Chi Ossé, a rising star on the New York Metropolis Council, filed to run in opposition to Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries in Brooklyn, placing a progressive challenger squarely within the path of one of many Democratic Get together’s high nationwide figures and highlighting simmering ideological and generational divides within the celebration.
“The Democratic Party’s leadership is not only failing to effectively fight back against Donald Trump, they have also failed to deliver a vision that we can all believe in,” Ossé stated in an announcement to Axios. “These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District.”
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries
The 27-year-old represents New York Metropolis’s thirty sixth District, which incorporates North Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Elected in 2021 at simply 23 years outdated, Ossé grew to become the council’s youngest member and the primary Gen Z lawmaker in New York Metropolis politics. His rise was fueled by his organizing work in the course of the 2020 uprisings, and he has since established a fame as one of many council’s most left-leaning voices.
Axios first reported final month that Ossé was contemplating a bid in opposition to Jeffries, and his crew has additionally launched an ActBlue web page to start fundraising, signaling that the marketing campaign is shifting ahead.
Ossé’s alliance with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani provides one other layer of intrigue. Mamdani’s upset within the Democratic mayoral major despatched shockwaves by means of New York Metropolis’s political institution, and analysts are already drawing parallels between his rise and Ossé’s congressional bid.
Nonetheless, it’s not clear whether or not Mamdani will endorse Ossé. Axios experiences that Ossé has confronted non-public discouragement from the mayor-elect and his crew, who’re centered on constructing ties with institution Democrats and advancing their coverage agenda.
Jeffries has to date shrugged off the problem. When requested in October about Ossé’s potential run, the Home Democratic chief instructed Axios, “If you ask me a serious question, I’ll give you a serious answer. And you know that’s not a serious question based on everything coming out of Brooklyn.”
When pressed once more final week, Jeffries tersely replied, “No.”
“[Jeffries] is focused on battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP healthcare crisis,” a spokesperson for Jeffries instructed the New York Submit earlier this month.
Zohran Mamdani speaks after successful New York Metropolis’s mayoral election, on Nov. 4.
Ossé’s entry into the race suits a broader nationwide sample of younger, progressive Democrats opposing incumbents whom they view as out of step with the celebration’s evolving base.
Main challenges have cropped up in opposition to Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, with challengers arguing that older Democrats have did not confront President Donald Trump aggressively sufficient and haven’t supplied a compelling imaginative and prescient for the longer term.
Even inside New York, stress between the celebration’s wings is on full show. Senate Minority Chief Chuck Schumer has confronted criticism from each progressives and moderates over his dealing with of the latest authorities shutdown, revealing the deep divides that Ossé’s marketing campaign may faucet into.
For Ossé, the marketing campaign is a high-stakes gamble. He’s betting that the power from Mamdani’s mayoral victory—and the broader progressive momentum in Brooklyn—can translate into a reputable problem in opposition to a celebration chief with nationwide visibility.
A win would mark a big shift in New York politics, signaling that the progressive wing is able to defeating the outdated guard.
Whether or not Ossé can convert youthful power and left-wing idealism into political actuality stays to be seen, however the progressive problem to Jeffries is now concrete—and the stakes may lengthen far past Brooklyn.
