Early this morning, State Sen. Daniel Squadron went public with his resignation. Now local Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh has announced he’s running for Squadron’s seat in the 26th Senate District.
Kavanagh currently represents the 74th Assembly District, which includes small sections of the Lower East Side, and extends up to East Midtown. In a press release, he said, “I am running for State Senate to fight for our communities in Manhattan and Brooklyn and create the progressive, reform-minded Senate that New Yorkers deserve.”
Kavanagh has been in the Assembly for 11 years. “As a State Senator,” he explained, “I will fight for the things that matter to New Yorkers: strengthening rent laws and preserving affordable housing, increasing access to quality schools, safeguarding the environment, promoting economic and social justice, preventing violence in our communities, and creating a fairer and more accessible political process.”
Squadron says he’s quitting to focus his energies on electing progressive candidates at the national level. In his announcement, he was critical of Albany as a cesspool of corruption.
A special election will most likely take place in November when regular city elections are scheduled. The Democratic county committees in Brooklyn and Manhattan will choose a nominee to run in the general election. Same goes for the Republican Party in the heavily Democratic district. This afternoon, Zack Fink of NY1 reported that Keith Wright, head of the New York County Committee, would like Brooklyn democrats to be part of selecting a nominee.
The 26th Senate District includes Lower Manhattan and sections of Brooklyn along the waterfront.
Besides Kavanagh, other names being mentioned for the job: local District leader Paul Newell, former District leader Jenifer Rajkumar (who works for the New York Department of State) and Lincoln Restler, a Brooklyn activist.
Reached by phone, Dem Chair Keith Wright says he would like Brooklyn to be part of process for picking candidate for @DanielSquadron seat
— Zack Fink (@ZackFinkNews) August 9, 2017
