Patel To Challenge Maloney Again In Crowded Congressional Race

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Suraj Patel jumped into the race for New York's 12th congressional district on Monday, once again challenging Carolyn Maloney in the district that includes Manhattan's East Side and parts of Western Queens and Brooklyn.

Patel, an attorney, lost to Maloney by just 3,200 votes in 2020's Democratic primary, and was defeated by a wider margin two years earlier.

This year's June primary is already a crowded one: besides Maloney and Patel, declared candidates include activists Rana Abdelhamid and Maya Contreras.

In a 90-second advertisement, Patel, 38, takes aim at Maloney, 75, over the recently-redrawn 12th District, which gains ground in Manhattan while shedding younger, more diverse areas in Brooklyn and Queens that were seen as more favorable to a progressive challenge. Those new boundaries, drawn by state legislators, reportedly came at Maloney's urging.

"Afraid of another challenge, our representative gerrymandered young and Latino voters out of her district," Patel says in the announcement, which was posted to Twitter on Monday. "Call me old-fashioned, but I think voters should choose their politicians, not the other way around."

Maloney has served in Congress since 1993, chairing the powerful House Oversight Committee. She has touted her record of delivering funds for city projects like the Second Avenue Subway and the East River Esplanade, while burnishing her progressive credentials by co-sponsoring bills like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

But Patel proved a tough opponent in 2020, knocking Maloney for previously supporting "tough-on-crime" laws, and for past comments in which she questioned the safety of vaccines. (Maloney later backed off the claims.)

The two candidates also hail from different parts of the district: Patel from the East Village, and Maloney from the Upper East Side. The newly-drawn district includes both of those neighborhoods, as well as much of Midtown, portions of the Upper West Side, the West Village and SoHo in Manhattan, Greenpoint in Brooklyn, and Astoria and Long Island City, Queens.

This year's primary elections will be held on June 28.

Previous coverage:

• Carolyn Maloney Draws Progressive Challenger In Re-Election Bid
  
• Carolyn Maloney To Seek Re-Election, Setting Up Patel Rematch
  
• Carolyn Maloney Declared Winner In New York Congressional Primary
• Trump Suggests Do-Over In NYC Congressional Race Due To Delays