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2h ago

NYC-DSA Electoral Group Rejects Endorsing Chi Ossé, Clouding Prospective Challenge to Hakeem Jeffries

The internal vote highlights the organization’s leverage over would-be insurgents against powerful incumbents.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., center, flanked by Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif., left, and Rep. Katherine Clark, D-Mass., arrives to speak on the steps of the Capitol to insist that Republicans include an extension of expiring health care benefits as part of a government funding compromise, in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
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Brooklyn City Council Member Chi Ossé sought the DSA endorsement to run for Congress.

Overview

  • NYC-DSA’s Electoral Working Group voted 626 against, 555 for, with 24 abstaining out of 1,205 participants after a forum and online ballot that closed Saturday night.
  • Chi Ossé told the Daily News he has no intention of running without NYC-DSA’s support, signaling his prospective 2026 primary bid is unlikely to proceed.
  • The recommendation is non-binding, yet a formal endorsement would now require 60% support in at least two overlapping branches, a citywide member vote, and approval by the Citywide Leadership Committee.
  • Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani urged members to oppose an endorsement, citing the need to focus on his affordability agenda and skepticism about defeating the well-funded and locally popular House Democratic leader.
  • NYC-DSA has backed other races, including Alexa Avilés’s challenge to Rep. Dan Goldman, and is expected to weigh an endorsement in the contest to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.