Next month, voters in the Bronx’s 77th state Assembly District will head to the polls for a special election to fill former Assemblymember Latoya Joyner’s seat.
Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a proclamation on Jan. 12 that the special election to fill the vacancy created from Joyner’s resignation will be held Feb. 13. Joyner abruptly resigned from the assembly on Jan. 8 to pursue a different career opportunity.
The 77th Assembly District includes the neighborhoods of Concourse, Mount Eden, Claremont, Highbridge and Morris Heights. According to Board of Elections data, the district is home to over 68,500 registered voters. Only residents of the district can vote in the special election.
On Jan. 18, the Bronx Democratic Party unanimously nominated Landon Dais, 42, a consultant and attorney.
“My decision to seek this nomination stems from a deep-seated desire to serve and make a tangible difference in the lives of our residents. I am ready to take on this challenge and work tirelessly for the betterment of our community,” Dais said in a statement.
According to reporting, the Bronx Republican Party nominated Norman McGill to fill the vacant Assembly seat. Phone calls to the Bronx GOP office were not returned on Monday, and verifiable information about the candidate and whether or not he was selected was not immediately available.
The Bronx special election will take place the same day as the 3rd Congressional District special election in Queens, to fill the vacancy following the expulsion of Rep. George Santos.
Whomever is elected to the state Assembly will fill the rest of Joyner’s term ending Dec. 31, 2024. In June 2024, a primary election will be held for candidates to serve the next full two-year term starting January 2025.
District 77, like the Bronx overall, tends to vote Democratic. According to BallotPedia, Joyner won her seat in 2022 with over 86% of the vote.
But turnout throughout the city, especially in the Bronx and for special elections, is a concern.
Dais told the Bronx Times that he has lived in the Bronx since 2016 and attended high school in the borough, and his wife is a Bronx native who serves on Community Board 4. The couple has two sons.
Dais said he is proud to have spearheaded community cleanup efforts at Highbridge Park. His background in employment law and construction litigation, he said, gives him a focus on workers’ rights and ensuring that construction projects employ people from those communities. Dais said he has also done pro bono work to represent young men of color with marijuana-related arrests.
The early voting period is Feb. 3-11. On election day, Feb. 13, polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information, visit vote.nyc/elections.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
