In a closing debate earlier than the beginning of early voting, candidates for the upcoming particular election to exchange Mayor Zohran Mamdani within the thirty sixth Meeting District introduced an virtually united entrance on a spread of coverage points, from taxing the wealthy to defending immigrant communities.
Diana Moreno, the Queens Democratic Social gathering nominee, joined Mary Jobaida and Rana Abdelhamid — two progressive candidates who will seem on the poll after accumulating the required variety of signatures — on the Hellenic Cultural Heart in Astoria for a debate hosted by the Previous Astoria Neighborhood Affiliation on Jan. 22. The talk proved to be one of many extra mild-mannered electoral boards, with all three candidates agreeing on quite a few points and fascinating in civilized dialogue free from private assaults.
However Moreno, as an organizer throughout the New York Metropolis chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), did differentiate herself from her fellow candidates by repeatedly emphasizing that she is operating as a motion socialist inside an organized motion slightly than as a person candidate.
All through the controversy, Moreno emphasised her shut ties to Mamdani and different elected DSA members in workplace, equivalent to Meeting Member Emily Gallagher and State Sen. Julia Salazar, who’re a part of the New York State Socialists in Workplace voting bloc.
Abdelhamid and Jobaida, however, who’re additionally members of the DSA, spoke extra of how their politics have been knowledgeable by particular person experiences throughout the group.
Moreno, who received the DSA endorsement final month, pledged to be an “unwavering ally” to Mamdani if she is elected to workplace within the Feb. 3 particular elections, including that she is a part of the “same working-class movement” that elected Mamdani to Metropolis Corridor final November.
“I am not running as an individual. I am running as part of a movement,” Moreno mentioned on the debate
Moreno additionally emphasised her ties to organized labor by way of her earlier work with the New York State Nurses Affiliation (NYSNA) and added that she had chosen to run to guard the way forward for her youngster, who she is elevating in Astoria, in addition to the futures of all Queens kids.
Abdelhamid and Jobaida, however, repeatedly emphasised their roots within the district, with Abdelhamid pointing to her position as a group organizer and non-profit director for nearly twenty years. Abdelhamid, the founding father of anti-violence non-profit Malikah, mentioned she has seen first hand the issues dealing with tenants, companies and immigrant communities within the neighborhood over the past 17 years. In an interview with QNS earlier within the week, Abdelhamid emphasised that she got here to politics by way of her particular person experiences rising up in western Queens slightly than by way of any political motion.
“As a self-defense instructor, as a mutual aid organizer, as a tenants rights leader, as an immigrant justice organizer, this is a community that I’ve been deeply invested in,” Abdelhamid mentioned on the debate.
Rana Abdelhamid Photograph by Shane O’Brien
Jobaida, a Bangladeshi immigrant residing in Queensbridge Homes, mentioned her marketing campaign represented the communities which are “not seen” no matter who’s in workplace.
“It has been like this for a long time,” she mentioned. “Our people are the people who are delivery workers, construction workers, immigrants. Oftentimes, we feel like we are judged by our language, our backgrounds, our accent, how we talk, how we look, what clothing we wear, instead of who we are.”
Mary Jobaida Photograph by Shane O’Brien
When it comes to precise coverage, all three candidates introduced a near-identical imaginative and prescient for the way forward for the district. Every acknowledged their help for a 2% tax hike on people making over $1 million and all supported the rise of New York’s company tax fee to match that of New Jersey. Additionally they pledged to struggle for New York for All, which might prohibit state and native regulation enforcement from working with federal immigration authorities, and expressed help without spending a dime buses, one among Mamdani’s core marketing campaign points.
All three candidates acknowledged their help for a swath of tenant protections, together with Proper to Counsel, investments in NYCHA and social housing, and rent-stabilization. Additionally they vowed to struggle for industrial rent-stabilization to assist maintain small companies within the district and push for common childcare, one other of Mamdani’s core marketing campaign platforms.
Moreno, who’s lower from the identical political material because the mayor, persistently referred to laws proposed by elected DSA members in Albany all through the controversy, whereas Abdelhamid and Jobaida usually proposed particular person progressive laws.
With little to separate the three candidates politically, Moreno holds a bonus forward of the Feb. 3 particular election because the Queens Democratic Social gathering nominee, particularly after coming by way of Thursday’s debate with none missteps. Moreno has additionally picked up endorsements from quite a few elected officers, together with Mamdani himself, whereas teams such because the DSA and Working Households Social gathering have additionally endorsed her marketing campaign.
Diana Moreno. Photograph by Shane O’Brien.
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez and Council Member Julie Gained, in the meantime, have endorsed Abdelhamid.
On Jan. 21, the Mason Tenders District Council, which represents over 17,000 members within the development and waste administration industries amongst different fields, endorsed Moreno forward of the particular election. Saying its endorsement, the union pointed to Moreno’s roots standing with organized labor all through her profession.
Abdelhamid does boast vital title recognition within the district by way of her work with Malikah and her work operating mutual assist help within the neighborhood, whereas Jobaida boasts vital help from the sturdy Bangladeshi group in Queensbridge Homes.
Moreno, nevertheless, was additionally the one candidate to unlock matching funds within the race after receiving 162 donations from in-district donors in comparison with Abdelhamid’s 90 and Jobaida’s 42. Moreno unlocked $76,017 in matching funds after the Public Marketing campaign Finance Board’s newest determination to approve matching funds on Jan. 21.
Early voting for the upcoming particular election kicks off on Saturday, Jan. 24, with the election set to happen on Feb. 3. Whoever wins the particular election will maintain workplace till the top of Mamdani’s time period and can nonetheless be required to win re-election within the upcoming June primaries and November normal election.
