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It’s an Empire State red alert.
The Democratic Socialists of America are backing eight candidates in an effort to double their ranks in the state Legislature — with one of the crew an insurgent looking to take down the Harlem political establishment.
A crew of new radicals with soft-on-crime stances who back policies such as legalizing prostitution will take on moderate candidates in Tuesday’s primary elections, in an effort to widen the DSA influence in state government.
Here are some of the high-profile challengers looking to increase the left-leaning crew’s ranks to 16 next year.
Conrad Blackburn
DSA candidate Blackburn is running against Assemblyman Jordan Wright in District 70, the son of Manhattan Democratic leader and longtime Harlem power broker Keith Wright.
Blackburn, a public defender, has said he wants to go easier on criminals supports sending convicted rapists, child molesters and murderers to “treatment programs” instead of prisons.
“Even if, like, the client is guilty as f–king sin, I still don’t think that the punishment, like, meets what happened,” said Blackburn, who served as staff lawyer for nonprofit Bronx Defenders, on the 2024 “Brothers In Law” podcast he co-hosts.
“I still don’t think that person deserves to be thrown in a cage and locked away for the rest of their life. So that’s how I come at those cases. It’s like cool, this person did maybe … something bad to somebody,” he added.
”But, like, what are we gonna do about that? … I don’t think it’s prison.”
Former foes Rep. Adriano Espaillat and Wright have even cross-endorsed each other to form a coalition to repel the DSA invasion.
Five-term incumbent Espaillat also faces a DSA challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, a candidate with a series of controversial social media posts that is backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Christian Celeste Tate
Tate is looking to topple Assemblyman Erik Dilan in Brooklyn District 54 and Eon Huntley against incumbent Stefani Zinerman in Brooklyn AD 56.
State Sen. Julia Salazar, a DSA member, defeated 8-term incumbent Martin Dilan, Erik’s father, in 2018.
Tate told the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic LGBT Club that he would “champion the decriminalization of sex work” because “sex work is work.” He also backed reducing prison sentences for convicted criminals, saying, “Our approach to incarceration has not made us safer.”
Huntley supports decriminalizing prostitution and also wants to lessen prison sentences for convicts, telling the Jim Owles Club in an endorsement questionnaire, “We must end the scourge of mass incarceration in New York, whether in local jails or in state prisons.”
David Orkin
Lefty attorney Orkin is running against Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar in Queens District 38, which has a heavy South Asian and Indo-Caribbean population in the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Glendale, Ridgewood, and Woodhaven.
Rajkumar, a moderate, had close ties to former Mayor Eric Adams.
Orkin also wants to lighten up on punishment for criminals, telling the Jim Owles Club, “Our criminal justice system is built on the false premise that mass incarceration promotes public safety…. To fix this broken system, we must move from a model of punishment to one rooted in restoration and care.”
Diana Moreno
The DSA supports the re-election of Assemblywoman Moreno, who replaced Zohran Mamdani after he was elected mayor, in District 36 covering Astoria and Long Island City.
Aber Kawas
DSA candidate and Palestinian activist Kawas is facing off against Assemblyman Steven Raga in the race to replace retiring Sen. Michael Gianaris in the 12th District covering western Queens.
Raga, the first Filipino-American elected to the state Legislature, has the backing of Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and major unions, including the United Federation of Teachers, 1199 SEIU, NYS Nurses’ Association, District Council 37, among others.
Illapa Sairitupa
DSA-backed tenant organizer Sairitupa is running for the open seat in District 65 covering the Lower East Side and Chinatown, left vacant as the current Assemblywoman Grace Lee runs for state Senate.
Sairitupa also has the backing of Mamdani and the Working Families Party. His rivals for the nomination are Jasmin Sanchez, Lilah Mejia, Wei-Li Tjong and Jay Jacky Wong.
Samantha Kattan
Kattan is the DSA candidate running to replace Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in District 37 because Valdez is running for Congress. The district includes the DSA strongholds of Sunnyside, Long Island City, Woodside, Maspeth, and Ridgewood.
Other races
–Assemblywoman Jessica González Rojas is running against incumbent Sen. Jessica Ramos in the 13th District that covers Corona, East Elmhurst, and Jackson Heights.
Gonzalez-Rojas has the backing of the left-leaning Working Families Party, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, and major unions.
Many on the political left turned on Ramos, a former darling, after she endorsed Andrew Cuomo for mayor last year.
Ramos also opposed Mets owner Steven Cohen’s planned casino in her district.
— Ex-con Assemblyman Eddie Gibbs is facing a tough primary from former Councilwoman Diana Ayala in District 68 East Harlem.
— Lefty Jibreel Jalloh is challenging conservative Democrat Assemblywoman Jaime Williams in District 59, which includes the hard-scrabble neighborhoods of Canarsie, Mill Basin, and Marine Park.
Williams opposed the migrant shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in her district and caught flak for endorsing Republican Curtis Sliwa for mayor last year.
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