More than a dozen Democratic candidates competing for a new congressional district are doing what they can to be noticed in the crowded field.
The race for the new district in Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn — which lacks an incumbent — includes an 81-year-old former member of Congress who last served in Washington in 1981, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, and over ten others, including city and state elected officials and the lead counsel from the first impeachment of former President Donald Trump.
Former Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman, who also served as Brooklyn’s district attorney in the 1980s and as the city’s comptroller in the 1990s, rolled out an endorsement this week from feminist icon Gloria Steinem.
“I am so proud and happy to be sitting next to Liz Holtzman,” Steinem said.
Holtzman is by far the oldest candidate in the race, at age 81.
“I am not a sidelines person,” Holtzman said. “I live right in the epicenter of this new congressional district. I got off the sidelines and into this race because I’m not a sidelines person. Because we have to fight the dangerous extremists in the Supreme Court.”
Meanwhile, de Blasio is doing something he hasn’t done in several years: good, old-fashioned campaigning. On Thursday, his focus was on rising COVID rates, saying he does not believe the city is doing enough to respond.
“We are seeing a variant that is the most virulent we have ever seen. In fact, right now hospitalizations have risen intensely,” de Blasio said. “We see a level of positivity in the city we have not seen since the beginning of the year in the worst of the omicron surge.”
Because a court decision muddied the redistricting process, the political calendar is very different this year — with congressional and state Senate primaries being held in the dead of summer next month, after primaries for statewide offices and Assembly seats were held in June.
Voter turnout was quite low in June and some fear that could also be the case next month, making it tougher for candidates to reach voters.
The race for the newly drawn 10th congressional district is one of the most closely watched races in the state, with well-known political veterans and newcomers sharing the ballot.
Bolstered by a new poll from Data for Progress that shows her at the head of the pack in the 13-candidate race, City Council member Carlina Rivera said her hard work is paying off.
“Well, I think one thing for sure is that we have momentum. I think the voters of NY-10 are showing us that they want a representative in Congress with an ear that’s close to the ground in the district and a record of results,” Rivera said. Her East Side council district overlaps with part of the Manhattan portion of the congressional seat.
Another candidate Daniel Goldman, House Democrat’s lead counsel during Trump’s first impeachment inquiry, is out with a new ad to bolster his bid for the seat.
“Dan has the experience and the courage to meet the moment,” a narrator says in the ad.
Goldman believes his work at the national level is recognizable to voters in the district.
“The people who know me, many I think may not know me by name, but certainly by association to the Trump impeachment — as well as MSNBC — certainly respect the work I have done,” Goldman said.
The race also includes Rep. Mondaire Jones, who moved to the district from his current district in the lower Hudson Valley, and Assembly members Yuh-Line Niou and Jo Anne Simon.
The primary is on Aug. 23.