Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres (NY-15) is being challenged for his congressional seat next year. Two candidates launched campaigns since the beginning of November to primary the congressman who has represented NY-15, one of the poorest congressional district in America, in Congress since January 2021. The challenges were expected, given the heat Torres has received over his stance on the situation in Gaza in recent years.

 

The congressman has long defended U.S. support of what became a sustained Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza following the Oct. 7^th 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.

 

Despite sustained opposition to his policy stance on Israel in the form of letters and protests by constituents, critiques that he is more concerned with foreign policy than he is with Bronx issues, outcry over the level of campaign donations by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) to his election campaigns, as well as a need for heightened security, the congressman has been keeping calm and carrying on, so to speak.

 

However, the recent mayoral victory of Muslim Social Democrat Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani, coupled with an emboldened progressive wing of the Democratic Party, may make these primary challenges the congressman’s greatest test yet. For his part, Mamdani has not said that he would not cooperate with those seeking to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes, if asked.

 

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 in NY-15, which stretches from the northwest of the borough to the South Bronx.

 

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).

 

“The Cost of Living, Housing and raising a family are too expensive in The Bronx,” Blake said in recent days. His team said he is running for Congress to make The Bronx more affordable, safer, and fairer for all.  “I’m running for Congress because Ritchie Torres is failing,” he said. Blake’s campaign said he has always fought for working families, creating jobs, mentoring young people, and helping communities rise.

 

“So, do you want to stay with someone who only cares about themselves, or do you want to have someone like me, Michael Blake, who actually wants to care for the people?” he asked in his campaign announcement. “I’m reimagining what the city can look like,” he told The Breakfast Club radio hosts.

 

Blake said he was named after Jamaican Priministers Michael Manley and Alexander Bustamante, grew up on Creston and Burnside Avenue, remembers shopping in Woolworths, and skating in the now-closed Skate Key. “We should think about a new vision,” he said. “I’ve rolled out an extensive plan for education and show the vision of how we can bring real change to the district.” He added, “It’s time for us to tell Ritchie Torres that he can go on his own way.”

 

As a State assembly member, Blake’s team said he helped bring about New York’s first statewide “My Brother’s Keeper” initiative, fought to get small businesses paid on time, and delivered millions for local schools and youth programs.

 

A reverend, an Obama White House alum, in addition to being a former New York assembly member and small business owner, they said Blake spent his life organizing for justice and opportunity. They said as vice chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), he helped Democrats retake the House. They said his heart and home have always been in The Bronx and he knows the borough deserves leadership that listens, “not one that gets rich while families struggle to pay rent.”

 

Blake served three terms in the state Assembly, served as a White House aide to former U.S. President Barack Obama and is also a husband, “bonus father” and a brother of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., 100 Black Men of New York, and Prince Hall Masons.

 

Twice-elected former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has since endorsed Blake in his campaign. “New Yorkers and all Americans are turning against the political elite,” De Blasio said. “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. “I get scared every time I see images of families torn apart by ICE raids,” she said at her campaign launch at the Andrew Friedman Home. “I ache because I know there are people working 40-plus hours who still cannot afford rent. I grieve with the over quarter-million people in our district who did not receive their SNAP benefits this month.”

 

She continued, “But I will do more than grieve. I am running for Congress to fight for you, not the donors, but the people. I have been fighting for people like us for over a decade, and I will continue to fight until there is no fight left in me.”

 

Nemorin’s campaign described Torres among other things as “a conservative Democrat who rode a wave of real-estate donations into office five years ago and has recently gained notoriety as a cheerleader for genocide in Gaza.”

 

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.

 

“As a public defender, I have learned how desperately my clients have been neglected or failed. Too often, people enter the court system not by choice, but because they are crushed under the pressure of poverty,” Nemorin said. “I came to understand that to change the world, advocacy is required in and out of the courtroom. The district will not improve, if we are not committed to organizing ourselves to make the difference we want to see.”

 

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 announced they are running in the Democratic Primary in NY-15, while Anthony Easton, an independent, is also aiming to win the seat.

 

Norwood News reached out to Torres’ team for a comment on the fact that he is being challenged for his seat. His aide, Benjamin Stanislawski, 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.”