Multiple LGBTQ organizations are calling on out queer Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou to run on the Working Families Party (WFP) line in the general election for the 10th Congressional District after she narrowly lost to attorney Dan Goldman in a crowded Democratic primary competition.
The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, a citywide LGBTQ political club, first distributed a press release on August 29 calling on Niou to take another shot at NY-10 in November.
The Associated Press called Goldman’s victory early in the morning on the day after the primary election when results showed Goldman ahead with 25.72% of the vote and Niou trailing behind with 23.71%. Out gay Congressmember Mondaire Jones, who represents NY-17 but shifted to run in NY-10 after redistricting, had 17.16% of the vote. The Jim Owles club stressed that the results remain unofficial, and there are absentee ballots that have yet to be counted.
“We are not calling on Dan Goldman to step aside, we are calling for all progressives to stand up,” Allen Roskoff, the president of the Jim Owles club, said in a written statement. “We are pro-choice — an issue that Dan Goldman was weakest on during this campaign.”
One day after the Jim Owles club spoke out, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group Equality New York also stepped up and encouraged Niou — who represents the 65th Assembly District — to take another shot at Goldman in NY-10, which encompasses lower Manhattan and parts of western Brooklyn.
“We urge Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou to run in the NY-10 general election on the Working Families Party line,” the organization wrote in a statement posted on Twitter. “EQNY knows Niou is who we need in Congress. She [has] been working in the community for years and is the most fit to represent New Yorker[s] in Washington, DC.”
Niou’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on August 30, but Niou told the Washington Post that she is “currently speaking with WFP and my community about how we can best represent the needs of this district.”
Jones officially steered clear of the WFP on August 30 as the party filed paperwork to remove him from the ballot line, New York WFP director Sochie Nnaemeke said in a statement. Still, WFP has yet to move forward with a candidate for the race, spokesperson Ravi Mangla told PoliticsNY.
The Jim Owles club pointed to previous election cycles when candidates have mounted general election bids on the WFP line, including when Letitia James, now the state attorney general, ran on the WFP line in her 2003 City Council race.
While some LGBTQ groups are still advocating for Niou’s candidacy, there are also out elected officials who have backed Goldman’s general election campaign. Congressmember Ritchie Torres posted a tweet saying he is “proud” to support Goldman and that it is time “for the Democratic Party to coalesce around the nominee.”
“Unlike Republicans who insist on perpetuating the big lie, we as Democrats respect the results of elections,” Torres said.
Another out gay lawmaker, Councilmember Erik Bottcher of District 3 — which includes some of the same neighborhoods in NY-10 — also backed Goldman.
“Congratulations to @danielsgoldman on winning the Democratic primary,” Bottcher wrote on Twitter. “I’m proud to endorse him & look forward to working with him.”
Among others, out Assemblymember Deborah Glick of Manhattan also voiced support for the Democratic nominee in NY-10.
“Congratulations to @danielsgoldman on his victory in the Democratic primary in NY-10,” Glick wrote on Twitter. “Dan is a committed public servant and I am proud to endorse him. I look forward to working with Dan to deliver on our shared progressive vision for our community and our city.”
The general election is slated to take place on November 8.
