{"id":244149,"date":"2026-05-26T18:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/244149\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T18:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T18:05:32","slug":"the-2026-state-legislative-primary-races-to-watch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/244149\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2026 state legislative primary races to watch"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Senate District 12<\/p>\n

Queens neighborhoods of Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and Ridgewood and parts of Astoria, Long Island City and Elmhurst<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Aber Kawas & Steven Raga
\n \/
\n Alexandra Chan; Office of Assemblymember Steven Raga<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Michael Gianaris (retiring)

\nCandidates: Aber Kawas and Steven Raga<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: There\u2019s a running theme to many of this year\u2019s must-watch state legislative races: Democratic Socialists of America take on the Democratic establishment. But in the race to replace retiring state Sen. Michael Gianaris in western Queens, it\u2019s a more unique story of DSA versus DSA. The New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is backing Aber Kawas, a Palestinian American organizer, over Assembly Member Steven Raga, who became the first Filipino American elected to the state Legislature in 2022, and who also happens to be a dues-paying member<\/a> of the DSA but is not a Socialist in Office (more on that distinction here<\/a>). Who would expect anything else in a district Mayor Zohran Mamdani won by a landslide 44 points in last June\u2019s Democratic mayoral primary?<\/p>\n


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Kawas, who was originally going to run in a neighboring Assembly district, has won support from other lefty groups like Make the Road Action New York and United Auto Workers Region 9A, as well as local democratic socialist elected officials. Kawas was<\/a> born and raised in southern Brooklyn but lived in South Africa for several years and moved to Queens in 2024. She goes up against Raga, a relatively new Assembly member with longer ties to the district who is backed by heavy-hitting unions and other local elected officials, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and Assembly Member Catalina Cruz. As of early May, Raga had a slight edge in fundraising, with matching funds included.<\/p>\n


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\u00a0\u2013 Annie McDonough<\/p>\n

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\n Senate District 13<\/p>\n

Queens neighborhoods of Corona, Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas & Jessica Ramos
\n \/
\n Kristen Blush; NYS Senate Media Services<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jessica Ramos

\nChallenger: Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: Two Jessicas, one state Senate seat. Incumbent state Sen. Jessica Ramos committed what turned out to be an unforgivable sin in progressive circles when she endorsed Andrew Cuomo for New York City mayor last year as her own mayoral campaign sputtered. Though many other elected officials and the city\u2019s most powerful unions had made the same endorsement, Ramos was instantly shunned<\/a> and quickly drew a primary challenge from Assembly Member Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas. Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas is endorsed by much of the city\u2019s progressive left, including the Working Families Party, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and state Attorney General Letitia James. Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas is a DSA member, but she\u2019s not endorsed by the group. Both candidates have qualified for the public matching funds program, but Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas leads in fundraising<\/a> overall.<\/p>\n


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Ramos, who is backed by a collection of smaller unions, has represented Senate District 13 since she unseated conservative Democrat Jose Peralta in 2018. She became a thorn in then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo\u2019s side and a darling of the left, but she eventually alienated colleagues and allies, distancing herself from the progressive movement even before she launched an ill-fated bid for New York City mayor. As chair of the powerful Labor Committee, she has sponsored some marquee legislation, including an effort to raise the minimum wage in New York that Hochul included in her budget in 2024. And the deep connections she has forged in the district are not to be underestimated. Ramos has also been a vocal opponent of billionaire Steve Cohen\u2019s casino project in her district \u2013 a political minefield.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Holly Pretsky<\/p>\n

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\n Senate District 25<\/p>\n

Central Brooklyn neighborhoods of Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Brownsville<\/p>\n

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Jabari Brisport & Marlon Rice
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\n Will Waldron\/Albany Times Union via Getty Images; Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jabari Brisport

\nChallenger: Marlon Rice<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: While NYC-DSA is focused on picking up seats, state Sen. Jabari Brisport is having to defend his from a more mainstream Democrat, Marlon Rice. Active in the district as the event director at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp., Rice has come up short on key endorsements so far, but he\u2019s seen as a proxy for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries against DSA \u2013 and is angling to earn Jeffries\u2019 formal support before the primary. And Rice is pounding the pavement, arguing he\u2019s the more locally focused candidate versus Brisport, who\u2019s more interested in pushing the socialist policy agenda. Rice has also nearly kept pace with Brisport\u2019s fundraising.<\/p>\n


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But the incumbent, a former teacher, has easily cruised to reelection twice before, including when he defeated two similarly anti-socialist challengers in 2022. And he\u2019s not sweating this one. In fact, his campaign website hasn\u2019t been updated since that 2022 race. And this year, Brisport has a trump card: a close friendship with the popular mayor, who won the district by 38 points in the first round of the Democratic primary last year.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Jeff Coltin<\/p>\n

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\n Senate District 27<\/p>\n

Manhattan neighborhoods of Chinatown, the Financial District, SoHo, the East Village, the West Village and the Lower East Side<\/p>\n

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Yuh-Line Niou & Grace Lee
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\n Tom Williams\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Assembly<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Brian Kavanagh (retiring)

\nCandidates: Yuh-Line Niou and Grace Lee<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: It\u2019s a rematch for the ages in New York City\u2019s Chinatown as onetime Assembly contest rivals now compete for an overlapping state Senate district. While there is no incumbent, Assembly Member Grace Lee\u2019s status as a sitting elected official could give her a leg up she did not have when she unsuccessfully challenged Yuh-Line Niou in 2020 for the seat she now holds. Lee also enjoys a significant fundraising edge, as well as more public matching funds so far.<\/p>\n


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Lee has notably picked up some of Niou\u2019s old backers, including the influential Chinatown political club United Democratic Organization<\/a>. The group helped launch Niou\u2019s career in elected office as she sought to become the first Asian American to represent Manhattan\u2019s Chinatown. And while Lee has the backing of more moderate lawmakers and groups, she also has support from powerful unions like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council, District Council 37 and New York State Nurses Association, as well as the progressive group Citizen Action of New York.<\/p>\n


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Niou, attempting to reenter elected office following her congressional loss in 2022, is running as a progressive. She recently received the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and enjoys the backing of the New York Working Families Party, as well as a number of other notable left-wing groups and officials.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Rebecca C. Lewis<\/p>\n

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\n Senate District 61<\/p>\n

Part of Buffalo and all of Tonawanda, Amherst and Grand Island<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jeremy Zellner

\nChallenger: Jonathan Rivera<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know:<\/p>\n


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Things are getting messy in Western New York, and the showdown between state Sen. Jeremy Zellner and Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera is coming to a head. The former political allies are now engaged in a bitter fight over the state Senate seat previously held by now-Buffalo Mayor Sean Ryan.<\/p>\n


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Zellner raised eyebrows earlier this year when the Erie County Democratic Party chose him in the special election to replace Ryan. The reason: Zellner has chaired the organization for nearly 15 years. Zellner isn\u2019t the only party leader in the state Legislature, but it\u2019s much rarer for a chair to have their own name put forward during the party-controlled special election process. (Zellner technically recused himself from the nominating process.) Still, he defends the move. \u201cI think it actually helps the district to have somebody who has relationships across the state of New York that I have,\u201d Zellner told City & State. \u201cI think it makes (me) a stronger senator, makes the district have a little more clout and stature by having me be the chair.\u201d<\/p>\n


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He now enjoys the lion\u2019s share of endorsements from elected officials \u2013 including the governor.<\/p>\n


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Despite Rivera having his own political influence, including through his Buffalo Common Council member father who was recently accused of trying to strong-arm candidates<\/a> for the Erie County Democratic Committee into dropping their bids, Rivera is running an outsider campaign that paints Zellner as an insider and self-annointed lawmaker. \u201cI think at the end of the day, voters are tired of old ways around, the way that the party has attacked other Democrats,\u201d he said, when asked about intraparty fighting. \u201cAnd I think that people know what people are going to measure us by what we stand on, and people know what I stand on.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

Rivera vied to be the party\u2019s pick earlier this year, but decided to focus his attention on the primary race in June rather than try to run an independent special election campaign against Zellner in February. Now, unions have lined up behind the Assembly member, who also has the endorsement of the New York Working Families Party.<\/p>\n


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Zellner won the February special election handily, dispatching Republican Dan Gagliardo by over 19 percentage points.<\/p>\n


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The race \u2013 and its underlying tensions \u2013 will have ripple effects throughout Western New York, starting first with the race to replace Rivera in the Assembly, and next year in the elections for Buffalo Common Council. And with Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz forgoing reelection, the Zellner\/Rivera battle may extend out countywide.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Rebecca C. Lewis<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 32<\/p>\n

Queens neighborhoods of Jamaica and Rochdale Village<\/p>\n

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Latoya LeGrand
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\n Latoya LeGrand for the People<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Vivian Cook (retiring)

\nCandidates: Nathaniel Hezekiah III, Latoya LeGrand, Tunisia Morrison, Queen Johnson, Mohammed Molla<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: It came as little surprise when Assembly Member Vivian Cook announced she would not seek reelection, opening up her seat for the first time in over three decades. Latoya LeGrand, a former staffer for Cook, became the first person who filed<\/a> to run \u2013 before Cook officially announced her retirement<\/a> \u2013 and has since picked up the support<\/a> of the New York Working Families Party. But that doesn\u2019t mean LeGrand is the heir apparent for the seat.<\/p>\n


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Queens factions are split over who they want to succeed Cook. The Queens Democratic Party endorsed Nathaniel Hezekiah III, who serves as deputy chief of staff to party boss Rep. Greg Meeks. Queens Borough President Donovan Richards decided he\u2019d do something different, and instead has backed Tunisia Morrison, a former chief of staff to Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman and his chief of staff\u2019s sister. Democratic socialist Queen Johnson and Mohammed Molla round out the candidates in a crowded race that promises plenty of internal political jockeying for the future of Southeast Queens.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Rebecca C. Lewis<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 38 <\/p>\n

Queens neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Glendale, Ozone Park, Ridgewood and Woodhaven<\/p>\n

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Jenifer Rajkumar & David Orkin
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\n Office of Assemblywoman Rajkumar; Alexandra Chan<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jenifer Rajkumar

\nChallenger: David Orkin<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar \u2013 a close ally of former New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the first South Asian American woman elected to the state Legislature \u2013 faces a challenge from NYC-DSA-backed candidate David Orkin, a staff attorney at influential immigrant advocacy group Make the Road New York. Rajkumar is running an anti-DSA campaign, and the primary will test whether Mamdani voters in the district prefer South Asian identity or socialist politics. Orkin sued<\/a> to get Rajkumar kicked off the ballot after her campaign was accused of forging petition signatures \u2013 including from a journalist and from one of Orkin\u2019s own volunteers \u2013 but the court dismissed the case, so they\u2019ll both be on the ballot in June.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 54<\/p>\n

Brooklyn neighborhoods of Cypress Hills and Bushwick<\/p>\n

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Christian Celeste Tate
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\n Alexandra Chan<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Erik Dilan

\nChallenger: Christian Celeste Tate<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: NYC-DSA and the New York Working Families Party are backing anti-poverty activist Christian Celeste Tate\u2019s challenge to Assembly Member Erik Dilan, who has already beaten back two challenges<\/a> from DSA members<\/a> in previous cycles. (His father, former state Sen. Martin Malav\u00e9 Dilan, wasn\u2019t so lucky, losing to DSA\u2019s Julia Salazar in 2018.) Dilan is not going down without a fight, and he has secured the support of powerful unions like 1199SEIU, District Council 37 and the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 56<\/p>\n

Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and parts of Crown Heights<\/p>\n

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Stefani Zinerman & Eon Huntley
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\n Jason Mendez\/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy Of Music; Alexandra Chan<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Stefani Zinerman

\nChallenger: Eon Huntley<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: NYC-DSA\u2019s Eon Huntley is taking another shot<\/a> at unseating Assembly Member Stefani Zinerman, after falling short by less than 6 points in 2024. This time around, Huntley actually lives in the district, and he has the support of popular New York City Council Member Chi Oss\u00e9, whose district overlaps with Zinerman\u2019s. But Zinerman has some powerful forces in her corner: In 2024, she was endorsed by both House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and state Attorney General Letitia James. This year, she has received support<\/a> from an independent expenditure committee associated with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, as well as one other known as Moving Brooklyn Forward.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 59<\/p>\n

Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie, Flatlands, Georgetown, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach and Gerritsen Beach<\/p>\n

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Jaime Williams & Jibreel Jalloh
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\n NY Assembly; Julius Stukes Jr.<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jaime Williams

\nChallenger: Jibreel Jalloh<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: Assembly Member Jaime Williams is fighting to hold on to her southeast Brooklyn seat as she faces a challenge from community organizer Jibreel Jalloh.<\/p>\n


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As an incumbent who has represented the district since 2016, Williams has the advantage of name recognition. But the conservative Democrat has come under fire in recent years for aligning with Republicans, such as her prior support for Republican Curtis Sliwa, her advocacy against an emergency migrant shelter<\/a> at Floyd Bennett Field and her ardent opposition to the City of Yes local zoning overhaul. She\u2019s also running on the Conservative Party line this year. Several years ago, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and then-Rep. Jamaal Bowman even mistook Williams<\/a> for a Republican.<\/p>\n


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Jalloh, by contrast, the young founder and executive director of the nonprofit The Flossy Organization<\/a>, is positioning himself as a new, more progressive leader for the district. With support from the New York Working Families Party<\/a> and the powerful District Council 37, <\/a>he has become a real contender.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Sahalie Donaldson<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 65<\/p>\n

Lower Manhattan, including the Lower East Side, Chinatown and the Financial District<\/p>\n

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Jasmin Sanchez, Illapa Sairitupac & Wei-Li Tjong
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\n Paul Henderson; Illapa Sairitupac campaign; Wei-Li Tjong Campaign<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Grace Lee (running for state Senate)

\nCandidates: Jasmin Sanchez, Illapa Sairitupac, Mariama James, Wei-Li Tjong, Lilah Mejia, Jay Jacky Wong<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: In this crowded primary, Illapa Sairitupac has received the bulk of endorsements, including from NYC-DSA and politically powerful unions like the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU. He ran for the seat four years ago, losing by 14 points to current Assembly Member Grace Lee \u2013 whose run for state Senate has left the seat open. Meanwhile, Jasmin Sanchez has the support of Rep. Nydia Vel\u00e1zquez and Citizen Action of New York, Lilah Mejia just picked up an endorsement from New York City Council Member Harvey Epstein and Wei-Li Tjong is backed by state Sen. John Liu. And Jay Jacky Wong is well-connected in the Chinatown portion of the district. Both the WFP and Mayor Zohran Mamdani could also weigh in on the race before June. Sairitupac is endorsed by the mayor\u2019s political home, NYC-DSA, and Sanchez worked with his former attorney and close ally, Ali Najmi, to avoid getting booted from the ballot due to a residency challenge.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 66<\/p>\n

Manhattan neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, Tribeca and SoHo<\/p>\n

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Ryder Kessler & David Siffert
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\n Megan Magray; Julie Hill<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Deborah Glick (retiring)

\nCandidates: Ryder Kessler, David Siffert, Benjamin Yee, Furhan Ahmad, Jeannine Kiely, Corinne Arnold<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: When history-making Assembly Member Deborah Glick \u2013 the first out gay member of the state Legislature \u2013 announced she would retire, at least one person wanted to keep the seat that represents Stonewall gay. Ryder Kessler, co-founder and former executive director of pro-housing group Abundance New York, is running in part on his identity as a gay person. But when he declared himself the only gay candidate running to represent a queer district, it raised eyebrows given David Siffert, a civil rights lawyer, is nonbinary and would make history if elected.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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Glick has decided to endorse neither of them, though. She instead has backed Jeannine Kiely, a district leader and a founder of Friends of Elizabeth Street Garden \u2013 a fellow NIMBY in the hottest hyperlocal housing development fight in the entire city.<\/p>\n


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Also in the mix are state Democratic Committee member Ben Yee and Corinne Arnold, who runs an election services business.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Rebecca C. Lewis<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 68<\/p>\n

Manhattan neighborhoods of East Harlem, Randalls Island and parts of the Upper East Side and Central Harlem<\/p>\n

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Eddie Gibbs & Diana Ayala
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\n Michael M. Santiago\/Getty Images; NYC Council Media Unit<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Eddie Gibbs

\nChallengers: Diana Ayala, Tamika Mapp and William Smith<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: A handful of candidates are looking to unseat Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs in East Harlem, sensing a potential opening in wake of several controversies the East Harlem Democrat has found himself embroiled in in recent years.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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Former New York City Council Member Diana Ayala, who served as deputy speaker for several years, has mounted<\/a> a challenge against Gibbs. She\u2019s already well-known in the district, having represented a large swath of it in the City Council. District leaders Tamika Mapp and William Smith, who previously challenged Gibbs in 2024, are also in the running.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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Gibbs made history in 2022 as the first formerly incarcerated person to win a seat in the state Legislature, but a series of recent challenges have rendered him vulnerable. He sued the Manhattan Democratic Party <\/a>in 2023 after losing a close district leader race only for the judge to throw out his lawsuit.<\/a> A year later, he generated controversy for making derogatory remarks <\/a>about Rep. Jerry Nadler. More recently, the Assembly censured Gibbs for making sexually explicit comments <\/a>on the floor about this mother and the late former Rep. Charlie Rangel.\u00a0<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Sahalie Donaldson<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 69<\/p>\n

Manhattan\u2019s Upper West Side<\/p>\n

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Eli Northrup & Stephanie Ruskay
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\n Eli Northrup; Katrina Hajagos<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Micah Lasher (running for Congress)

\nCandidates: Eli Northrup and Stephanie Ruskay<\/p>\n


\n <\/p>\n

What you need to know: With Assembly Member Micah Lasher running for Congress, the race is on for his seat in Albany. Public defender Eli Northrup, who ran for the seat two years ago but lost to Lasher by 19 points, is making another attempt<\/a>, with the support of the WFP and other progressive groups. His competition is Stephanie Ruskay, a rabbi and the associate dean of the Jewish Theological Seminary who has the support of much of the Upper West Side\u2019s political establishment, including New York City Comptroller Mark Levine and Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal. The super PAC Westside Progress, which helped defeat a City Council candidate<\/a> backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani earlier this year, and pro-Israel groups like the New York Solidarity Network<\/a> are also backing Ruskay. Northrup is close to the mayor, and a big unanswered question is whether Mamdani will weigh in on this contentious race.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 70<\/p>\n

Central Harlem<\/p>\n

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Conrad Blackburn & Jordan Wright
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\n Alexandra Chan; Rita Chan<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jordan Wright

\nChallenger: Conrad Blackburn<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: Assembly Member Jordan Wright was elected to the Assembly in 2024, taking over the seat once occupied by his father, Keith Wright, the leader of the Manhattan Democratic Party. The younger Wright is clearly being groomed for party leadership, as well, and was recently elected<\/a> the head of the Manhattan Young Democrats. But he faces a strong challenge from Conrad Blackburn, a staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders who\u2019s running with the support of NYC-DSA and United Auto Workers Region 9A. Blackburn grew up in Florida, and a super PAC supporting Wright has knocked him<\/a> for a brief internship working for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi when she was Florida\u2019s top prosecutor.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Peter Sterne<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 129<\/p>\n

Syracuse<\/p>\n

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William Magnarelli & Maurice Brown
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\n Wendy Colucci; Ciara Feltham of Ciara Studios<\/p>\n

Incumbent: William Magnarelli

\nChallenger: Maurice Brown<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: It turns out the trend of primary showdowns between the establishment candidate and a progressive challenger isn\u2019t isolated to downstate. Assembly Member William Magnarelli is a longtime fixture of Albany who has represented Assembly District 129 in Central New York for nearly 30 years. And as chair of the\u00a0Assembly Transportation Committee, it\u2019s easy for him to campaign on his recent focus on housing and securing downtown revitalization funds<\/a> for the city of Syracuse. But Onondaga County Legislator Maurice Brown is making an appeal to further-left Syracuse voters, urging them to upend the status quo and unseat Magnarelli, the incumbent more than twice his age he has labeled as a threat to progress. Brown is running on issues like lowering utility costs and building protected bike lanes, and most differs from Magnarelli on taxing the wealthy to fund better infrastructure. But Brown is still the progressive underdog in this fight \u2013 taking on a sitting Assembly member who hasn\u2019t had an opponent in half of his elections.<\/p>\n


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\u2013\u00a0Kate Lisa<\/p>\n

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\n Assembly District 149<\/p>\n

Town of Hamburg, and parts of Buffalo and Lackawanna<\/p>\n

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Adam Bojak
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\n Teo David Photography<\/p>\n

Incumbent: Jonathan Rivera (running for state Senate)

\nCandidates: Adam Bojak, Karen Hoak and Kevin Deese<\/p>\n


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What you need to know: We told you things were getting messy in Western New York, and that\u2019s bleeding into the race to replace Assembly Member Jonathan Rivera in the lower chamber. Although there are three candidates running, the main battle serves as a proxy war between Jeremy Zellner and the Erie County Democrats, and the Riveras. On one side, the local Democratic organization has thrown its weight behind Karen Hoak, a former Hamburg Town Council member with a long track record in government. Alex Burgos, a young politico with ties to the local party machine, dropped out to back Hoak, and now may run for Jonathan Rivera\u2019s father\u2019s Buffalo Common Council seat.<\/p>\n


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Supported by Rivera on the other side is attorney Adam Bojak, a Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate who recently gained the backing of Bernie Sanders. A third candidate, Hamburg resident Kevin Deese, has also thrown his hat in the ring, and will be a wild card among the feuding factions.<\/p>\n


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\u2013 Rebecca C. Lewis<\/p>\n

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