Photo via Twitter
The campaign for Abigail Martin, candidate in the District 11 City Council primary election, announced on Thursday, May 6, that Martin received the backing of “21 in ‘21” and “Voters for Animal Rights” (VFAR) in the the upcoming Democratic primary election on June 22.
21 in ’21 is a citywide grassroots organization working to elect at least twenty-one women to the New York City Council’s fifty one seats. As reported previously by Norwood News, Jessica Haller, Martin’s former fellow candidate in the recent, March 23, District 11 special election, announced that she had take up a new position as executive director of 21 in ‘21, effective April 19. “I look forward to supporting the dozens of women in NYC who are in the arena, daring greatly,” she said at the time, while encouraging her supporters to join her in support of female candidates running for office.
The endorsement, itself, happened in October of 2020 when Martin secured the 2nd place backing of the organization, behind Haller who had received a 1st place ranking. Mino Lora, Haller and Martin’s other fellow candidate secured a 3rd place endorsement from the group. With Haller‘s departure from the race, Martin has since moved into the 1st ranked position and Lora to the second spot.
Martin, whose candidacy was previously profiled by Norwood News, and fellow candidate, male district leader in the 80th Assembly District, Marcos Sierra, dropped out of the special election earlier this year, citing concerns over the spread of the coronavirus due to the requirement to collate a minimum number of signatures in order to make it onto the ballot.
Martin has since said this was not the only reason she made that decision and has since categorized it as being more strategic than originally communicated. Either way, the decision means she currently leads in terms of campaign contributions in respect of the primary election with $41,073, as previously reported.
Reacting to the news of the endorsements, Martin, a social worker and adjunct Columbia professor, said she was honored to receive the backing from what she described as two important organizations. “Of the 51 seats on the New York City Council, only 14 are currently held by women. This is unacceptable,” Martin said, in reference to her endorsement by 21 in ’21.
“If we are to build a city that respects all of its residents’ voices, we need more women in elected office.” said Martin. “I would like to thank former City Council speaker, Melissa Mark Viverito, former City Council member, Elizabeth Crowley, and all of the women of the 21 in ’21 team for fighting for equal representation for women on the City Council.”
On receiving the endorsement of “Voters for Animal Rights,” Martin continued, “We have a moral duty to care for all living creatures and treat them with dignity. When I am on the City Council, I will fight to ensure animals receive respectful treatment at the hands of humans and are protected under the law.”
In addition to Martin and Sierra, also running in the District 11 June primary are incumbent councilman, Eric Dinowitz, son of Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz who represents the 81st Assembly District in the Northwest Bronx, retired NYPD detective, Carlton Berkley, executive director and founder of the People’s Theater Project, Mino Lora, who was runner up in the March 23 special election, and lawyer and Bronx CB 8 Traffic and Transportation committee chair, Dan Padernacht.
For a full list of all candidates who made the ballot in the June primary elections in all Bronx races, click here.
In addition to “21 in ‘21” and VFAR, Martin has previously received the endorsement of NYC KidsPAC, a parent-led organization that advocates for improving our City’s public schools.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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