From left to proper: D36 candidates Rana Abdelhamid, Shivani Dhir, Mary Jobaida and Diana Moreno at a latest candidate discussion board in Astoria. Picture by Ramy Mahmoud.
Each Rana Abdelhamid and Mary Jobaida are each set to seem on the poll in a particular election to interchange Mayor Zohran Mamdani within the State Meeting after the Queens Democratic Celebration selected to appoint Diana Moreno to seem on the Democratic line within the race.
Abdelhamid and Jobaida, who had sought the Democratic nomination within the race to interchange Mamdani within the thirty sixth Meeting District, each reached the required variety of signatures to seem on the poll for the Feb. 3 particular election forward of the Jan. 12 submitting deadline.
Shivani Dhir, who had additionally sought the Democratic nomination within the race, has introduced that she is not going to contest the particular election, and can as a substitute focus her efforts on the June major.
Moreno, an Ecuadorian-born organizer and a member of the New York Metropolis chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), is the clear frontrunner to interchange Mamdani after securing the Queens Democratic Celebration nomination earlier in January. Moreno has additionally been endorsed by each the DSA and Mamdani, who appeared alongside her at an endorsement occasion in Astoria final month.
Moreno additionally picked up an endorsement from the New York Working Households Celebration (WFP) final week, strengthening her place within the race.
However Abdelhamid and Jobaida, who’re additionally members of the DSA, signaled their intent to contest the particular election on a third-party poll line and have each reached the required threshold of 1,500 signatures.
Abdelhamid, a outstanding neighborhood organizer with non-profit Malikah, introduced on Monday that she had acquired 2,871 petition signatures for the race, crediting the 150 marketing campaign volunteers who had persistently knocked on doorways since she formally launched her marketing campaign in November.
“You stood in the cold, knocked on doors, talked to our community, and believed in this campaign even when people said it couldn’t be done,” Abdelhamid stated in a submit on Instagram.
Abdelhamid additionally picked up an endorsement from the Queens chapter of the WFP regardless of failing to safe the broader New York endorsement.
Jobaida, in the meantime, stated “nearly 3,000 voters” had signed petitions permitting her to contest the particular election.
A local of Bangladesh, Jobaida was the primary candidate to announce a marketing campaign to interchange Mamdani within the thirty sixth Meeting District.
“We were given the tough task of collecting 1,500 signatures from registered voters in our district in a very short time. We are grateful to share that our community took it personally and nearly 3,000 voters signed to see Mary on the ballot,” Jobaida stated in a submit on Instragram.
