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Jordan Wright on Winning His Assembly Primary, Uptown Politics, & More
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New York State Assembly Member Jordan Wright, a D…
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- [00:00]
A
Foreign. Hello and welcome to Max Politics. This is Ben Max coming to you from New York Law School and its center for New York City and State Law. Thanks for tuning in. My guest today is New York State Assembly Member Jordan Wright, a first term Democrat who just won a hotly contested primary race centered in Harlem where he represents the 70th state assembly district and he's now all but certain to be heading back to the assembly for term two come January. We spoke on Friday, July 3, 2026. Jordan Wright won the June Democratic primary roughly 54% to 46% over challenger Conrad Blackburn, who was supported by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America dsa. Blackburn was the only DSA candidate for Congress or State Legislature to lose in the primaries last month and I'll ask Jordan Wright why he thinks he was able to buck that trend, which is included several of his assembly colleagues losing primaries to DSA backed challengers. Wright's Harlem based Assembly district is also part of the larger 13th congressional district, which was home to perhaps the biggest upset of the New York primaries and that was Darielisa Avila Chevalier's victory over Congressman Adriano Espad, who has been a major Uptown Bronx and Latino power broker for many years. She had the support of Mayor Mamdani and the DSA. Espa won the seat back in 2016, defeating then assembly Member Keith Wright, Jordan Wright's father. And there's been long standing bad blood between Espailt and Wright and between their political bases. But as the New York 13 primary came down the wire and Espaillat seemed vulnerable in part due to his apparent lack of support among black voters, Jordan Wright was among the black leaders to endorse Espaillat. He stood alongside House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn and others to support Espaillat, who though Keith Wright, who leads the Manhattan Democratic Party, was noticeably absent, it appears that Avila Chevalier went on to win among black voters in the 13th Congressional District and that there were many Avila Chevalier and Jordan Wright crossover voters, even though Wright was facing his own DSA backed challenger. So I'll ask Jordan Wright about all of that in the conversation ahead. Before becoming an assembly member, Jordan Wright previously served on his local community board. He he ran the successful 2023 city council campaign of Yusef Salaam, then served as Chief of Staff for Salaam, briefly going on to run and win his assembly seat in 2024. And Jordan Wright took his seat in January 2025. As I've alluded to, he's a member of a Harlem political dynasty. Jordan Wright is the son of former Assemblymember Keith Wright, who continues to lead the Manhattan Democratic Party. As I said, he's also the grandson of former New York Supreme Court Judge Bruce Wright. Jordan Wright is also currently the President of the Manhattan Young Democrats. So he's intertwined with both Harlem and broader Manhattan and New York politics in a number of ways. His 70th assembly district is one of 150 in New York State and it's centered, as I said, in Harlem has about 145,000 residents who break down roughly as 43% black, 30% Hispanic, 18% white and 5% Asian. In the 2024 Democratic primary where Jordan Wright first won, he won that open seat after the retirement of then Assembly Member Inez Dickens in essentially a four candidate race. And Jordan Wright won 48% of the vote and his opponents got 30, 18 and 5%. In this 2026 Democratic primary was a roughly one on one race and as I mentioned, he got 54% of the vote to his opponents 46%. That was about 7,350 votes to 6,250 votes roughly. Jordan Wright with me in a moment. Very briefly, this is another in a series of great post primary convers I'm having here on the podcast. Since primary day my other guests have included New York City Public Advocate Jumani Williams, the Chair of the New York State Democratic Party, Jay Jacobs, Brad Landrieu, who's now the Democratic nominee in New York's 10th congressional district after defeating incumbent Representative Dan Goldman, and State Senator Julia Salazar of Brooklyn, who was the first DSA backed state legislator of this modern DSA rise. She was first elected in 2018 and took office in 2019 and along with AOC for Congress was among the first DSA backed candidates to start winning races in this modern era. So catch up on any or all of those conversations after you listen to this one. All right. I'm very pleased to welcome to Max Politics New York State Assembly Member Jordan Wright, a Democrat who represents the 70th assembly district in Manhattan centered in Harlem. He was first elected to the legislature in 2024 and so is finishing his first two year term. And he just won a hotly contested Democratic primary in June, roughly 54% to 46% in an essentially one on one race and is all but certain to be heading back to the assembly for a second term in January. Jordan Wright, thanks for joining me. How are you?
- [05:17]
B
I'm well Ben. Surviving the heat wave. We're in right now, but thanks for having me.
- [05:21]
A
I appreciate is brutal, but there is an end in sight. Thankfully. Just big win a few days ago, really a week or so ago. We'll get into a lot of specifics, but how you feeling about getting that vote of confidence from the voters to continue your work again? There's a general election, but in a district like this, it's all but certain that the Democratic nominee will, will advance. But how are you feeling, Ben?
- [05:46]
B
I'm energized. I walk the streets of Harlem every day and every feels like every block someone's congratulating me, letting me know something that they're proud of that I've done, letting me know that they're happy to have serving in a second term. So it's exciting. And again, I'm very energized.
- [06:04]
A
And we'll get back to your race in a moment, but let's zoom out for a couple minutes. What were your big picture takeaways as you saw the primaries in New York City unfold in June? We had a whole bunch of races for state offices, including yours, but then also the congressional races. What were your takeaways? There's obviously a lot of attention on sort of a big left wing insurgency. There's questions around, you know, voters, especially Democratic based voters, being very frustrated, etc. Etc. What were your takeaways from what you saw happen in New York in the primaries here?
- [06:37]
B
Obviously there was a lot going on, narrowing in a little bit as my capacity as president of Manhattan Young Democrats. Obviously I took a look at the Manhattan races, so a lot of what was happening there, trying to understand what voters are looking for, what young people specifically are looking for. And young people made their voices heard this election. And I'm looking forward to working with all those who have, you know, reign victorious, for lack of a better phrase, this past June and working to make sure the Residents of Assembly 70th Assembly District can live as full lives as possible.
- [07:15]
A
Young voters are particularly energized as you got at what, what do you see? I mean, you are, you are among that cohort again, as you mentioned, president of the Manhattan Young Democrats and fitting in that sort of, what is that under 8, under 35 or under 40 age bracket. So what is the source, you know, what is the source of the frustration among young voters? Is it feeling like people who've been in office, older generations just really aren't fighting hard enough on affordability issues? Do you see it as a combination of things? What's, what's your sense and your feeling Even for yourself, about why young people and young voters are so frustrated and have been pursuing change in a lot of cases.
- [07:57]
B
Right? Well, I don't see it as frustration, honestly, Max. I see it as, you know, opportunity. I see it as young folks see an opportunity to get involved in their communities. Young people have an opportunity to have a seat at the table with their elected official at city, state, federal level, what have you. I see it as opportunity for people to want to get involved in the most granular levels of government. One of my impetus of my political career was I was a member of the community board. And I think we see young people wanting to do that, wanting to get involved and again, feeling energized to be a part of the political process, which obviously the, to me, the sooner you're in it, the better, the more influence you can have.
- [08:35]
A
And of your sense, even if it's just Manhattan young Democrats, was there sort of a pecking order of issues of most importance? You know, there's obviously this big focus on affordability, challenges, housing, etc. There's a lot of sort of anti war sentiment. There's a lot of sort of frustration around a second Trump term and those policies. Did you sense sort of a pecking order of what's most on the mind of young Manhattan Democrats in this election?
- [09:08]
B
Definitely affordability. Being able to just operate and live in this beautiful city that I've been lucky enough to call home my entire life and people wanting to live and people wanting to operate and just be able to, you know, be happy to call New York City home and wanting to be able to have generations of their family call New York City home. Some people who have been here for multiple generations, they want to be able to continue to raise their families here. And I think that's a beautiful opportunity. And young voters, you know, again, with affordability being, I think the primary issue have been able to tackle.
- [09:41]
A
Now, do you, given you also come from a political family, you have been around even though you're young, you've been around politics your whole life. You've been, you know, you manage a winning city council campaign before you ran for assembly, you've been on the community board. Do you sometimes try to act as a bridge between generations for younger voters? Are you, you know, trying to at times stress to younger voters that they don't need to throw every incumbent out? There's actually some, you know, value and experience or how do you sort of approach working between generations?
- [10:16]
B
I think a bridge is a good way to put it, but I, you know, again, When I walk the streets of Harlem, people stop me from all ages, you know, all creeds, all cultures congratulating me, coming up to me, approaching me, letting me know the things they'd like to see in the community. Yesterday I was at a cooling center and I saw any number of folks who, you know, of our elderly population, our senior citizens who wanted to see certain things in their specific buildings on their blocks. So I think being a bridge to young voters who also might have different problems to the more senior citizen voters who, again, have different issues is something important to me that I view myself as someone who can really talk to folks from all walks of life across the district.
- [10:58]
A
All right, so coming back to your race, why you were facing a robust left wing DSA backed challenger, what do you attribute your victory to? We can get into the broader context again in a few minutes, but you were the only one who defeated a DSA challenger. You have assembly colleagues who lost their seats in primaries in, in Brooklyn and Queens to left wing challengers, but you were victorious not by a huge margin, but a pretty comfortable margin. What do you attribute that to in your victory? And what does it tell you, sort of about the work ahead, hard work, knocking on doors.
- [11:38]
B
My team and I, we knocked on over 40,000 doors this cycle. My team and I made a number of phone calls to voters across the district. And it's about touching voters who feel like they might not have been touched before, pounding the pavement, hitting the streets, and also doing the work in Albany and letting the community know of some of the work that I've done in Albany. It's important to understand that the electoral process is a complex one. So contacting voters, getting in touch with people, letting them know who their assembly member is, why they are seeking another term, is kind of just the bare bones of the work that we put in. And again, why I'm so honored to be able to have won a second term.
- [12:19]
A
Do you feel like you had a ground game that rivaled what the DSA activity is? I mean, that's sort of now the bread and butter of how even when turnout is up from two or four years ago in these types of primaries, it's still very low. I mean, you're still talking about a universe of voters that is a low percentage of the overall eligible population. So are you able to sort of rival that ground game thanks to your network and your, you know, ability to sort of bring people out as volunteers, say a little bit about what that looks like? And were you at a deficit in that still, even though you had a pretty robust operation.
- [12:57]
B
Well, I mean, I can speak to my campaign. And what we did, I know that we had a number of people who have, you know, we activated to, you know, get involved in campaigns and people who. Who have been involved in campaigns for a long time. And I think having folks from all across the spectrum is important in building a wide coalition to make sure that, again, Harlem can understand why. It's important that, you know, I was able to gain reelection and that I'm happy to again serve another term. Because once again, in Harlem, you know, we. We work very hard, and it's important that everybody sees that their SO member is working just as hard as they are.
- [13:33]
A
And what, from your brief time in the assembly, what were you highlighting for people? I mean, what do you consider your top accomplishments of your record? You know, the way Albany works that many people listening know, but some might not, is that it's not always about individual members getting their bill sponsored. Right. There's so much that comes. Sorry. That sponsor bills that get those bills passed. So much winds up coming down to what the big packages are. Right. The budget package that has a lot of legislation and funding in it. Very often at the end of a legislative session, although it didn't really happen this year, there's a huge package that comes together. So it's not always about individual members sponsoring their own bills and then getting those passed, but there is some of that. So are there things you specifically championed? Are there things that you felt like you really added a voice to in the big budget packages that you voted on? What were the top things that you highlighted for. For voters in your record?
- [14:24]
B
Absolutely. So one of the things that I was able to hit the ground running on, and it's unfortunate that it had to be this way, was the Legionnaires crisis that we had in Harlem last summer. Obviously, we're seeing rising conditions in terms of temperature, which we're again experiencing right now, and cooling towers where Legionella bacteria develops, thrives in conditions such as what we're going through right now. So I passed a piece of legislation that had made for more frequent cleaning of cooling towers, a higher standard for what clean means. And if those two weren't met, the stipulations weren't met, then property owners would be fined. And again, I think it's unfair that communities of color continue to have to bear the brunt of these terrible, terrible health issues. And I'm happy to pass that piece of legislation that will hopefully mitigate this as best we can for summers to come, because it's only going to get hotter, as we know. Mm.
- [15:21]
A
And were there any things in the state budget that recently passed in the beginning of May that you were most vocal on? Were there things that you, you know, again, you're one member, relatively new, in a very large assembly Democratic conference, so it doesn't always mean that you have some, you know, some kind of outsized voice, but were there things that you were speaking up about in conference or you were, you know, trying to make sure that got to the finish line or things that you were against that that happened or didn't happen?
- [15:48]
B
Yeah. So also speak to the. With $30 million for not for profits and underser through the black legislative task force, a number of those dollars went to, you know, not for profits in my district. And I know that money's going to get used in a very effective way to make sure Harlem residents can have cool summers, can have access to the arts, senior citizens can, you know, get a good meal during the week at the senior center. So those are some of the things that I'm proud of. In addition to $2.2 billion for the childcare, obviously, that was a large initiative spearheaded by our mayor and our governor and look forward to doing more work. In addition to also money for michelamas in our districts and money for. We act for environmental justice, as we can see, you know, we're dealing with a climate situation right now. So happy to support a environmental group in my community that is doing the work to make sure that communities of color are not bearing the brunt of these environmental issues, as we're seeing right
- [16:47]
A
now now, to sort of connect the politics and the policy. You know, you come from a legacy family of public service. There are ways in which a lot of voters in other places have been souring on, you know, family dynasties, so to speak, in politics, or, you know, people that seem like they're really part of an establishment, but that didn't happen in your race, at least to enough of a degree for you to lose again, you were victorious by a fairly comfortable margin. Margin here. What is it about the. Is there, you know, is there something to the right brand, right as in wri ghd, that you've been able to keep strong in Harlem? Like what, you know, are there things you attribute that to? What. You know, what are the ways in which you've been able to convince voters not to, you know, sort of want to see change, even though you, again, are from a younger generation? So maybe that's a key piece of it. But is there a way you've been able to sort of keep that family brand strong while others have seen people sour on that type of thing.
- [17:54]
B
You know, there's people in this community in Harlem who voted for my grandfather, my father, my uncle, and now myself. And, you know, I don't necessarily view that as a bad thing. We know our community, we've been pounding the pavement around our communities. You know, I remember playing games in the Harlem Little League and everybody was watching, everybody was out there. And, you know, when I was managing the campaign for council member Salaam, I would go and I would introduce a council member, council candidate. Then Salaam, I'd mention, you know, who I was. I was the. I was the campaign manager. I talk about my, my uncle, I talk about my father who, you know, middling, you know, claps or what have you. And then I'd bring up my grandfather and the senior center would just like burst out in applause. And my grandfather was a titan for the 8th amendment. And people to this day will stop me in the street and saying, your grandfather's the reason I can walk around today. Judge Bruce Wright. Bruce Wright, yes. Your grandfather's the reason I can be out here talking to you right now. We gotta get a job. I gotta have a family. Because he gave me a fair chance. Because he knows that, you know, he knew that I wasn't given a fair chance by the police. So, you know, again, he's a Titan for the 8th amendment, you know, failed fair bail practices. And to answer your question more directly, Ben, I think that the brand of my family is one that's just in the community. We walk around, we talk to people, we go to the gym in the community. We're always, always going to the movies in the neighborhood, going to eat in the neighborhood. People know us, people see us, and end of the day, we're working as hard as we can for the community.
- [19:29]
A
One of the key things that you got at related to Legionnaires, you highlighted passing legislation on this. But it also speaks to the notion of how important constituent services are. And I do think this is one of the areas where some of the, you know, the DSA backed the left wing insurgents. It doesn't even have to be DSA candidates, just a lot of primary challengers across the city. And this, of course, is a phenomenon well outside of New York City. But that primary challengers often catch incumbents not doing great constituent services. Is that something you've focused on? Are there ways that you do constituent services any different than, you know, people in the past? Or other assembly that you know of. How do you focus on that? And is that a, is that a key to the work you're talking about here?
- [20:19]
B
Coming into this job? Community service, I mean, sorry, constituent services was 1, 2 and 3. For me, it was key that I come into this role with a plan for constituent services because I know previously we had two members, my father and Inez Dickens, who did community constituent services very well. So I wanted to be sure to continue that, use the, you know, create my own blueprint for the work that I. How I wanted to go about it. So my team is consistently in the field, going to meet with folks, you know, in their apartments, going to see what their issues, are, calling management companies to make sure that they're doing the work, you know, in people's buildings where they might have an issues, calling through different agencies to make sure people are getting the help they need, whether that be hra, hpd, the list goes on. But my office having an open door policy, I think really helps out. People can call my office anytime to get the help they need. And I think that's key when it comes to being an active and attentive member of the New York State Assembly.
- [21:17]
A
Now, in your assembly race, did Donald Trump come up? Did you know, was there, were there issues that you heard from voters, constituents about, you know, Democrats opposing Trump and Trump policies, or is this sort of like a congressional issue, perhaps, or it's a bigger national narrative, but it does. Didn't penetrate sort of a Assembly race centered in Harlem?
- [21:39]
B
No. I think the issue of Donald Trump affects all New Yorkers because a lot of New Yorkers know what kind of nonsense that he's on all of the time. I think that voters in Harlem are very educated, they're very sophisticated, so they understand what the issues of the day are and they understand how the New York State assembly might be able to help out in terms of finding funding that, you know, the President might have taken away from certain agencies where the New York State assembly can jump in and fill that gap. So I think in terms of different projects, things that are going on, you know, Second Avenue, subway, great example, you know what I mean? Just finding ways that the new. That the state can jump in and help out and just, you know, making sure the, you know, end of the day, the voters are very knowledgeable and they know what's going on.
- [22:21]
A
And what about the war in Gaza, Israel's war in Gaza, that conflict and all those questions, Was that an issue that rose to prominence in your race or. Or again, you Know, similar question, like was that something that was more a congressional issue and didn't really come up in your assembly race?
- [22:39]
B
No, I'm not necessarily. I think that it's important to understand, like I said, voters in Harlem, very sophisticated and they're worried about the issues of the day right now.
- [22:47]
A
And, and that wasn't one for most.
- [22:49]
B
Well, I mean the issues, the voters did not come to me and talk to me about that directly.
- [22:53]
A
Interesting. So your opponent was a DSA candidate, Conrad Blackburn. He at least on his website, was running on, you know, a lot of the sort of typical New York DSA agenda. A lot of, you know, very left wing policies, big focus on increasing taxes on high income earners and corporations and then, you know, paying for things like free tuition at CUNY or universal childcare, which I guess, you know, everybody agrees on these days, but you know, variety of other policies. I won't go through the whole list. Do you think that mattered in this race? Are there things, you know, given he did get 46ish or roughly 46% of the vote, are there things that you saw that he highlighted that. Now you take forward having won the race and obviously you're feeling good about earning voters trust and winning and the things we've been talking about, about the ways that you've performed in office. But do you take things away from his platform and what spoke to voters to say, oh, maybe I should focus on issue X or Y? Because there does seem to be a real interest in this district in some of those further left policies that I haven't necessarily supported before.
- [24:00]
B
Well, I'm happy to put my record up against anybody. Let me start there. I'm happy to, you know, put my record up against anybody in the New York State assembly in terms of, you know, supporting being on the right side of issues. I'm happy to be signed on to all the tax to rich bills, happy to, you know, be able to fight for all the revenue raisers to ensure that again, the residents of the 70th assembly district are getting their fair shake all the time.
- [24:26]
A
So nothing he raised that you, you see as something that your constituents are hankering for that you haven't been supporting.
- [24:33]
B
Again, you know, I just had my first term in the assembly, so I look forward to putting more work in together. You know, two years is two years. I can deal with what's right in front of me, but I look forward to, you know, gaining more traction in the assembly, being able to do more work and again, looking forward to my second term to get all that stuff done.
- [24:52]
A
I heard you say in an interview On New York 1 the other night with Errol Lewis that you didn't. You guys didn't debate in this primary. How's that possible?
- [24:59]
B
Every day is a forum in Harlem. No matter where you are, you're on the streets, you're always getting asked questions. Every day is a forum.
- [25:05]
A
Was that. That was your choice not to do debates?
- [25:07]
B
Not necessarily. I mean, you know, I'm just, again, I'm happy with my record up against anybody at any time.
- [25:13]
A
Interesting. Is there anything we haven't talked about in your race that you would point to in terms of how it went, the way it went Again, this being an exception where DSA back candidate didn't win bunch of other races, including against assembly incumbents. We've touched on a whole number of issues in terms of your record and. And so forth, but anything else we haven't talked about that you'd point to in terms of why this race went the way it did and. And why you were victorious against a very, you know, energized dsa. This is one area of the city that DSA membership has been growing significantly. There was obviously, which we'll talk about in a minute, the overlapping congressional race in the 13th district. The SA candidate defeated the incumbent, Adriano Espeot. So anything else we haven't talked about that you'd point to here in terms of your success?
- [26:03]
B
No, I think my success is, again, rooted in community. You know, people know who I am. People have been seeing me walk the streets my whole life. You know, Harlem Junior Tennis. I was a member of Harlem Junior Nicks. You know, my parents were involved in figure skating in Harlem in the City Museum in Harlem, My dear mother. So I think there's a lot of people here in this community who know exactly who I am from the age of zero all the way up to 31. And I think that a lot of me pounding the pavement, talking to people, you know, word gets out, word gets around. And I've again, being a member of the New York State assembly is the honor of my life, and I'm thrilled that the residents chose me to serve a second term.
- [26:38]
A
Now the voting population in Harlem has shifted a lot. The total population has as well. The black population has shrunk as a. As a proportion of the population. What has that meant for your politics, your approach to politics, the strength of the sort of Harlem, you know, black establishment there and how you've had to think about politics any differently? You've seen a lot of Younger, whiter voters move into the district. How's that influenced you influenced the politics of the area?
- [27:15]
B
Yeah, top tier for me is always going to be black people making sure that black people are, are comfortable, making sure black people are getting their fair shake and making sure black people have an equal opportunity. I think that, again, being a young black man in this country is a special thing and I look forward to. I just want everybody to have the same opportunities as everybody else.
- [27:38]
A
Is the changing nature of the district a particular challenge for you? Are there ways in which you need to build more bridges? Are there ways in which you need to make sure that there are newer residents of the district of whatever age, race, ethnicity that you have to reach in different ways because it has become more of a transient district in recent years?
- [28:01]
B
Well, Ben, again, my. What I'm always going to do is talk about residents who I, you know, grew up in Harlem, who I grew up seeing, you know, there's people who I know I grew up with my whole life in Harlem who now live in, you know, la, Atlanta, Long Island. And I want to make sure that those people can have the opportunity to maybe come back or, you know, that they're, you know, younger family members can be able to stay, raise their families. I think that's a part of something that's really key for me.
- [28:25]
A
You talked about funding for Michelle Lama. You talked about funding for nonprofits. You talked about child care funding. Are there other things that are on your mind that are key for helping black Harlemites stay in Harlem in the years to come? It seems like in Albany, there's been a lot of efforts at affordability, and now there's other, you know, issues that people raise in terms of different policies, whether it's on housing or, you know, income inequality and so forth. But do you see there being particular policies that you want to fight for going forward that would be particularly helpful to that issue you just got at, which is how can black Harlemites stay in Harlem long term? If they, if they want to, of course.
- [29:11]
B
And I think what you got out there, what I talked about previously in terms of the investing in our current housing stock, no matter what the kind of housing is? Mitchell Lama, section 8, section 9, rent controlled, rent stabilized. What have you investing in that housing stock is the important part, because people have to want to stay here and the housing that they want to live in, it's going to have to be clean. It's going to, you know, you don't want to see leaks every day. You don't want to see Holes in the walls. You want to make sure that the housing is proper and end of the day, you know, more investment in the current housing stock as well as anything else that might be going up, making sure that it's, it's affordable, making sure that it's clean, making sure that, you know, it's what anybody would want to live in. Because that's all anybody in Harlem might want is just, you know, housing that's, you know, fair, equitable and affordable for all.
- [29:56]
A
Yeah. One of the controversies, of course, has been the questions around, like how to. How to save nycha, how to make sure that NYCHA buildings are not falling down, around their residents are not dealing with constant elevator outages and mold. And you go down the list, do you feel like, obviously everybody wants more money for nycha, but do you feel like some of the policies recently, in recent years put into place that are leading to improvements in some developments are on the right track? You have various mechanisms that shift some of how NYCHA is funded and you bring in private management in some developments, and there's the Albany Pass Preservation Trust as another mechanism to raise money. There's a variety of things that have moved. Do you feel like those programs are on the right track? Are you liking what you're seeing there?
- [30:44]
B
Right. And, you know, kind of on a case by case basis, you know, going back to the constituent services that I spoke about before, people call me office every day with a certain, you know, feeling about NYCHA or where they've been sent, where they've been moved. You know, I know people who love it. I know some people who might not like it so much. But end of the day, I think everyone, once they get into a new apartment is going to be like, okay, this is kind of cozy. I can get used to this. So I think people need to understand that it's, you know, everything's a process, but, you know, again, on a case by case basis, I've seen many different situations come through my office and I look forward to, you know, helping to continue to help the residents of Harlem in the 7th assembly district on a case by case basis to make sure that they're feeling comfortable with their housing.
- [31:25]
A
What's your view on this idea of more NYCHA infill development that could also be a revenue raiser while also providing new housing for people to move into, perhaps affordable housing, perhaps mixed income housing with some affordable. There's a lot of discussion about, you know, this question that's been around for many, many years about really accelerating that a bit. It's something the Mamdani administration is looking into. Do you think there's an appetite for that in your district, for people to acknowledge that one of the ways to bring in new revenue and create new housing for people would be to use NYCHA land differently?
- [32:01]
B
I'm not sure. You know, I look forward to working with the mayor's office, you know, to see what that might look like. One thing I do know is that Harlem mites who've been here for a long time, they love continuing to stay in Harlem and they want to keep it that way. So, again, I'll look forward to talking to folks in the community, seeing what they think. But I think, again, on a case by case basis, I think there's definitely a lot going on with that.
- [32:21]
A
What's your relationship with the mayor like? You were. You were briefly assembly colleagues then. He's running for mayor. You initially endorsed Andrew Cuomo. Mamdani wins the primary. You move to Mamdani, which a lot of, you know, people did after the primary. He did not endorse against you in the primary here. He didn't endorse against assembly incumbents. He sort of stayed out of those races, even though the DSA that he's very much aligned with was. Was supporting some of these challengers. How's your relationship with the mayor right now? Is it. It icy? Is it warm? How's that going? Given all these political ups and downs over the last year and a half
- [33:00]
B
here, I'm happy to have a great relationship with the mayor. You know, we were colleagues in the Assembly. He actually sat right in front of me, directly in front of me in the chamber. So often we got to chat about any number of things. News of the day, how the Knicks were doing, you know, whatever was on the board, whatever we were voting on. But happy to have a great relationship with him, happy to have served on his transition committee. I'm happy to have been present with him at a number of announcements in Harlem, and I look forward to continuing to work with him for the years to come.
- [33:27]
A
Now, your race was the one DSA race where neither Mayor Mamdani nor Representative Ocasio Cortez endorsed the DSA candidate. And the one race where the DSA candidate didn't win. What do you attribute that to? That they both stayed out of this race, that they didn't endorse against you, which I. I assume would have probably been the only choice. Maybe they. Maybe they could have come in for you, but I doubt they would have endorsed against the DSA candidate. Did you actively work on that. Was it more, you think, out of their respect for you and the work you've done and your family has done in Harlem? What, what do you, what do you attribute that to, and how did that happen?
- [34:07]
B
You know, I attribute it to having my head down, running my race. Like I said, we knocked on 40, 000 doors. We, we did a lot of hard work to ensure that I was able to get across the finish line and have another term in office. I'm not sure what other people's calculus might have been, but, you know, I'd like to think that my hard work had something to do with that.
- [34:24]
A
But that wasn't something where you met with people and said, you know, how do I get you to stay out of this race? Or something along those lines?
- [34:31]
B
No, I'm so laser focused on my stuff all the time then. Yeah.
- [34:35]
A
Now, we've seen before where this just happened in Brooklyn, where a DSA challenger will challenge an incumbent loser, then come back again two years later. The next cycle is going to be here in a year and a half. Is there any way you think you avoid that? Do you foresee this now as being something that's just going to happen every two years when you're running for reelection that you're going to get, you know, whether it's the same or a different DSA challenger giving you a primary?
- [35:08]
B
Well, this is what I can say. I am happy to have served two years in the assembly, and again, I put my record up against anybody. And I think that Harlemites and people in the 70th assembly district noticed I had the endorsements of a Gabriela Romero, a public defender who came into the assembly with me, fantastic progressive record in her own right. Jumani Williams. Tis James. Some of the progressive champions in the state of New York supported me supporting my campaign. So I think people see that. They'll continue to see that. And I look forward to continuing to do the work to show people who I am, because in two years, my first two years, it's important that I show people who I am. The next two, you know, make an equal, equal statement. And I look forward to continuing to do that and put my record on the record.
- [35:51]
A
When you think as a political operative, as, you know, president of Manhattan Young Democrats or someone who ran a successful City Council campaign just a couple years ago, what do you observe in terms of, like, who can move votes and who can't these days? You know, it's like everybody's sort of in awe of the DSA turnout field machine but who else? Who else can move votes? I know it depends on the district and the area and who's running. But, like, what do you see as some of the ups and downs of who has sort of political juice right now in New York City or even just in Manhattan or Upper Manhattan? What are you noticing about the ups and downs of county parties or labor unions or others, you know, in the ability to sort of turn out votes? Because there's been a lot of attention on that. And I think it's an open question beyond DSA right now, sort of what entities can really contact voters and get them out.
- [36:45]
B
And people want to see the candidates themselves. That's what I gather. People want to talk to those who are going to have their name on the ballot. So I'm happy to have, you know, put myself out there, been on the phones, knocking on doors, train stations. People who move the votes are the candidates themselves. That's the way I look at it.
- [37:02]
A
So speaking of candidates and moving votes, give me your diagnosis on this New York 13 congressional race. I think when people looked at the landscape of these major. These three races where you had someone on the left, you know, running a very robust race, whether it was New York 10 with Brad Lander, New York 7 with Claire Valdez, both of them successful, or New York 13 with Darius Villa Chevalier, people thought this was the least likely for that sort of lefty candidate to win. But she did win. What did you. What do you see that coming down to? Why was she victorious in a race that I think people thought could be close, but they thought that Congressman Espayat would still be the favorite there? What'd you see?
- [37:47]
B
I saw a lot of, you know, Darieliza working her. Working her tail off. I saw her a lot of different places, saw her energy a lot of different places. And again, I think Harlem voters are, you know, very sophisticated voters. I. I think that, you know, people see a lot of different energy around a lot of different things. And, you know, one thing I notice in common between the two of us is, you know, we're both young people. So I think people want to see young people as the future people who can go, I guess, in her case, up and down to D.C. in my case, up and down to Albany, then go to the events in the community, do all the work. So I look forward to working with her. I look forward to sharing a vision of Harlem with her and doing a lot of things together.
- [38:28]
A
Now, you could look at those results and say she won because of Harlem, because of black voters in Harlem Putting her over the top. It was especially young voters, apparently. I've been looking at different voter analysis, Michael Lang and others that have put things out there, looking especially at where black voters in Harlem went, especially younger black voters. Do you see that as the key to why she was victorious, that Congressman Espail was not able to really win black support and she was, yeah, you
- [38:59]
B
know, big shout out to Michael Lang, known a long time. But one thing I will say is, you know, like I said, black voters are very sophisticated. You know, the 70th assembly district, I know we have very sophisticated voters here, and I know that people know what they want to see. And I think that obviously black voters in many elections, not just this election, but all elections, tend to be on the right side of history. So I would say that, you know, clearly black voters had a say in who their next congressperson was. And I look forward to working with the Congress, I guess, Dara Lisa, the Democratic nominee for Congress, to ensure that, you know, everyone in the community is done right by them.
- [39:42]
A
Congressman Espayat didn't seem to have really sort of expanded or built a wide enough coalition. Do you think that was part of his. His issues, is that he just didn't pay enough attention to voters outside of his base?
- [40:01]
B
I mean, data says what the data says. It's been well documented, some of the issues of the past. And I look forward to working with Dariel Lisa, to make sure that the 70th assembly district is moving, moving in the street and narrow.
- [40:14]
A
So now you say some of this, but towards the end of that race, you did a joint endorsement with Congressman Espailhat was that a mistake? Do you regret that? How did that come together? What are your reflections on that? Now that we've seen, I mean, it seemed like a very reluctant situation. Your father's, you know, had issues with him and others have as well. They were obviously rivals in a. In the congressional race back in 2016 that Espeat first won after he had challenged Charlie, Charlie Rangel previously. So there's, you know, all of that background. And your father, who runs the Manhattan Democratic Party, was, Was not, not. Did not participate in that endorsement, even though you had Hakeem Jeffries and Gregory Meeks and others who were there. Do you regret joining that? What are your reflections on that now that. Now that we've gotten through the primary?
- [41:07]
B
No regrets. No regrets, Ben. You know, one thing that I do know is that Congressman Esplat, you know, served this community. And one thing that he did do was, you know, young people for me are at the center of a lot of things that I do and I think about. And he put a lot of young folks in positions of power. Shawna Brayup, Rena Sanchez, the list goes on. And so I look forward to continuing work with them. And, you know, I wish Congressmember the best.
- [41:35]
A
The I was just going to ask you actually something similar. Do you see this as an end of sort of an espionage political operation or now it just sort of moves to the younger generation? I was going to ask about some of those officials you just named there specifically and your relationship with them. And do you see there being less rivalry among the younger generation than there has been in the older generation, or is it still going to be sort of, you know, a sort of cleavage in the, in the upper Manhattan ranks between some of the generation, you know, that you're part of, that comes from some of the more Harlem black establishment and then the Latino elected officials in the other part of upper Manhattan. Do you see that as this an ongoing rivalry or is there a different situation among the younger generation?
- [42:27]
B
Always had a great relationship with, you know, Council Member Abreu during my time as chief of staff and the New York City Council for Council Member Salaam. I was able to forge a great relationship with a number of those people and happy to have been able to support them, have them support me. And I guess to directly answer your question, I see no problems in the future going forward or even in the past with any of my younger colleagues.
- [42:52]
A
So what happens Here in New York 13 is this something where, you know, right away, after Dariel Lisa Village Chevalier wins this primary, I'm sure you noticed you probably got a bunch of calls. Your name is out there everywhere. Jordan Wright's going to challenge her in two years. You know, this is going to be a new rivalry. He just beat a DSA candidate. Is that something you're already getting a lot of calls on? Are you going to take a look at that? What do you think is the future here of, of, of the congressional representation for that area, which includes Harlem, but obviously is a much larger district?
- [43:26]
B
My phone has been off for a very long time, Ben. A lot of people haven't heard from me. Trying to get some rest for the moment. And, you know, I look forward to
- [43:33]
A
serving in the New York. Don't give me that.
- [43:34]
B
I look forward to serving a great 10 years in the New York, next two years in the New York State assembly. And again, I look forward to working with the congressmember to make sure that the 70th assembly district is getting all, all, all of the resources it needs to, to be the best district in the state of New York like I think it is.
- [43:53]
A
So you come into this with an open hand. You, you, you endorsed against her, but you feel like the voters have spoken and this is just, I'm gonna work with where things are at and we'll see how she performs. And those questions are for another day or like what? Say a little bit more about your orientation. Yeah, there's a lot of frustration as you know, among, again, sort of like leaders in areas that you now represent about Congressman Espayat winning that seat back in 2016, his challenges against Charlie Rangel. So, you know, I wonder just what the atmosphere is around people saying, well, now Espail's been defeated and this could be an opportunity for, you know, a renewed, renewed attempt to, to, you know, to retake this seat.
- [44:42]
B
I can speak for me. I was happy to work with Congressman Espion in my first term in the assembly, and I look forward to working with the Democratic nominee should she become victorious in November. As the Congress member, I think that there's many things that we need to do to work together, Federal and state partners. And to your point, elections are over. It's time to come together. Let's, let's get to work to help the people of Harlem.
- [45:10]
A
All right, last couple things for you here. Jordan Wright, Appreciate all the time. Now that we've seen the results of these primaries, we move on to the general election. Most of the races in New York City are, are, you know, not going to be hotly contested. There's going to be some state Senate races and assembly races in, you know, a few spots of New York City and then in the suburbs and other parts of the state that will have competitive general elections. But it's almost assured that there's going to be very large majorities of Democrats in the Senate and the assembly and that as a result of some of these primaries, there's going to be more of a, you know, left wing block again, not huge numbers, but, you know, potentially moving the Democratic conferences towards the left in both the assembly and the Senate. What do you foresee any of this meaning for governing in Albany next year? Obviously, there's the gubernatorial race at the top of the ticket. If Bruce Blakeman wins that race, it's a totally different picture. But let's assume Governor Hochul wins For, for the sake of this discussion. Zoram Mamdani, going into year two, a little bit more of, you know, DSA and a Left wing presence in the legislature. Does that have a big impact on the legislative atmosphere next year in Albany? How are you thinking about what that's going to look like?
- [46:27]
B
I think our speaker, Carl Hastie, does a tremendous job of navigating the conference and making sure every member is seen, felt and heard. And I look to his guidance and his leadership to ensure that we're taking the conference to the right places. And I look forward to following in his lead to make sure that gets done.
- [46:47]
A
Since you are the president of Manhattan Young Democrats and a political operative as well as an assembly member, what did you make of the neighboring race in the 12th district and Michael Lasher winning that and the immense amount of outside spending there? Were there any, any particular interesting takeaways you had? Again, these were two of your assembly colleagues at the top of that race, Michael Asher and Alex Boris, west side, east side, huge amounts of AI money, crypto money, Michael Bloomberg money. There was a lot of outside money in this race. From where I sit in the end, it seemed to almost like cancel out. And the person I expected to win from the beginning, which was the Upper west side candidate, where there's a ton of votes, Michael Asher, you know, came out on top. But did you have any takeaways from that race of particular interest?
- [47:40]
B
First of all, big congrats to Michael Lasher for winning the race. Alex Boris run an incredible campaign. Two of my very close friends in the New York State assembly, and big congrats also to Jack Sloshwick for jumping in. We went to middle school together, so,
- [47:53]
A
you know, having an interesting campaign.
- [47:58]
B
Anyway, so I, in terms of what I saw in that race, I saw two guys, three guys, you know, all the. Everyone in that race worked very hard. And one thing that I noticed is the voter spoke and Micah is going to be the Congress member. And so I look forward to, you know, working with him and also whatever the other candidates want to do in the future, you know, work with them as well. Because I think end of the day, in that race in particular, all folks really want to do is make sure that we're taking on Donald Trump, his MAGA agenda. So in my capacity as president of Manhattan Young Democrats, look forward to working with them to make sure we're beating that back as much as humanly possible.
- [48:32]
A
Any other Manhattan races of any level that stood out to you? There was some interesting stuff that happened in lower Manhattan in Assembly and Senate races. There was a lot of Manhattan action in this election because people were like, like leaving seats to run for other seats and There were a lot of openings, a lot of primary challenges. Anything else stand out to you that you found either particularly interesting or you're particularly happy or unhappy about a result?
- [48:56]
B
I'm happy to, you know, work with a new partner in the New York State Senate and Grace Lee, someone who's really been a great mentor to me, showing me the ropes in the assembly, what things are like. So upset to have her leave the assembly, but happy that she's going to be in the Senate and we can hopefully carry some great legislation together.
- [49:13]
A
And just coming back to your neighborhood. In closing, have you spoken with Darielisa Villa Chevalier now that she's the Democratic nominee in New York? 13. Do you plan to meet, you know, how, how do you sort of develop that relationship? Is it on her to reach out to you now? What's, what's the future there? Have you spoken? Do you plan to speak?
- [49:34]
B
Absolutely. I called her to congratulate her on a primary night. We spoke Think Believe the next day, actually, we appear together at a National Action Network with Al Sharpton. So we've met a couple of times. We've spoken a number of times. And I think we both understand there is a lot of work to do for our community, and I think we both look forward to doing it together.
- [49:56]
A
And in, in those conversations, do you say stuff like, ah, sorry I endorsed against you down the stretch there, you know, I, you have to understand, I did it for reason X and Y, or do you not go past in the past, you just sort of move forward?
- [50:09]
B
I think we're both very happy to look like we're going to win reelection come November. And I think that come January, we are going to be fast friends in working together for the Residents of the 70th Assembly District and beyond.
- [50:21]
A
All right, Jordan Wright, we'll leave it there. Appreciate the time and thoughts and looking forward to seeing, you know, what's on the agenda for you as we've been getting at here a little bit moving forward, but stay in touch and good luck with the rest of this heat wave and we'll talk soon.
- [50:37]
B
Thank you, Ben. My pleasure.
- [50:38]
A
All right.
- [50:38]
B
Be well. It.