Empire State Indivisible Endorses Jamaal Bowman In NY16 Congressional Primary
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 8th, 2020
Contact: Ricky Silver | ricky@empirestateindivisible.org | 610–220–6110
New York, NY — Today, Empire State Indivisible announced their endorsement of Jamaal Bowman for Congress in New York’s 16th Congressional District. Empire State Indivisible has now made 8 official endorsements in the June 23rd Primary Election with a focus on challenging the entrenched power dynamics of the Democratic Party.
In this latest endorsement, Empire State Indivisible is joining the growing progressive coalition of endorsers for Jamaal’s campaign which now includes the Working Families Party, Make The Road Action, Center For Popular Democracy Action, the New York Immigration Coalition, Justice Democrats, Sunrise Movement, Indivisible Nation BK, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, State Senator Alessandra Biaggi, and many more.
“Jamaal has been fighting for his community for decades as an advocate and an educator and he knows first hand the failures of our institutions and the impact that systemic inequality has on our communities.” said Kellie Leeson, co-lead organizer at Empire State Indivisible. “We need elected leaders who prioritize the working families of their communities and understand the critical role of organizing to deliver true progressive results.”
Empire State Indivisible acknowledged a number of recent events that pushed them to get involved in the race, including the recent decision by Andom Ghebreghiorgis to drop out of the race and endorse Jamaal’s campaign.
“From the get-go we were inspired by Jamaal and Andom’s commitment to their community, their shared values, and their belief that the current representation was absent and disconnected from the needs of the community,” said Ricky Silver, co-lead organizer of Empire State Indivisible. “We are beyond impressed with Andom’s decision to consolidate support behind Jamaal, and we look forward to working with him in the future on progressive efforts across New York State.”
Both Jamaal and Andom made it a point to highlight current Congressmember Engel’s absence from the district as a part of their challenge to his incumbency. And over the last few months, as COVID-19 started wreaking havoc on New York, Engel’s decision to remain tucked away in a Washington suburb instead of returning to his community was particularly jarring. And just last week, when protests erupted over the racist killing of George Floyd, Engel finally made it home, only to be caught on a live mic saying he wouldn’t have cared about being there to speak if it hadn’t been for the primary.
“Entrenched incumbents often point to their seniority in Congress as a rationale for their re-election. But what is the value of that seniority if you lose connectivity with the people you represent?” said Shannon Stagman, co-lead organizer of Empire State Indivisible. “Now more than ever, we need to elect community organizers and true progressive champions to Congress. For twenty years, Jamaal has proven his commitment to fight for his community and we’re so excited to help him in the final stretch to win this election!”
Empire State Indivisible has been organizing volunteers to phonebank, textbank, and write postcards for their endorsed candidates. Read more about their full slate of candidate endorsements here: https://www.empirestateindivisible.org/2020endorsements
