The race for Bronx Borough President
Outgoing City Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr., who will complete the maximum two terms representing the South Bronx’s District 17 at the end of 2025, is challenging incumbent Vanessa Gibson for the borough presidency this year. Gibson, who was elected in 2021, made history as the first woman and first Black Borough President elected in the Bronx.
Unlike City Council membership, the borough presidency plays an advisory role without binding votes and has no ability to bring new legislation. Even so, the BP has significant sway in representing the interests of the borough, and Salamanca Jr. will have an advantage as a known candidate.
“It’s obvious we need some type of change. We need help,” Salamanca told the Bronx Times upon announcing his candidacy in September.
This race will be one to watch as Salamanca Jr., a native of the Longwood neighborhood, seeks to bring a more centrist stance to local politics, with housing a top priority, in keeping with given his current role as chair of the council’s Land Use Committee.
Salamanca Jr. told the Bronx Times that his first move if elected borough president would be to declare a state of emergency for housing and advocate for the borough to stop “overspending” on shelters. Under his watch, District 17 has built the most affordable housing units of any district in the city, and if elected borough president, he vowed to fight for more equitable distribution of affordable housing throughout the borough and city.
Campaign finance records show that Salamanca Jr. has raised $99,460 in contributions from 199 donors as of Dec. 24, including the Hunts Point Produce Market PAC ($1,000), Bronx Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Sorin ($75) and Arline Parks, vice chair and CEO of Diego Beekman, a nonprofit affordable housing complex in Mott Haven ($175).
Bronx Mayoral candidates
Well over a dozen candidates plan to challenge Mayor Eric Adams, including two Bronxites from different ends of the political spectrum.
Michael Blake, who represented District 79 in the State Assembly from 2015 to 2021 and unsuccessfully challenged Rep. Ritchie Torres in the 2019 primary, announced his candidacy in November.
“I am running for mayor with a bold Our City, Our Home, Our Dreams policy platform, which advances universal childcare, faster payments to nonprofits, tax incentives for college graduates and businesses to return to the city, and a balanced approach to public safety, public housing and public schools in our neighborhoods,” Blake said in a statement.
He has been sharply critical of Adams, referring to him in a post on X as a “Black MAGA [Make America Great Again] mayor” after Adams offered congratulations to President-elect Donald Trump in November. Politico reports that in addition to the mayoral run, Blake is also considering a bid for chairperson of the Democratic National Committee, where he previously served as vice chair.
Another Bronx mayoral candidate comes from the tiny-but-growing Bronx Conservative Party. Gonzalo Duran, a U.S. Marines veteran and native of the Belmont neighborhood, is the local party’s vice chair and mounted an unsuccessful challenge to Rep. Ritchie Torres for the District 15 House seat in the November election.
Duran and the Conservative Party — which is distinct from the Republican Party — aim to put up candidates for all major city races to prevent Democratic incumbents from sliding through unopposed. Duran recently hosted a meeting of Conservative Party candidates in the Bronx, which largely focused on parental control over public education, reducing resources to immigrants and other common conservative stances.
Duran’s mayoral platform focuses on increasing NYPD foot patrol in high-crime areas, increasing civic engagement in Bronx communities and lobbying against the development of high-rent housing, among other issues.
Bronx Comptroller candidate
Ismael Malave Jr. from Throggs Neck is one of seven candidates for NYC Comptroller seeking to succeed Brad Lander, who is running for mayor. The comptroller watches out for the city’s fiscal and budgetary health and identifies fraud and waste in government spending.
Malave Jr., who was born in Puerto Rico, attended Baruch College and earned an MBA from Lehman College. He is running on a platform of fiscal responsibility, transparency and equity, as well as increased voter engagement.
City Council races to watch
District 8, representing the South Bronx and East Harlem
Three candidates have joined the race to replace Council Member Diana Ayala, who will be term-limited out of the council seat she has held since 2018.
Clarisa Alayeto, who chairs Bronx Community Board 1, recently announced her candidacy in her first-ever bid for citywide office. Alayeto has family roots in both East Harlem and the South Bronx and seeks to expand upon her Community Board connections to prioritize sanitation, public health and civic engagement in the area.
Campaign finance records show several other candidates for the District 8 seat: Assembly Member Edward Gibbs, Daniel Aulbach-Sidibe, Federico Colon, Hector Feliciano, Wilfredo Lopez, Nicholas Reyes and Ayala’s current chief of staff, Elsie Encarnacion.
District 14, representing Kingsbridge, Fordham and University Heights
Bryan Hodge Vasquez, a Bronx native who comes from a law and policy background, announced in July his challenge to Pierina Sanchez for the District 14 council seat. He served as campaign manager for Leonardo Coello’s unsuccessful bid for the 77th Assembly District seat, an experience which helped him grow a base of grassroots support to get his own candidacy off the ground.
Hodge Vasquez recently announced that his campaign is now eligible to receive matching funds, making him the youngest candidate to receive the eight-to-one small donation match from the city. “I am honored and humbled to know that our message—prioritizing truly affordable housing, lowering crime, and cutting grocery prices—is resonating with so many,” he said in a statement.
District 17, representing the South Bronx, West Farms and Soundview-Bruckner-Bronx River
Among the candidates to fill Salamanca Jr.’s council seat is Freddy Perez Jr., a local business owner, Community Board 1 member and Male Democratic District 84 Leader. His campaign will focus on affordable housing, safety, expansion of afterschool and early childhood programs and overall economic growth and affordability.
Also in the race is Antirson Ortiz, who served as Bronx liaison under Comptroller Scott Stringer, a youth counselor and an office manager for the NY State Assembly. Other candidates for the seat include Justin Sanchez, chief of staff to State Senator Nathalia Fernandez; Elvis Santana, who ran unsuccessfully for the same seat in 2017 and for the Assembly District 79 seat in 2020; and Jasmine Uribe, director of operations for The Bronx Collab co-working space and founder of design studio Collab NYC.
District 11, including Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge and Riverdale
Incumbent Eric Dinowitz will face a challenge from Danielle Herbert-Guggenheim, who has served as a middle school principal and vice chair of the Unity Democratic Club based in Riverdale. In a statement on her website, she said, “Ask yourself, what real improvements in our daily lives have we seen in District 11 in the last four years? Not enough. Not fast enough.”
District 13, including Throggs Neck and Pelham Bay Park
Incumbent Kristy Marmorato made history in 2023 as the first female Republican elected in the Bronx and will be running for reelection next year.
Other candidates include Shirley Aldobol, Executive Vice President at SEIU Local 32BJ overseeing New York metro public schools; David A. Diaz, a longtime City Islander who works at a Manhattan investment firm; and Theona Reets-DuPont, current chief of staff for Council Member Oswald Feliz, according to her LinkedIn profile.
District 16, including Yankee Stadium, Highbridge and Morrisania
Althea Stevens, chair of the Committee on Children and Youth, is currently listed as Undetermined for District 16.
Shakur Joseph is a candidate for the seat and has overcome family incarceration, his own arrest at age 12 for taking a school laptop home and moving away from his family at age 16. He advocates for increased renter protections, increased food access and justice reform, including a reentry center for people returning from incarceration.
Running for reelection
These City Council candidates are running for reelection with no other candidates listed as of Dec. 24:
- Amanda Farías of District 18, who made history as City Council’s first Latina Majority Leader and represents the Parkchester and Soundview areas
- Oswald Feliz of District 15, which includes Belmont, Fordham and East Tremont and chairs the Committee on Small Business
- Kevin Riley of District 12, which includes Co-op City, Williamsbridge and Wakefield. Riley co-chairs the council’s Black, Latino and Asian Caucus
This story was updated Dec. 27 at 9:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. to add mention comptroller candidate Malave Jr. and council candidate Ortiz.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
