Challenger In Wash Heights Race Receives Major Uptown Endorsements

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — After a redistricting do-over pushed back the primary date for all New York City's state Senate races, the contest to represent uptown's 31st District is entering its home stretch between Angel Vasquez and Sen. Robert Jackson.

Vasquez, who currently works at the United Federation of Teachers union and serves on Community Board 12, just received a collection of major uptown endorsements to represent the district that covers almost the entirety of Washington Heights and Inwood.

Council Members Shaun Abreu and Carmen De La Rosa announced their endorsement of Vasquez during the second week of July. The slate of endorsement announcements from Vasquez's campaign also included endorsements from Bronx Council Members Eric Dinowitz and Oswald Feliz.

"Today, I received the endorsements of NYC Council Members Shaun Abreu, Carmen De La Rosa, Eric Dinowitz, and Oswald Feliz," Vasquez tweeted out on July 11. "This is a powerful coalition of Council Members who represent the next generation of leaders in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx."

The endorsements came shortly after Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, and former uptown Council Member, announced he also was endorsing Vasquez.

Vasquez isn't the only candidate collecting endorsements, though, Jackson recently received an endorsement from former Manhattan Borough President and current Upper West Side Council Member Gale Brewer.

“Robert Jackson is a proven progressive fighter, who has a long and consistent record of standing up for what’s right,” Brewer said in a news release.

Jackson has held the seat since 2018, when he defeated incumbent Marisol Alcantara.

The race connects the two current candidates as Vasquez worked as chief of staff for Alcantara, who was the first Dominican woman to be elected to the State Senate.

Part of the explanation for Alcantara's loss in 2018 can be attributed to her decision to join the Independent Democratic Conference shortly after she was elected to the Upper Manhattan seat, which was a group of state senate Democrats that allied with the Senate Republications, allowing the party to control the chamber.