Far-left New York City councilman Chi Ossé filed paperwork Monday to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for his deep-blue Brooklyn seat.
Ossé, a 27 year-old democratic socialist who was an early supporter of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, is launching an insurgent primary campaign against Jeffries over the explicit opposition of the mayor-elect and national Democrats. The primary battle between Ossé and Jeffries threatens to pit the Democratic Party’s establishment against its far-left flank while forcing the lead House Democrat to shore up support at home instead of focusing on retaking the majority during next year’s midterm elections.
“The Democratic Party’s leadership is not only failing to effectively fight back against [President] Donald Trump, they have also failed to deliver a vision that we can all believe in,” Ossé said in a statement obtained by Axios.
Ossé has flirted with a primary run against Jeffries for weeks following Mamdani’s rapid ascension to New York City’s top political office. Mamdani, however, has reportedly privately urged his ideological compatriot to pass on a primary challenge despite the duo both belonging to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Mamdani wants to avoid another high-profile leftist primary challenge and is concerned that Ossé’s primary challenge could damage his relationship with the party’s establishment to push through his agenda once sworn into office, according to multiple reports.
Ossé is an openly gay black man and grew up practicing a Japanese sect of Buddhism. Jeffries, 55, is a member of a black Baptist church and is seen as more aligned with the older, more conservative black population in his Democratic-heavy district.
Though there is precedent for an upstart leftist challenger defeating a senior New York Democrat, Ossé would likely face an uphill climb in unseating Jeffries.
A private poll first reported by the New York-based outlet City & State in September found that Jeffires received 72% support of voters in a head-to-head match-up against Ossé, who registered 21% support. Half of the respondents had not heard of Ossé, suggesting the Gen-Z socialist has room to grow his support in a run against Jeffries.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), House Republicans’ campaign arm, mocked Jeffries for drawing a socialist primary challenger several weeks after endorsing Mamdani’s mayoral campaign. Jeffries threw his public support behind Mamdani less than one day before early voting while continuing to stay mum on whether he agreed with the candidate’s socialist views.
“The far-left takeover of the Democrat Party is complete,” NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella said in a statement. “Hakeem Jeffries bent the knee to Zohran Mamdani, and Mamdani’s best friend immediately turned around and launched a primary against him. That’s how weak their ‘leader’ really is.”
Jeffries has grown irritated when pressed by reporters about a potential primary challenge.
“If you ask me a serious question, I’ll give you a serious answer,” Jeffries told reporters in October in response to a question about Ossé potentially gearing up to challenge him. “And you know that’s not a serious question based on everything coming out of Brooklyn.”
A spokesperson for Jeffries did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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