A ‘moderate in a sea of progressives,’ James Gisondi gets another chance in east Bronx state Senate race

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James Gisondi, a former lawyer who challenged state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi in the 2020 Democratic primaries, says he’s a “moderate in a sea of Progressives” in the state Senate’s District 34 race.

“I’m a moderate centrist, but I’m also a social liberal,” Gisondi, a Locust Point resident, said in an interview with the Bronx Times.

The registered Democrat, who ran unsuccessfully in the general election on the Republican line after Biaggi defeated him in the 2020 primaries — he says he remained a Democrat and it was just a ballot strategy — initially missed his chance to get on the ballot this year because his staffer filed twice with the city instead of the city and state separately, he said. Gisondi said he was going to keep fighting to get on the ballot, but with newly drawn districts and the Senate primaries pushed back to August, he has a second chance to officially enter the race.