NEW YORK — The Working Families Party is throwing its support to two congressional candidates facing bigger-name Democrats in the June primaries, NY1 has learned.
The liberal third party is endorsing Brittany Ramos DeBarros, potentially roiling the 11th District race on Staten Island where Max Rose seeks a rematch against GOP incumbent Nicole Malliotakis.
The party also is endorsing Rana Abdelhamid in her bid to unseat Carolyn Maloney. The 12th District’s Democratic primary includes Suraj Patel, Maya Contreras and Maud Maron.
Rose and Maloney had also both sought the party’s endorsement.
A party spokesman said it plans to mobilize members to boost DeBarros and Abdelhamid. He did not say whether it would launch ad buys or otherwise spend big on their behalf.
State Democrats have redrawn the 11th District to make it friendlier to their party, adding the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Park Slope and Sunset Park to a district that includes Republican-leaning Staten Island.
The 12th District was redrawn to exclude parts of Astoria, Queens, and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and include swaths of Manhattan’s West Side, boundaries seen as more favorable to a moderate Democrat.