Brooklyn Assembly member Jo Anne Simon is running in the already crowded Democratic primary for New York's 10th congressional district that includes former Mayor Bill de Blasio, Rep. Mondaire Jones, and Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou.

She told Errol Louis on "Inside City Hall" Thursday that she decided to run for the newly drawn congressional seat because of her history as an activist and elected official in the neighborhoods in western Brooklyn included in the district, which also spans parts of Lower Manhattan.

"It wasn't my plan to run for Congress. But the reality is when you look at this district, it's so many communities that I've already represented or that I worked in," Simon said.

"I could see how all of our issues were connected and I think that is a perspective that I will bring to Congress," Simon added. "It is a perspective that I already delivered for my constituents for sure and the big issue that we're talking about is gun violence, which I've been successful in passing major gun violence legislation in the state Assembly."

In office, she said she would also combat the overturning of Roe v. Wade and use legislation to address Supreme Court decisions to find ways "to continue to protect New Yorkers."

Simon has called on Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, the Brooklyn Democratic leader, to step down alongside other reformers in the borough. The Assembly member said Hermelyn was uninterested in bringing new ideas and energy into the county party.

"So I think the real issue here is whether or not the county leader is actually leading and whether or not they're bringing together people and expanding the party to include more people who want to participate in our Democracy," she said. "And that seems to have not been happening."

Simon added that they will see what happens moving forward, "but the reality is that we need a party leader who will actually work with the members of the party, expand the party and include more people."