Pair Of Major Endorsements Made In Harlem City Council Race

HARLEM, NY — With the Harlem District 9 City Council race a little more than a month away, a pair of major endorsements were recently picked up by two of the challenging candidates.

Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan is attempting to defend her seat against a trio of Democratic challengers: Assembly Member Inez Dickens, Assembly Member Al Taylor and Yusef Salaam, an exonerated member of the Central Park 5.

Dickens and Salaam recently bolstered their campaigns by nabbing major endorsements.

Over the weekend, Dickens announced the endorsement of Rep. Adriano Espaillat.

The uptown Congressman has a recent track record of success in supporting candidates in Inwood, Washington Heights, Harlem and the Bronx.

"Inez is who we need," Espaillat said in a statement. "Her moment is now, and our local City Council needs her leadership, experience and passion."

Dickens served in the same City Council District 9 position from 2006 to 2017, before moving on to the Assembly position she currently holds.

“We have very serious issues in the district that require more than aspirational speeches," Dickens said in response to Espaillat's endorsement. "With the support of my colleagues, the esteemed former Congressman Charles Rangel and Congressman Adriano Espaillat, as well as my neighborhood and constituents, I feel confident that better days are ahead for us."

A couple of days after Dickens announced the Espaillat endorsement, Salaam announced his own big-name supporter in the activist and author — Cornel West.

West, a former professor at Harvard and Princeton University, said that Salaam's story is "Harlem's story."

"Yusef Salaam is the answer to the question: who does Harlem deserve to represent it in the City Council," West said. "Yusef's story is Harlem's story — and he will be a brave, courageous and forceful advocate for change."

Salaam called the endorsement from West — "an honor."

"It's an honor to be endorsed by such an icon in Cornel West," Salaam said. "For decades, Cornel has spoken out boldly about truth, justice and the importance of standing up for what's right, and in the City Council I will do just that."

Making the endorsement all the more notable, West is among America's most famous socialists. He publicly threw all his support behind Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders during the 2016 campaign cycle.

Jordan, the incumbent, is one of the few elected, self-described socialists in the country, but that wasn't enough to stop West from endorsing her opponent.

Salaam also recently secured endorsements from Assembly Member Danny O'Donnell, and Manhattan Democratic County Leader Keith L.T. Wright.

In terms of the other challenger, Al Taylor has landed endorsements from a pair of local Harlem elected officials in State Senator Cordell Cleare and Assembly member Eddie Gibbs.

Jordan has not appeared to secure any endorsements based on her campaign website or social media accounts.