New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, the Communications Workers of America, Churches United For Fair Housing Action, and CAAAV Voice are endorsing Yuh-Line Niou’s campaign to succeed State Senator Brian Kavanagh in Lower Manhattan’s State Senate District 27.

“During her time in the State Assembly, Yuh-Line was never afraid to speak truth to power or to stand up for working-class people, tenants, and communities that are too often forgotten,” Williams said. “Yuh-Line is the best choice to deliver for Lower Manhattan in the State Senate, and I know she will be a fearless fighter for our values.”

While Williams is the first citywide incumbent to support Niou’s campaign, he joins several other prominent New York City progressive and democratic socialist politicians who have already endorsed her. These include former City Comptroller Brad Lander, all four NYC-DSA city council members, New York Assemblymember Ron Kim, and former US Congressman Jamaal Bowman. 

Niou is facing off again with Grace Lee who she defeated in a 2020 Assembly race. 

Niou, who served in the NY Assembly from 2017 to 2022, left the state assembly to run for Congress, in a race narrowly won by Rep. Dan Goldman. Now, Niou says she feels pulled to return to Albany. She is facing off against Assemblymember Grace Lee who won Nou’s old Assembly seat in 2022 after challenging Niou in 2020 and being handily defeated. 

“[In 2016], I didn’t want to run for office then, but I knew that there was an urgency because at the time Trump was running for presidency … we needed somebody with experience, somebody who understood and knew Albany, [who] could start on day one, that they could represent the district well, that they could make sure that they were able to stop the bleed that was bound to come,” Niou said. “I feel even more of an urgency now than I did even then.”

Her allies agree.

“Yuh-Line is a longtime friend and ally in the fight against Trump, economic inequality, and mass incarceration,” said Tiffany Cabán, one of the four DSA Council members to endorse Niou. “Yuh-Line brings integrity, courage and a relentless commitment to protecting and supporting working-class families. We need her in the State Senate now more than ever.”

Another of the four DSA Council members, Chi Ossé, also argued that Niou’s previous experiences in the Assembly during the first Trump administration make her particularly equipped to deal with changes in NY’s politics.  

Jamaal Bowman.

“[Yuh-Line] understands what is at stake in this moment and has never hesitated to take on corrupt politicians like Donald Trump and the disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo,” said Ossé. “I am proud to support her in this race, because she is exactly the kind of bold and principled leader this moment demands.”

This time around Niou is one of several left-wing candidates looking to make inroads in Lower Manhattan. The NYC-Democratic Socialists of America have endorsed Illapa Sairitupac in Assembly District 65, while the New York Working Families Party has endorsed Niou in her race as well as Ryder Kessler in District 66 and Brad Lander in Congressional District 10. All three districts overlap significantly with Niou’s. 

According to Niou, that mobilization isn’t a fluke. 

“I think that people are frustrated by how our government is not protecting us. In a time when we’re literally seeing neighbors of ours being deported or being held [by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)], it scares people,” Niou said. “While our federal government is coming after us, our state can protect us. We could be passing New York for All right now, but we’re not. We could be making sure that we’re a real sanctuary state. We could be preventing ICE from going into hospitals. We could be preventing ICE from going into our schools. We could be preventing ICE from going into people’s courtrooms. We could be doing that right now and yet we’re not.” 

That frustration may be especially pronounced in this race. Niou’s main opponent in the race, Assembly Member Grace Lee, is supported by the vacating incumbent as well as the vast majority of Manhattan Democratic officials. A recent internal poll published by Lee’s campaign has her leading Niou, but with a large plurality of voters undecided. However, Niou believes that her campaign has a viable path to victory. 

“We’ve mapped out the 15,000 votes that we need,” she said. “We have mapped out where they should come from and could come from. We’ve also mapped out like how much money we need to raise. And I think that really it’s about sticking to our program. And then, like all races, the biggest thing that gets you the win is ground game. [And] I have the best ground there is and I’ve always had the best ground there is.”

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