Chi Ossé, Mamdani Ally, Files Paperwork to Take On Hakeem Jeffries
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has a new primary challenger: New York City Council member Chi Osséally of elected mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Ossé filed paperwork Monday to run in New York’s 8th Congressional District, which covers part of east and south Brooklyn. In a statement, Ossé said: “Not only have the leaders of the Democratic Party failed to effectively fight back against Donald Trump, they have also failed to present a vision that we can all believe in. »
The council member is 27 and supported Mamdani in the Democratic mayoral primary, leading a rally and canvassing for him. Like Mamdani, Ossé has a large following on social networks and seeks to capitalize on public frustration with Democratic leadership, joining other young candidates launching main challenges across the country.
Ossé enters the race with some notoriety in New York, having been featured in The New Yorker, GQAnd new York review. But according to AxiosMamdani will not offer any public support to Ossé to ensure that Jeffries and other New York Democrats do not oppose his policies as mayor.
Yet the upstart candidate could build not only on Mamdani’s example, but also that of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who in 2018 defeated a member of the Democratic leadership just 27 years old to enter Congress, representing New York’s neighboring 14th District. Ossé will have to rally the support of Jeffries’ many critics who see the MP as a ineffective at the head of the Democrats against Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The question is whether Brooklynites agree.
