The three lefty, New York congressional candidates who triumphed in their hotly contested Democratic primaries Tuesday night will still need to beat GOP hopefuls in November to secure their House seats.
Republicans Melvin Rivera, Jennifer Moore and Jomo M. Williams will appear on the November general election ballots, even as their chances of winning are slim in the deep-blue districts where voters selected the trio backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani over more moderate candidates.
Here are the three candidates running on the GOP line for the highly watched House seats.
Melvin Rivera
Rivera, who will face DSA-backed Queens state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez in New York’s Seventh House District race, has spent more than 30 years as a community activist and tenant organizer, according to his campaign website.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Rivera was originally running as a write-in candidate in the Democratic primary, but has been endorsed by GOP clubs, his social media page shows.
“Melvin represents strong leadership, conservative values, and a real commitment to our communities,” the Dominican American GOP club wrote on April 22.
“At a time when New York needs bold voices and real solutions, Melvin Rivera is ready to fight for public safety, economic opportunity, and the hardworking families of our district.”
Jennifer Moore
The Brooklyn GOP operative said she is running to give voters a choice after ex-City Comptroller Brad Lander topped incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman in the primary for the Tenth Congressional District.
“The political earthquake last night of Brad Lander unseating an incumbent has infused interest in this race and my goal is to seize this opportunity and engage more support from voters registered to all parties who oppose Lander’s radical ideology,” Moore said in a statement to The Post.
A GOP source told The Post her candidacy was “really a last-minute put-a-name-on-the-ballot situation.”
Jomo M. Williams
Williams will take on radical lefty Darializa Avila Chevalier in the race for the 13th House District after having previously vied for and lost other elections in the Big Apple, including for City Council a few years ago.
He ran in 2021 on the Black Lives Matter Party line for a council seat, though he made clear at the time that he did not support defunding the police and was for “law and order,” according to Our Town.
“We don’t want the brand that comes with a whole bunch of misconduct, a whole bunch of brutalities, a whole bunch of racial profiling, and sentencing and massive incarceration,” he told the outlet.
Read the full article here
