Amid D-10 NYTimes Endorsement Fallout, Park Slope Pol Endorses Niou

BROOKLYN, NY — Park Slope Council Member Shahana Hanif endorsed Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou this week in the District 10 congressional race as local leaders rallied behind progressive candidates in the wake of Dan Goldman's New York Times endorsement.

"We need a progressive willing to fight for working-class New Yorkers," Hanif said Tuesday of Niou. "I'm so proud to be joining a broad grassroots coalition," she added, alluding to the slate of progressive organizations and leaders who've put their support behind Niou's campaign.

Hanif endorsed Niou alongside Council Member Tiffany Cabán, who, in her own show of support, explicitly rallied against Dan Goldman, a moderate Democrat tied to the Trump impeachment who won the New York Times' endorsement in the race and has never held political office.

"Let’s not let a wealthy heir w [money] in weapons development, fossil fuels & Fox News buy a seat in Congress," Cabán said, taking a stab at Goldman, whose campaign is largely self-funded. "Yuh-Line Niou has a demonstrated track record of courageously fighting for our communities and confronting the powerful elite with a fearlessness few other elected officials can match."

Niou, though, isn't the only progressive winning endorsements in the unusually crowded race. U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones has been backed by many high-ranking out-of-state officials and national groups, and Council Member Carlina Rivera has garnered union support and endorsements from local leaders — most recently including Council Speaker Adrienne Adams.

Still, a recent Emerson College poll showed Goldman with a slight lead over Niou and Rivera and Jones tied up closely behind the two, prompting Hanif — and other supporters of Niou — to call on other candidates to drop out of the race.

"I would love to see a consolidation," Hanif told City and State. "I think it’s critical for progressives to unite on this front, but I get it, it's hard to tell a candidate to step aside."

While there's no indication that other candidates will drop out of the race, Niou and Mondaire came together this week against the Times' endorsement, reportedly urging voters to pick "anyone but Goldman."

Endorsements are poised to be particularly influential in the District 10 race's wide-open Democratic field, political analysts told Gothamist.

The new House seat, which covers the entirety of Lower Manhattan and large swaths of brownstone Brooklyn under recently-redrawn congressional maps, doesn't have an incumbent, since longtime Congressman Jerry Nadler is instead running in the reshaped 12th District.

Read Patch's District 10 Election Guide here.