House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) is weathering a rebellion from his left flank in his home district as a conflict with the Democratic Socialists of America escalates.
The long-simmering conflict between Jeffries and the DSA has grown in prominence amid an election between incumbent Democratic state Rep. Stefani Zinerman, backed by Jeffries, and socialist Eon Huntley, backed by the DSA. The Assembly seat falls within Jeffries’s district. Though both Zinerman and Huntley are black, each camp accuses the other of being backed by and representing white gentrifiers.
“There is a feeling of black communities in Central Brooklyn that their communities and political voice are being taken away from them,” L. Joy Williams, a Democratic consultant, told Politico. “Hakeem and others are responding to voices in the local community that don’t want what they’ve been working for for decades to be overrun and taken away by an entity that doesn’t have long-standing roots in that community.”
Notably, though the district is 50% black and 20% Hispanic, almost all of Huntley’s staffers are white, according to the outlet.
Andre Richardson, a senior adviser to Jeffries and Zinerman’s campaign, lambasted those supporting Huntley as virtue signalers and carpetbaggers.
“The virtue signaling crowd and the carpetbaggers who work for them have tried to undermine Attorney General Tish James, Congressman Hakeem Jeffries and other leaders who are authentically connected to the community for years. They have repeatedly failed,” he told Politico in a statement.
“Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman is a proven, hardworking and authentic champion of the people of Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights. Leader Jeffries is strongly committed to making sure that she is reelected this year.”
Despite the attacks, Huntley has raised more than Zinerman and won the endorsement of a respected state senator in the district. To many, including Jeffries ally Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Huntley appears to be gaining ground.
“To be clear, DSA has been delivering wins,” Huntley said in an interview with the outlet. “And the reason why there is this fervor is because we have a winning message that truly speaks to what people are demanding.”
Some analysts view the race as critical to Jeffries’s political career as he seeks to become speaker of the House in the next Congress.
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“If you can’t get anything done at the state [level], it doesn’t speak well to what you can present to the country,” political scientist and former executive director of the New York Democratic Party Basil Smikle said. “You want to minimize opportunities for the Right to be able to cast all Democrats in the same lot as individual members who may be making individual policies who may not be aligned with where Hakeem is” — like Huntley and other DSA allies. “He can’t have that in his own backyard.”
The Democratic Socialists of America has also gained ground during the war in Gaza, which has elicited sympathy from many within the district. In the April presidential primary, 34% of voters cast a blank ballot as a protest against President Joe Biden’s support of Israel. Jeffries has positioned himself as a major supporter of Israel during the current conflict.
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