Assemblymember Amanda Septimo (A.D. 84), who broadly represents the South Bronx neighborhoods of Concourse, Port Morris, Mott Haven and Hunts Point, Melrose and Longwood, announced Dec. 11, that she is the sixth candidate to run for Congress in New York’s 15th congressional district, a seat currently held by her Democratic colleague, Rep. Ritchie Torres. Septimo said she is launching a platform built around cost-of-living relief, safe and secure neighborhoods, access to truly affordable housing, and defending essential national programs for working families.

 

“As actions by the federal government crush family budgets, rents continue to rise, NYCHA repairs go untended, and neighborhood storefronts struggle to survive,” the assembly member said. “We’re living through a five-alarm affordability crisis. This is not in the abstract. Coffee, groceries, housing, all are becoming unattainable, and calling into question whether the American Dream can still happen. I’m not
running for Congress to write pleasant speeches or raise big money. I’m running to deliver real solutions for everyday people.”

 

As reported, Septimo had rallied with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani and State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) in the Claremont section of The Bronx on Sept. 15, in support of Perrigo workers who were calling for fair working conditions. They subsequently reached an agreement with the pharmaceutical company. Rivera had told Norwood News at a separate event that Septimo had already been rallying in support of the workers prior to that particular rally. She had also joined Mamdani, Rivera and others at a press conference during which the United Bodegas of America endorsed the mayor-elect.

 

In her record as a five-year state legislator, Septimo’s team said she has already taken action on behalf of working families: delivering funding for schools and youth programs, strengthening state housing protections, fighting for federal resources for NYCHA, investing in public safety, and championing LUCHA, a $30 million initiative supporting Latino-led nonprofits to empower communities throughout New York State.

 

Her team said she also led a program installing security cameras in bodegas to protect workers and small businesses while working to ensure the program can reach the entire State. “Succinctly, Amanda Septimo shows up,” her campaign team said, adding that her priorities include the following:

• reducing the cost of living by working to drive down costs for housing, utilities, groceries, and everyday expenses;
• expanding access to truly affordable housing so that families can live with dignity and stability;
• improving community safety, strengthening protections for families, workers, and small businesses;
• defending essential federal programs such as affordable healthcare, childcare support, and nutrition assistance (SNAP), ensuring that people don’t have to choose between basic needs; and
• creating good jobs, investing in infrastructure and transit, and rebuilding the economy with long-term growth and equity in mind.

 

Septimo’s campaign said she grew up in The Bronx believing in the power of community. As a young woman walking through Hunts Point and Mott Haven, they said she saw firsthand the struggles families faced: community safety, housing insecurity, asthma rates that soared, schools that needed resources, and neighborhoods that deserved so much more than what they received.

 

They said she also saw something else: a community that refused to give up, and added that at 12 years old, she stepped into activism, organizing alongside neighbors to confront environmental and economic injustices. As a teen at The Point CDC’s A.C.T.I.O.N. program, they said she learned what it truly meant to fight for the Bronx.

 

They said she helped stop the construction of a new jail at Oak Point, worked to bring the Floating Pool to Barretto Point Park, and helped expand critical bus service — early victories that they said taught Septimo the strength of collective action and the urgency of fighting for our borough.

 

Whether it was tutoring young students at the Parks department or volunteering abroad to support struggling communities, her campaign said Septimo carried with her a deep belief that service is not just a responsibility: it’s a calling. They said her leadership earned her the New York Yankees Youth Leadership Award and a prestigious Posse Foundation Scholarship to Vanderbilt University, where she continued her work advocating for families caught in the criminal justice system.

 

Her campaign team said Septimo brought that same passion home to The Bronx, serving Congressman José E. Serrano as a community liaison and then district director by the age of 23. They said she helped connect families to the resources and opportunities they deserved, and later worked with the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, “fighting to ensure school leaders and students had the tools to thrive.”

 

Septimo’s campaign said that in 2020, she began her journey in Albany to represent the 84th Assembly District. In the State Assembly, they said she has never stopped pushing, delivering funding for schools and youth programs, strengthened protections for tenants, advocated for safer streets, and fighting for environmental justice.

 

They said Septimo’s approach is simple: “cut through the noise, focus on solutions, and deliver for her people.” They said Septimo’s journey from a South Bronx teen organizer to a State assembly member and secretary of the majority conference reflects the story of the district she serves: “resilient, determined, and ready to fight for what’s right, and that now she’s ready to bring that fight to Congress.”

 

If elected, Septimo would become the first Dominican woman ever to serve in Congress. Her team said this would bring “long-overdue representation to The Bronx and beyond.” They said her mission remains unchanged: to lift up her community, amplify the voices too often
ignored, and secure the resources, respect, and opportunity that every Bronx family deserves.

 

As reported, Torres is already being challenged by five other candidates who have launched campaigns since the beginning of November in NY-15, one of the poorest congressional districts in America which stretches from the northwest of the borough to the South Bronx. His detractors have cited his position on Gaza and the fact that he is heavily backed by AIPAC-interests, as one of the main reasons for opposing him.

 

The congressman has long defended U.S. support of what became a sustained Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7th 2023 attacks on southern Israel by Hamas which resulted in the deaths of around 1,200 Israeli people, and the kidnapping of more than 250 Israeli hostages. Some of the hostages have been released, some have been killed, and some remain captive, despite the latest ceasefire deal brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump on Oct. 10, which has not totally held.

 

It has been estimated by various sources that around 69,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the attacks, including around 20,000 children, that around 170,694 have been wounded, and Gaza has been decimated. As reported, Torres had endorsed former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for mayor in the mayoral Democratic primary, even before he announced he was running.

Though he had publicly opposed Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s candidacy, Torres later denounced and rejected calls by a Republican congressman to deport Mamdani. Torres has also endorsed New York Gov. Kathy Hochul in her reelection bid. Hochul, in turn, had endorsed Mamdani ahead of the general election.

 

The Hon. Rev. Michael Blake, a former Bronx assemblyman in A.D. 79, which covers some or all of the Bronx neighborhoods of Claremont Village, Morrisania, Forest Houses, Crotona Park East, and Tremont and is currently represented by Assemblywoman Chantal Jackson, previously ran for Mayor of New York City, as reported, cross-endorsing Mamdani in the process. Blake announced Nov. 5 that he is now running to unseat Torres.

 

He previously ran for Congress in the Democratic Primary for the same district in 2020, as reported, garnering around 18% of the vote (2nd place), and for public advocate in 2019, winning 8.4% of the vote (4th place).

 

Twice-elected former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has since endorsed Blake in his campaign. De Blasio said, “New Yorkers and all Americans are turning against the political elite. They are sick of politicians who put donors and power brokers ahead of the people of our neighborhoods. Michael Blake is rooted in The Bronx and has concrete plans to address the cost of living and affordability crisis facing Bronxites. Michael Blake endorsed Zohran Mamdani for Mayor when Ritchie Torres did not and on day one, Michael Blake will be a respected partner in the halls of Washington to City Hall and to Albany, bringing real solutions to The Bronx.”

 

De Blasio continued, “Michael Blake is continuously fighting for marginalized communities and stands up for them regardless of who would attack him for it. Contrast that with Ritchie Torres, who does his donors’ bidding no matter what the moral cost. Ritchie Torres supported Andrew Cuomo energetically, no matter his continual corrupt and sexist behavior. Ritchie Torres spends his time in front of TV cameras, not solving the challenges of his district. The progressive choice is clear for the 15th District in The Bronx: It’s Michael Blake, and I proudly endorse him. New Yorkers trusted me as your mayor, public advocate and councilmember. You believed in me and now I ask that you believe in Michael Blake for Congress.”

 

Meanwhile, attorney and advocate, the Hon. Dalourny Nemorin is also challenging Torres in NY-15. A native of Miami, Nemorin is a 2014 graduate of CUNY Law School, an alum of the prestigious Obama Foundation’s Leaders Program, a Legal Aid attorney specializing in criminal court appeals, and a member of Bronx Community Board 1, where she is the policy committee chair.

 

Her campaign said over the coming weeks and months, Nemorin and her allies will together “elevate the issues that matter to working-class Bronx residents, like housing, healthcare, public safety, and immigration, and the solutions they want the federal government to pursue to make their lives better and the world more just.”

Jon LaTona and Jose Vega have also separately announced they are running in the Democratic Primary in NY-15, while Anthony Easton, an independent, is also aiming to win the seat.

 

As reported, Vega already ran for Congress in the 2024 general election, also for NY-15, on the LaRouche Party ticket and garnered 2.3% of the vote. Incumbent Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres won with around 76.2% of the vote, while Republican Party/Conservative Party candidate, Gonzalo Duran, garnered 21%.

 

“In my last campaign, I was sleeping in my car because I believed so much in what we were doing and what we were building,” Vega said. “Because we have to prove, that any American citizen with the right ideas, motivated by a pursuit for truth, should be allowed to run for Congress and win…We will measure the success of this campaign not just in the winning, but [by] how many people will learn the name Gouverneur Morris and who wrote the preamble of this Constitution.”

 

Norwood News previously reached out to Torres’ team for a comment on the fact that he is being challenged for his seat. His spokesperson said, “Ritchie Torres is a lifelong Bronx resident, which is why Bronx voters trust him to be their voice fighting for them in Washington. Ritchie has been laser-focused on issues like public housing and affordability while standing up to Donald Trump. That’s why he’s going to win again next year.”

 

We also reached out to Torres’ team for a comment on Septimo’s challenge, and his campaign spokesperson said, “Bronx voters trust Ritchie Torres to be their voice fighting for them in Washington because he is a lifelong resident who has delivered real results for the community. Ritchie has been laser-focused on issues like public housing and affordability while standing up to Donald Trump. That’s why he’s going to win again next year.”

For her part, Septimo summed up her message, saying, “This campaign is about more than politics, it’s about survival for families under stress. We don’t need more talk from Washington. We need action that will keep money in the pockets of our communities. If Congress is going to fight for working people, it needs representatives who’ve already done the work at home, people like me, people who authentically reflect the community in which I was raised.”