Astoria resident Nomiki Konst suspended her three-month-long campaign to represent the new 59th State Senate district and endorsed her progressive rival, Kristen Gonzalez, just as early voting got underway for the Aug. 23 primary election.
Konst announced her decision following a face-to-face meeting with Gonzalez, arranged by state Senator Michael Gianaris at the iconic Neptune Diner on Saturday, Aug. 13.
“Since the new district was announced, we’ve been running a progressive community-based campaign, with committed supporters, and transformative policy proposals that have added important dimensions to this race and the conversation in this diverse community,” Konst said. “I am grateful to the community members, volunteers, activists, neighbors, and friends that have supported the campaign we have run. Without our community support we wouldn’t have been able to collect 3,000 signatures within a week of announcing, spoken to thousands of residents, and highlighted important local issues like the environmental coverups in Greenpoint, pandemic relief, expanding women’s health justice funding, and a plan to tax developers after 421-a.”
