in the Bronx, and TJV, a project of Jews for racial and economic justice, announced on Monday a series of ranked endorsements.
In City Council District 15, which covers Fordham, Mount Hope, Bathgate, Belmont, East Tremont, West Farms, Van Nest, Allerton, Olinville and parts of Bedford Park, Rivera and TJV are endorsing Elisa Crespo as their first choice, and Ischia Bravo, as their second. Lander, who represents the 39th City Council District in Brooklyn, joined Rivera and TJV in endorsing Crespo and Bravo.
As reported previously by Norwood News, in District 11, which covers Kingsbridge, Norwood, Riverdale, Van Cortlandt Village, Wakefield, Woodlawn Heights, and parts of Bedford Park, Rivera and TJV are endorsing Mino Lora as their first choice and Jessica Haller as their second choice.
According to representatives of the endorsing parties, all four women are running grassroots progressive campaigns that confront the status quo. They said as New Yorkers prepare to vote in the upcoming special elections using ranked choice voting (RCV), progressives hope that the new system will make it possible for more grassroots candidates to challenge the political system.
The District 15 race is one of the first two elections in the Bronx which will incorporate the new method of RCV, the other being District 11. 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.
According to the press release, Rivera was the first elected official to provide a ranked endorsement in the mayoral race, ranking Scott Stringer number 1 and Dianne Morales number 2, in January. Meanwhile, the Jewish Vote was the first grassroots organization to give a ranked endorsement in a Council race, having already provided its endorsement of Lora and Haller in December.
As part of yesterday’s announcement, Rivera said he was looking forward to working with new partners in the City Council to serve the constituents in the Bronx. “By offering ranked choice endorsements, I hope that our community will be empowered to make their own choices in these important upcoming special elections,” he said.
Rivera continued, “In the 15th Council District, Elisa Crespo is my first choice, and Ischia Bravo is my second. Elisa Crespo is prepared to bring a vital perspective to our City’s legislative body and understands the challenges faced in the neighborhoods she is seeking to serve.” Meanwhile, he said Bravo offered impressive experience in government and a keen understanding of the issues facing her neighbors.
Sasha Kesler is a District 11 resident and member of the The Jewish Vote’s Steering Committee, and said all four women would make incredibly effective, progressive city council members. “The beauty of RCV is that we get to vote for them all, and it couldn’t be more fitting to make this announcement on International Women’s Day,” she said. “As Bronxites and members of the Jewish community, we are proud to endorse Mino, Elisa, Jessica, and Ischia for NYC Council.”
Meanwhile, Lander said he was excited to make his first ranked choice endorsement in District 15, supporting Crespo first and Bravo second, saying they were the two best candidates to lead progressive change in the city council. “Elisa Crespo is a dedicated, groundbreaking leader who will work in close partnership with her community to win the jobs and justice that the Bronx needs for its recovery, he said.
Lander continued, “Ischia Bravo brings deep knowledge of the issues facing her neighbors and commitment to create real change. As an early advocate for ranked choice voting, I’m really thrilled by the approach that both Senator Rivera and The Jewish Vote are taking to make great use of the new voting process to more deeply engage communities and support progressive women candidates.”
Reacting to the endorsement, Crespo said it was an honor to have received the first choice endorsement of Lander, Rivera and TJV. “The Jewish Vote continues to fight for a diverse and representative democracy, while holding the establishment accountable,” she said. “Council Member Lander is a champion for working people and has presented bold ideas that will move our City forward. Finally, I want to commend Sen. Rivera for having the political courage to support my campaign.”
Crespo added, “As the leading voice in the Bronx, fighting for a more equitable healthcare system, I’m proud to have his support. Sen. Rivera understands that in order to create a City that works for everyone, it’s going to take transformative leaders who will stand shoulder to shoulder with him in upending the status quo politics. This is undoubtedly a big day for our campaign. I look forward to working with these leaders and organizations to fight for the working families of the Bronx.”
For her part, Bravo, who is district manager for Bronx Community Board 7, said rebuilding the City and State following the COVID-19 pandemic was going to require strong partnerships in City Hall and Albany. “I am grateful to receive the support of State Sen. Rivera for our movement to bring experienced leadership to the City Council,” she said. “I am committed to bringing change to New York and especially the district I’ve called home all my life. I am proud of the strong coalition of allies who are ready to do that work and build a more equitable city for everyone.”
According to the press release, Crespo graduated from John Jay College with a Bachelor’s degree in political science, with a focus on human rights. She has worked as an education liaison to the Bronx borough president, and she is an advocate and activist who has fought to preserve the affordability and accessibility of the City’s public higher education system, to promote civic engagement and voter awareness, to represent union labor, and to elevate the LGBTQIA community.
Crespo was previously profiled by the Norwood News, and as we also reported, she has already garnered the support of Assembly Members Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Harvey Epstein, Council Members Ben Kallos and Antonio Reynoso, District Leader Pamela Stewart-Martinez, local tenant leaders, Elaine Hodges and Bonita Dent, No IDC, Tenants PAC, Sister Diaspora for Liberation, the Black Lives Caucus Organization, Communications Workers of America (CWA), the Northwest Bronx Democrats, and activist, Samelys López.
Photo by Adi Talwar
Meanwhile, in the press release announcing these latest endorsements for the four female candidates, Bravo was described as a mother, community advocate, and lifelong Bronx resident who understands the needs of the community and knows how to work within local government to deliver resources back to local neighborhoods. “As a product of public housing, Ischia understands how housing influences every aspect of one’s life, from education and employment to health,” the statement read.
It continued, “Ischia is passionate about reforming New York City’s broken housing system because of her own lived experience and that of so many of her struggling neighbors. Ischia has dedicated her life to public service because she believes zip codes should not determine life outcomes. Ischia knows her neighbors deserve better and is determined to improve the quality of life for every resident in District 15.”
As reported by the Norwood News, Bravo has previously received the endorsements of Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), the New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA), the Laundry, Distribution and Food Service Joint Board, Workers United, SEIU; District Council 37, AFSCME; and District Council 9 New York IUPAT, Painters and Allied Trades.
We also reported that Bravo was also previously endorsed by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., in addition to prior endorsements by State Senators Jessica Ramos and Alessandra Biaggi, the Northwest Bronx Democrats, United Federation of Teachers, the New York City Central Labor Council, Assembly Member Nathalia Fernández, who represents the 80th Assembly District and who is currently running for Bronx borough president, Assembly Member Catalina Cruz, City Council Member Diana Ayala, and civil rights leaders Tamika Mallory and Kirsten John Foy.
In addition, Bravo has also received the backing of 21 in ’21, a group that advocates for at least 21 women to hold elected office at New York City Council by 2021, and Vote Mama, which supports Democratic moms with young children running for office up and down the ballot and across the country.
In addition to Bravo and Crespo, according to the New York City Board of Elections and Ballotpedia, eight other candidates are running in the District 15 race, all of whom aim to fill the seat of former Councilman and now Congressman, Ritchie Torres, who was elected to Congress in November 2020.
These are Kenny Agosto, district director to New York State Senator Jamaal T. Bailey, Oswald Feliz, tenant lawyer and adjunct professor at Hostos Community College, Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance, Latchmi Gopal, a community organizer and former staffer for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, Jose Padilla, former Independence candidate for both the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate, Arial Rivera-Diaz, a former finance clerk with the City’s Board of Elections and former official at the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, Community Board 6 District Manager, John Sanchez, and Altagracia Soldevilla, another community organizer.
Candidates were 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.
A Board of Elections public hearing was held on Feb. 4 to assess which candidates had collated the minimum number of signatures needed to proceed. Troy Blackwell, a former White House and Obama administration aide, and Lilithe L. Lozano, a former district chair of NYCHA’s Bronx North council, did not make the ballot according to the Board of Elections. Julian Sepulveda, an official at the Department of Education, had suspended his campaign in November, endorsing Crespo as he did so.
Some City Council candidates had previously raised concerns about the impact on people’s health of the signature collection process, and had called for for the signature requirement to be waived amid fears of exacerbating the spread of the coronavirus through mass person-to-person contact.
In the District 11 race, candidates, Lora and Haller, announced at different points that they had each previously contracted the coronavirus. Meanwhile, as reported by the Norwood News, Marcos Sierra and Abigail Martin have withdrawn from the District 11 special election, both citing health risk concerns associated with the virus, though both have said they plan to participate in the June primary.
In terms of campaign contributions, since we last reported on the amounts raised by the District 15 candidates, according to the latest New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) figures, Sanchez continues to lead with $62,014, now followed by Bravo with $43,755, Crespo with $39,321, Feliz with $32,572, Gopal with $18,573, Ferrara with $9,567, Soldevilla with $8,147 and Agosto with $5,127. There is no campaign contribution data listed for Padilla and Rivera-Diaz.
A District 15 candidate’s forum with six of the ten candidates in the District 15 special election race was held on Saturday, Feb. 13, hosted by Little Africa Bronx News, a “Social Impact Strategies” project, an intersection of community relations, issue advocacy and public policy. The forum can be viewed here. Mona Davids, founder and publisher, issued a Facebook statement following the event, explaining that only viable candidates had been invited to participate in the forum.
A District 15 debate among nine of the candidates was subsequently organized in partnership between the League of Women’s Voters of New York City and BronxNet with co-sponsors, Dominicanos USA, NALEO Educational Fund, The Bronx Times, The James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center, and The Riverdale Press. It will be broadcast on Monday, March 15, at 9 p.m. on Optimum 67, Fios 2133, and can also be watched on BronxNet’s YouTube account online here. Soldevilla communicated to BronxNet that she was unable to make the debate.
A further candidates forum was organized by the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance on March 8. This can be viewed here.
Important dates relating to the March 23 special elections for District 15 [and District 11] are outlined below.
Image courtesy of the New York City Board of Elections
The Bronx Board of Elections confirmed that it is accepting applications for absentee ballots from voters in District 11 (and in District 15) who wish to vote by mail. Further information can be found here or by calling the Bronx Board of Elections at (718) 299-9017 and selecting Ext. 1875.
Polls are open on election day from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Early Voting Period is from March 13, 2021 to March 21, 2021. Voters must vote at their assigned early voting site.
Early Voting Hours
| Saturday | March 13, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | March 14, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Monday | March 15, 2021 | 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM |
| Tuesday | March 16, 2021 | 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM |
| Wednesday | March 17, 2021 | 12:00 PM to 8:00 PM |
| Thursday | March 18, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM |
| Friday | March 19, 2021 | 7:00 AM to 3:00 PM |
| Saturday | March 20, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
| Sunday | March 21, 2021 | 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM |
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 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.
Whoever wins the March 23 special, nonpartisan election will serve until Dec. 31, 2021. Future representation in the District beyond that point will likely be determined via a June 2021 primary and a November 2021 general election.
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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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