With a federal judge reinstating the New York State Presidential Primary, here are some other races in the Bronx to watch.
There will be primaries in all four Bronx congressional districts, but the 14th and 15th districts may be the interesting ones to watch. In the 14th Congressional District while there are three challengers to first time incumbent Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, only CNBC Television Chief International Correspondent Michelle Caruso-Cabrera could have a real chance to unseat Ocasio-Cortez. the other candidates are Sam Sloan and Badrun N. Khan.
In the 15th Congressional District, there are twelve candidates trying to replace retiring Congressman Jose Serrano. They are (as they will appear on the ballot) Thomas Ramos, Samelys Lopez, Frangell Basora, Melisa Mark-Viverito, Michael A. Blake, Ruben Diaz, Mark Escoffery-Bey, Ritchie Torres, Chivona R. Newsome, Ydanis Rodriguez, Julio Pabon, and Marlene J. Tapper.
Here it appears that current Councilman, and former State Senator Ruben Diaz has the advantage having represented most of the South Bronx congressional district. Assemblyman Michael Blake and Councilman Ritchie Torres each have only represented a small portion of the congressional district. Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez is from upper Manhattan having never represented any part of the district. Former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is also from Manhattan, but her district included a very small portion of the district. Thomas Ramos, Samelys Lopez, Frangell Basora, Mark Escoffery-Bey, Chivona R. Newsome, Julio Pabon, and Marlene J. Tapper (who lives in Queens) have never held any elected public office.
The 32nd State Senate District is the next race to watch with three candidate running. They are as they will appear on the ballo,t Pamela Stewart-Martinez, and John Perez who are challengers to incumbent Luis Sepulveda.
Councilman and former State Senator from the 32nd District Ruben Diaz renounced his endorsement of Luis Sepulveda to endorse and support John Perez who is the current 87th A.D. District Leader.
The 79th Assembly District has six candidates running to replace current Assemblyman Michael Blake who is running for congress. They are as they appear on the ballot Eric Stevenson, Elvis Santana, Cynthia L. Cox, Dion Powell, George A.Alvarez, and Chantel Jackson.
Eric Stevenson is the former assemblyman who was convicted of accepting bribes while in office, Chantel Jackson has been endorsed by Assemblyman Michael Blake, George Alvarez has been endorsed by Councilman Ruben Diaz and State Senate candidate John Perez, while Cynthia Cox has been endorsed by Councilman Ritchie Torres.
Other primary races that may be interesting are, in the 84th A. D. between incumbent Carmen Arroyo and challenger for the second time Amanda Septimo. The 80th A. D. Male District Leader race between current district leader John D. Zacarro Jr. and former District Leader Marcos Sierra. The final race to watch may be the County Committee race in the 85th E.D. of the 87th A.D. where Michael Beltzer, Tabitha Rodriguez, and Janice Ali (the incumbents) are challenged by Lisa Diaz, Karines Reyes, and Luis Sepulveda. There are three seats and six candidates. This could be a major blow to their political careers should Assemblywoman Reyes and Senator Sepulveda lose this County Committee race. Assemblywoman Reyes is a name being floated for Bronx Democratic County Leader, while Luis Sepulveda has said he wants to run for Bronx Borough President in 2021.
EDITOR'S NOTE:
Our analysis of Bronx politics goes back to the era of the local School Board races. Over the years we have an excellent track record of not only calling winners, but we have done that in close races along with calling the winning percentage exactly or within the margin of error. Our prediction (if any this year) will come shortly before primary Day.
