Andre Easton, a high school teacher campaigning for Democrat Ritchie Torres’ seat in the Bronx’s 15th Congressional District, isn’t usually approached by strangers in the grocery store. But recently, at the same place he’s been shopping for years, a young employee stopped him and said, “Aren’t you running for something?”
She had seen a poster in the neighborhood with his picture on it, along with eye-catching colors and graphic fonts not dissimilar to those used by mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s wildly successful campaign that thrust the term “socialism” back into the political mainstream.
As Easton spoke with the grocery store employee about the June 2026 primary, a powerful shift seemed to occur, he said. Throughout his campaign, he hopes Bronxites like her will “see [themselves] as political actors, and not just people praying and hoping that the right person will get voted in.”
“That’s better than any poll — talking to a regular working-class person who was previously a stranger,” Easton said.
Though the primary is several months away, the NY-15 race is heating up with not one but two Bronx socialist candidates seeking to topple Torres, build on Mamdani’s momentum and deliver more power to the district’s working people.
While Dalourny Nemorin is running as a Democrat and member of Mamdani’s party, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Easton is running as an independent as a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL). Former Assembly Member Michael Blake, who most recently ran in the mayoral primary, is also running.
For any of them to out-fundraise Torres is unlikely. Easton’s all-volunteer campaign has collected just over $5,000 in contributions —a number dwarfed by the $14 million in Torres’ campaign coffers.
Torres took office in 2021 and won the most recent federal election with 76.2% of the vote.
Ousting a well-known incumbent with major fundraising prowess will be challenging, but the idea of a possible shakeup in the district covering a wide swath of the central and south Bronx is attracting more early attention than usual.
Easton is hoping that now is the time for his socialist platform which includes, “dignity, housing, fair wages, and a future that belongs to us — not the billionaires, not the landlords, but the workers who make society run.”
Teaching and campaigning
Easton spoke with the Bronx Times on Dec. 6 as campaign volunteers congregated at the South Bronx United clubhouse for a session on environmental justice and public health.
Easton said his candidacy is strongly informed by his 14 years as a South Bronx high school educator. From day one, his teaching career was disrupted by Hurricane Sandy, which killed at least 43 people in New York City and damaged thousands of homes and businesses with high winds and up to nine feet of floodwater.
As the start of the 2012 school year was repeatedly disrupted in the storm’s aftermath, Easton said he learned early lessons in adapting to ever-changing circumstances and showing up for those relying on him.
“You don’t know what you’re gonna walk into. You don’t know what your students are walking away from,” he said. “And you’re just trying to teach who shows up, you know what I mean?”
Today, Easton’s students are seeing firsthand what it takes to run for office, and he brings a taste of democracy to the classroom with quarterly surveys to solicit students’ feedback on his and his co-teacher’s performance.
Students take the mission seriously, according to sEaston. His message to them is, “The more critical you are of me, the better I can deliver for the next group of students,” he said. “That’s always the goal — consistent improvement.”
For his first-ever political campaign, Easton is leveraging his teaching roots in a series of events, “Class is in Session,” which equips volunteers with information about issues affecting the Bronx and invite them to share their experiences.
About 30 people attended the Dec. 6 session on climate impacts and public health, where they picked up small black-and-white composition notebooks and backpack buttons in keeping with the classroom theme. Past sessions have focused on lowering rent costs, combating food insecurity and strengthening public schools.
Even in an age where skepticism of expertise runs rampant, especially around climate science, Easton said it’s important for people to “take the science out of the academy and put it on the ground, put it in their hands.”
For instance, he said, many if not most Bronx parents have brought their child to the hospital for asthma treatment, but not as many can comfortably discuss how the disparity got so extreme and put numbers behind its health impact.
For those attending his sessions, Easton said he aims to provide people with “the tools to be able to sharply criticize the society that they live in,” along with an emphasis on solutions.
As with the young woman in the grocery store, Easton said he wants his campaign to engage all kinds of Bronx working people and help them envision their political involvement beyond trudging to the polls for the candidate they dislike least.
“It’s blowing my mind to see the different ways the creativity of the working class has been activated through this campaign,” he said. At the end of every interaction, “We want you to be different than you were yesterday.”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
