Northern Suburbs Turn Out Big for Mondaire Jones
Out gay Black congressional hopeful cruises on election night in Westchester, Rockland
BY MATT TRACY
Mondaires Jones, an
out gay candidate for
Congress in Northern
Westchester and
Rockland County, jumped out to a
signifi cant lead on election night
and appears poised to be on the
fast-track for the Democratic nomination
in the 17th District.
Jones, who is aiming to become
the fi rst out gay Black member of
Congress, is leading with 42.66
percent of the vote, more than double
that of second-place candidate
Adam P. Schleifer, a former assistant
US attorney who grabbed
19.58 percent of the vote. Former
Independent Democratic Conference
member David Carlucci registered
12.39 percent, while ex-Department
of Defense offi cial Evelyn
Farkas got 8.64 percent and Assemblymember
David Buchwald
mustered just 5.27 percent.
The total numbers could take
more than a week to be fi nalized
due to New York State rules banning
absentee ballots from being
counted until eight days after the
election. This year’s race likely features
a signifi cant share of mail-in
votes due to the coronavirus pandemic,
but Jones’ lead seems likely
to prove too big for his opponents
to catch him.
Jones entered the campaign
armed with an array of experience
spanning local and federal roles,
working in the Obama administration’s
Department of Justice and
➤ RITCHIE TORRES, from p.4
deferred an opportunity to ask her
opponents a question and instead
underscored the danger of Diaz’s
candidacy, saying he wanted to
take away Torres’ right to love who
he wants to love.
That was a far cry from the friction
between Torres and Mark-Viverito
much earlier in the race, when
the two butted heads over issues
like campaign fi nance purity and
gentrifi cation. When Torres was
Mondaire Jones votes on election day in New York on June 23.
the Westchester County Law Department,
while also founding a
non-profi t organization.
Jones received the backing of
multiple LGBTQ organizations,
including the Human Rights
Campaign and the LGBTQ Victory
Fund, as well as an impressive
asked at a Stonewall Democratic
Club of New York City endorsement
meeting last October why he was
raking in real estate cash, Torres
targeted the former speaker, saying
Mark-Viverito did not take a
pledge against real estate donations
when she led the city’s lawmaking
body and that she oversaw
years of rezoning he said arguably
precipitated more gentrifi cation in
the city.
Torres’ candidacy builds on the
trailblazing path he already paved
TWITTER/ @MONDAIREJONES
slate of well-known lawmakers
like Senators Bernie Sanders
of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren
of Massachusetts, in addition to
Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio
Cortez of the nearby 14th Congressional
District in the Bronx
and Queens.
seven years ago when he became
the fi rst out LGBTQ elected offi cial
in the history of the borough. Having
already experienced homophobic
forces in that campaign, he
did not mince words in a sit-down
interview with Gay City News last
May when he previewed the congressional
competition.
“Diaz is a creature of the right,
I am a creature of the pragmatic
progressive left,” Torres said at the
time. “He’s a leading voice of opposition
to LGBT equality, I am an
POLITICS
Furthermore, Jones landed support
from queer lawmakers, such
as Congressmembers David Cicilline
of Rhode Island and Mark
Pocan of Wisconsin.
The Hudson Valley Stonewall
Democrats, however, instead opted
to endorse Buchwald, whose performance
in the race indicates that
he failed to attract much support
at all in the district.
While Jones is closing in on a
spot in the history books, a similar
situation is playing out in the
nearby 15th Congressional District,
where out gay Councilmember
Ritchie Torres is vying to become
the fi rst out gay Afro-Latinx
member of Congress and the fi rst
queer person ever in the New York
City congressional delegation.
Jones is running as a progressive
candidate supporting Medicare
for All, the Green New Deal,
and a reduction in military spending,
among other key causes. His
campaign page also expresses his
support for queer issues such as
the Equality Act and improving access
to PrEP.
The winner of this race will go
on to face Republican nominee in
the general election competition
to replace retiring Congressmember
Nita Lowey, who has served in
the House of Representatives since
1989.
In the Republican primary for
this race, Maureen McArdle Schulman
appears to have trounced her
primary opponent, 66.35 percent
to 17.97 percent.
LGBT trailblazer in the Bronx. So
the race is about the future of the
Bronx. Who we elect as our congressperson
in the 15th district
will speak powerfully about the
values of the borough. It is by far
the most consequential race in the
Bronx in decades.”
In a district that is so overwhelmingly
Democratic that the victor is
expected to coast through the general
election, it appears that future
Torres speaks of indeed arriving in
the South Bronx.
GayCityNews.com | June 25- July 15, 2020 5
/GayCityNews.com
