Bronx Democrats dump AOC-aligned Sen. Gustavo Rivera over far-left positions

The Bronx Democratic Occasion determined to half methods with a veteran incumbent amid a contentious power struggle between its left and far-left flanks.

In an uncommon transfer, the management of the Bronx Dems snubbed state Sen. Gustavo Rivera and as a substitute endorsed his rival, lawyer Miguelina Camilo, within the reapportioned thirty third district.

Much more shocking is that fellow state legislators who run the Bronx Democratic Occasion — state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, who’s social gathering chairman, and Assemblywoman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who’s the social gathering’s secretary — again the transfer to dump their colleague.

“Gustavo has aligned himself with the far left of the social gathering. Defunding the police, that’s not going to take a seat effectively within the thirty third District,” mentioned Dinowitz, whose Meeting District overlaps with the senatorial district, together with Riverdale.

Rivera joined the left wing Working Households Occasion and socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in backing rebel Jessica Woolford in opposition to Dinowitz within the June 28 Meeting main. Dinowitz trounced Woolford.

Bronx Assemblyman Michael Benedetto additionally simply defeated main rival Jonathan Soto, who was endorsed by the WFP and Ocasio-Cortez. Benedetto and Dinowitz had been among the many incumbents who beat back lefty insurgents on day for the institution and a foul day for the political left.

About one-third of Rivera’s district is new beneath court-ordered redistricting, taking within the northwest Bronx neighborhoods of Riverdale and Norwood. The Senate main will probably be held on August 23.

Dinowitz famous that Rivera now resides within the thirty first District however insisted on working once more within the thirty third. Camilo, following redistricting, determined to run within the thirty third as a substitute of the thirty fourth district, an open seat after state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi opted to run for Congress.

However Rivera, first elected in 2010 after defeating convicted criminal Pedro Espada, has the backing of the Working Households Occasion and a slew of highly effective unions. He has been related to leftist causes corresponding to defunding the police and instituting a government-run public medical health insurance system.

Rivera, the Senate well being committee chairman, additionally has pushed controversial insurance policies, corresponding to offering complete advantages to illegal immigrants and pushing laws to open “safe injection sites” to offer drug addicts clear needles to shoot up medication.

The management of the state Senate — Majority Chief Andrea Stewart Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Deputy Majority Chief Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) — are additionally backing Rivera’s re-election.

“I all the time endorse my sitting members and I would like all of them to return again to the Senate. Senator Rivera has all the time been a beneficial member of the Senate and I sit up for persevering with to serve with him,” Stewart-Cousins mentioned.

Rivera’s response to the Bronx social gathering snub? Convey it on!

“Senator Gustavo Rivera has been representing the working folks of the Bronx for over a decade. He’s a labor candidate and advocate for his neighborhood,” a marketing campaign spokesperson mentioned in an announcement.

“The Senator has already amassed assist and endorsements from 1199 SEIU, CWA, NYSUT and PSC l. He’ll proceed to combat and ship for his neighborhood. He represents over 70% of this district and appears ahead to the spirited main election,” the Rivera camp mentioned.

Camilo previously headed the Bronx Girls’s Bar Affiliation and served as a commissioner on town Board of Elections, an appointment that goes to folks with shut ties to the social gathering management.

“Immensely proud to have the endorsement of @bronxdems, a company that has seen me develop as a younger lawyer and devoted member of our Bronx neighborhood,” Camilo tweeted Tuesday.

Bailey, the Bronx Occasion chief, mentioned Wednesday night time that social gathering officers sought to keep away from a main by urging Rivera to run within the thirty fourth district or 32d districts as a substitute. Rivera refused.

“We weren’t seeking to main Gustavo. We tried to keep away from a main. We weren’t in a position to determine it out,” Bailey mentioned.

“We consider in Miguelina,” he added.