Empire State Indivisible Adds Three Progressive Candidates To Their Slate Of 2020 Endorsements
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 29th, 2020
Contact: Ricky Silver | ricky@empirestateindivisible.org | 610–220–6110
New York, NY — Today, Empire State Indivisible announced three new endorsements in the upcoming June 23rd primary, adding to their progressive slate of candidates fighting to represent their communities in Congress and in the New York State Legislature. As part of their official endorsements of Samelys López for Congressional District 15, Mondaire Jones for Congressional District 17, and Diana Richardson for Assembly District 43, Empire State Indivisible plans to support the campaigns with critical volunteer activities in the final stretch leading up to election day.
Empire State Indivisible has focused its electoral efforts on challenging the entrenched power dynamics of the Democratic Party. In this latest round of endorsements, Empire State Indivisible is backing true progressive challengers in crowded, open seat congressional races as well as one of their strongest allies in the Assembly, who is being challenged by a former member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).
“The progressive wave of victories in 2018 has led to a crowded field of competitive races across New York State. But with just a month to go before election day, we’ve chosen to prioritize races where the threat of fake-progressive victories looms large as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaks havoc on our communities,” said Kellie Leeson, Co-lead Organizer at Empire State Indivisible. “The June 23rd election will determine the fate of the response to this crisis and only true progressive candidates will fight for a people-centered recovery.”
In Congressional District 15, progressive organizer Samelys López is facing a number of opponents, including Democrats beholden to corporate donors and a virulently anti-choice, anti-LGBTQ former NYC council member. Empire State Indivisible first had a chance to coordinate with Samelys in the 2018 elections as part of the coalition that helped topple the IDC. Samelys is now running to represent her Bronx community on a people-powered platform to tackle the inequality and inequities of a system that has left so many in her community behind.
“Our communities need more organizers as representatives at every level of Government. For too long, the Democratic establishment has prioritized politics as usual, consumed by corporate donors and lobbyist insiders,” said Ricky Silver, Co-lead Organizer at Empire State Indivisible. “But over the last two years, we’ve seen the power to move progressive ideas forward in Government when we elect progressive organizers to office, which is why we are so excited to get behind Samelys López’ campaign and vision for her community.”
In both Congressional District 17 and Assembly District 43, Mondaire Jones and Diana Richardson are facing off with former members of the IDC, who are attempting to advance their careers in politics despite their records of betraying Democratic voters for their own gain.
The Congressional District 17 race has become very crowded since the long time incumbent, Representative Nita Lowey announced her retirement. But it was Mondaire Jones who had first stepped up to challenge Rep. Lowey, long before her retirement was announced. Since launch, Mondaire has been unflinching in his uplifting of progressive policies during his campaign and has built a grassroots coalition backed by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representative Pramila Jayapal, and the Working Families Party along with local Indivisible group support from Rockland United.
David Carlucci, the former IDC Senator jumped into the race opportunistically, once Rep. Lowey announced her retirement hoping that name recognition and short memories would propel him to victory. But the State Senator’s betrayal of the Democratic party in Albany during his tenure as an IDC member is disqualifying under any circumstances, but even more so when a true progressive like Mondaire is in the race.
In Assembly District 43, Diana Richardson has been one of the strongest voices in the New York State Assembly since first being elected in 2015. Diana is a true champion for her community and has been fighting side by side with progressive allies to tackle accelerating inequality and the housing crisis in her community. Despite her leadership, former State Senator and IDC member, Jesse Hamilton has mounted a questionable challenge.
“We won’t stand by while disgraced fake Democrats attempt to take advantage of a crowded primary field to sneak back into office,” said Shannon Stagman, Co-lead Organizer of Empire State Indivisible. “We want voters to know who the true progressives are in these races, and we’ll be putting in the work in this final stretch to get the word out.”
