Make the Road NY community organizer Jesus Gonzalez is slated to make his campaign for the State Assembly official tomorrow alongside a host of Brooklyn elected officials, including Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Council Members Diana Reyna and Charles Barron.
Gonzalez has been coy about his intentions to run for the seat even as he has been raising money. Forces close to Brooklyn party head Vito Lopez have assumed that Gonzalez is in the race to siphon votes away from their candidate, Rafael Espinal, an aide to Lopez-ally Erik Dilan. Deidra Towns is also running for the seat in a race that is being viewed by many as a test of strength of her father, Congressman Ed Towns.
But the coalition that has assembled for Gonzalez’s campaign kick-off shows a surprisingly broad-based appeal, with anti-Lopez forces like Velazquez and Reyna lining up alongside East New York powerbrokers like Barron.
Also slated to attend are El Puente founder Luis Garden Acosta, District Leader Lincoln Restler, and representatives from 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement.
The race will also be something of a referendum on Make the Road and whether or not their impressive community organizing abilities translate into success at the ballot box.
The seat became vacant when Deidra Towns brother resigned to take a job in the Andrew Cuomo administration. A date for the special election has not been called.
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Gonzalez is a spoiler being run to split the Hispanic community by taking votes away from the Democratic Party candidate Espinal to give an edge to Deidre Towns. The idea that Velasquez would support someone against a member of the Towns family is a joke. It would be like Lopez running someone against a member of the Dilan family. Velasquez and Towns are allies to the end. It would never happen. The fact that all of these people are lending their names and reputations to this only makes it sad, not credible.
Katie, you’re a hater. His endorsers made the right choice. Proud that they made independent decisions and chose the right fight. I know that you’re not from the community because if you were, you would know Jesus Gonzalez is the real deal. As a lifelong resident, i’m proud that he’s doing it. It’s going to be the first time I vote so I look forward to it. I’m voting for Jesus because I know he’s not one of these crooked politicians in our community. Besides, what has Deidra or Espinal done for our community besides stand at press conferences or campaign? I never even seen them. lol If you’re not completely ignorant, you would know that this is not their race, and their just puppets
[...] comes as not a surprise since many WFP and progressive luminaries attended Gonzalez’ campaign kickoff last month. Still, Gonzalez faces an uphill battle in a race that will also include Towns’ sister, Deidra [...]