DSA Co-Chair Joins Fray for Crowded and Contentious City Council D26 Race

A harsh critic of the New York City Democratic political establishment is throwing down a challenge in the city council races.

Co-chair of the Queens DSA Jonathan Bailey filed with the New York City Campaign Finance Board to run for New York City Council in the 2021 elections.

He is running for District 26 which is currently held by term-limited City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer’s (D-Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, Dutch Kills). He is part of a push of progressive candidates running for office in New York City.

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Bailey has been a confrontational critic of Van Bramer. Last September he published an open letter to Van Bramer on Medium in response to a request from the councilmember to meet that reporting at the time called “critical” and “scathing.” In the letter, Bailey accused Van Bramer of being a fake progressive and refused to sit with him.

Bailey was also a loud voice in the summer’s protests over the fiscal year 2021 budget. At one point he went up to City Councilmember Daniel Dromm’s home and knocked on –– or pounded according to Dromm –– the door, demanding that the budget defund the New York City Police Department be decreased to half the size.

Bailey responded to requests for comment but QCP was not able to add them to the story in time for publication. The Queens DSA could not be reached for comment for this story.

The race for Van Bramer’s seat is a crowded one, with 12 candidates already listed as vying for the seat. Bailey’s opponents include Tavo T. Bortoli, Lorenzo Brea, Julia L. Forman, Benjamin Guttmann, Marvin Jeffcoat, Heajin Kim, Jesse Laymon, Sultan Maruf, Brent O’ Leary, Bianca Ozeri, and Julie Won.

Bailey was appointed as co-chair of the Queens-DSA in 2019. Sources said he stepped down to run for City Council but that could not be confirmed.
The DSA backed current City Council Candidate for District 22 Tiffany Cabán in 2019 in her close up unsuccessful bid for Queens District Attorney. There was only one candidate, Zohran Mamdani, endorsed by the NYC-DSA for the June primary elections.

This story has been updated to reflect Bailey’s response to a request for comment.