By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
Soon-to-be Assemblymember Brian Romero is preparing to take office next year after winning the Democratic nomination in a unique situation: he was endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, but not the political organization that helped send the mayor to City Hall. <\/p>\n
Romero, a lifelong Queens resident with a background in both organizing and working as a political staffer, is the only candidate in Queens who was endorsed by Mamdani but not by the Democratic Socialists of America. <\/p>\n
He is a member of the progressive organization, and applied for the endorsement but didn\u2019t get it. He chalked up the rejection to \u201coutside influence.\u201d <\/p>\n
But, in an interview with the Eagle, Romero said the lack of DSA endorsement won\u2019t make much of a difference in how he intends to govern. He said he still plans to join the DSA\u2019s \u201cSocialists in Office\u201d group in the future. <\/p>\n
\u201cI very much will be governing like a democratic socialist,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is regardless of any kind of endorsement or not, and I look forward to working with the DSA\u2019s Socialists in Office to work on that agenda.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s very much an agenda that got Zohran elected and that everybody wants to see accomplished,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n
The DSA\u2019s Socialists in Office group \u2013 or SIO \u2013 includes elected officials endorsed by the organization that continue to work closely with the DSA once taking office. In Queens, SIOs include State Senators Julia Salazar and Kristen Gonzalez, Assemblymembers Claire Valdez and Diana Moreno, and Councilmember Tiffany Cab\u00e1n. Come next year, that group will likely also include Samantha Kattan and David Orkin in the Assembly, and Aber Kawas in the State Senate. <\/p>\n
Romero has not ruled out attempting to join the group. <\/p>\n
\u201cI’ve made that clear to a number of member leaders who’ve reached out asking, I am very much open to that and to a space and a forum to decide if that makes sense for the members,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s also okay to give it some time to show people how I organize in the legislature, how I vote, what are the things that I fight for, how do I fight for them, and how do I work with the Socialists in Office to advance our mutual goals.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn’t have to all happen right now,\u201d he added. \u201cI’m just excited to get to work with my soon-to-be new colleagues and do the work, which is really what people want us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Romero won his primary race overwhelmingly in June, defeating Hiram Monserrate-ally Rosa Sanchez by 34 percentage points. He has no opponent in the November general election. <\/p>\n
With his victory, Romero will succeed his former boss, Assemblymember Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas, who won her primary for the State Senate. He takes the reins from JGR in representing the 34th Assembly District, which includes parts of Astoria, Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside.<\/p>\n
Since his victory, Romero has already met with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and is working to build on relationships he made while working as the chief of staff for JGR and Gonzalez. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels like it’s just the continuation of the work that I’ve done for the last almost six years now in the state legislature,\u201d he said. \u201cI know how the chamber works. I know the process.\u201d<\/p>\n
His priority will be helping other progressives fight for Mamdani\u2019s affordability agenda in Albany. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I knock on doors across the district, our major issues are making Queens more affordable, whether that’s social housing or universal childcare,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Romero\u2019s district has a unique challenge for a representative \u2013 its intense diversity has made it a primary target for the Trump administration\u2019s immigration enforcement. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe real thing is that ICE is very much in our neighborhoods,\u201d he said. \u201cThe 34th Assembly District really has to deal with this on a daily basis, certainly in Corona and Jackson Heights.\u201d <\/p>\n
The future lawmaker is a supporter of New York for All, a package of legislation that would solidify New York\u2019s sanctuary laws. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to make sure that it’s very clear to local law enforcement that they cannot assist ICE in any way whatsoever,\u201d he said. \u201cI’m looking forward to working with those communities and organizations to push that aspect for sure in the next session.\u201d <\/p>\n
Although he is excited about his win, particularly about his margin of victory, the future Queens elected official said the real work is only just starting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe harder part of governing starts now,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s the work that I’m excited to get to, and I’ve already been really trying to lay the groundwork for it.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach Soon-to-be Assemblymember Brian Romero is preparing to take office next year after winning the Democratic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-338159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}