Tiffany Cabán (left) and Jaslin Kaur were both endorsed by Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week (Photos courtesy of campaigns)
June 10, 2021 By Ryan Songalia
A pair of city council candidates in Queens received two high profile endorsements from leading progressives this week.
Jaslin Kaur, who is running to represent District 23, and Tiffany Cabán, District 22, were both endorsed by U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez this week.
Sanders also endorsed Moumita Ahmed in District 24, while Ocasio-Cortez announced her support for Jennifer Gutierrez in District 34.
Cabán embraced the big-name endorsements.
“From #MedicareforAll to a #GreenNewDeal, Bernie is a leader in the national fight for transformative social change,” Cabán tweeted, calling Sanders a “formidable fighter for working class folks.”
Cabán credits Ocasio-Cortez with inspiring her to run for office after the Bronx native upset long-time incumbent Joseph Crowley in their 2018 Democratic primary race.
“Rep. Ocasio-Cortez’s endorsement is a reflection of our campaign being rooted in the most transformative vision for our city,” Cabán said.
Ocasio-Cortez described the former public defender from Astoria as someone with “vision, skills, and people-powered support we need in City Council to secure racial, social, and economic justice.”
Kaur, meanwhile, said she was honored to be endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders.
“Two trailblazers have coalesced in the place I’ve called home my entire life. They gave me a path to run in the first place. Now it’s time to win,” tweeted Kaur, a Glen Oaks resident running to replace Barry Grodenchik in District 23, which includes the neighborhoods of Floral Park, Queens Village and Little Neck.
Cabán and Kaur were also endorsed in November by the New York City chapter of Democratic Socialists of America.
Gutierrez, whose district includes Ridgewood, said she was “so proud” to be endorsed by Ocasio-Cortez.
“She is a huge inspiration for me as a Latina running for office and I can’t wait to fight for a Green New Deal, public schools, and immigrant families when I get to City Hall,” Gutierrez said.
Meanwhile, Ahmed was backed by Sanders based on her history of advocating for working people.
Sanders described Ahmed as someone “who will always put working people before the interests of the wealthy and the powerful.”
Ahmed has long history with Sanders that dates back to his 2016 presidential campaign. She co-founded the “Millennials for Bernie” Facebook page, which has 400,000 followers, and served as a campaign delegate.
Cabán, Kaur, Ahmed and Gutierrez have also been endorsed by the political action committees (PACs) of Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders.
I am honored to receive the endorsement of Senator @BernieSanders, a formidable fighter for working class folks. From #MedicareforAll to a #GreenNewDeal, Bernie is a leader in the national fight for transformative social change. pic.twitter.com/oj53dJQvgI
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffany_caban) June 10, 2021
Friends, today has been a whirlwind. It's an honor to welcome Senator @BernieSanders to our team ?
Two trailblazers have coalesced in the place I've called home my entire life.
They gave me a path to run in the first place. Now it's time to win.https://t.co/GswNkoQ5Vi ✨ pic.twitter.com/U4edmkHIBR
— Jaslin Kaur for City Council (@jaslinforqueens) June 9, 2021
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7 Comments
Does Bernie really care about our local problems so much as to influence our neighborhood’s election? No, he just wants to get another socialist in office anywhere he can. It’s another DSA power grab. Caban is my 6th choice.
My thoughts exactly. DSA pushed for ranked choice voting and now have become another Queens machine to push their agenda.
I tend to agree with AOC and Bernie, but they are wrong about endorsing Caban for district 22. Evie Hangzopoulos has been in this neighborhood doing the work for 20 years. The DSA is acting like a bunch of thugs in this race and the only people who will suffer are the residents of district 22. On the plus side, if Caban does win, we know she will only be here until she finds the next rung in her political climb.
To clarify, Caban is apparently not “from Astoria” but move in relatively recently. I don’t have a problem with Caban’s politics, but I have a serious question about her understanding Astoria well enough. Probably won’t vote for Caban on that basis. I’d rather see her run for DA again, or some other seat that she may be more qualified for.
Many of the people who will vote for Caban and others are “not “from Astoria” but moved in relatively recently.” As long as you live in the district and can vote you have every right to do so. Neighborhoods and residents change all the time. Caban is admired and loved throughout Astoria by all sorts of people.
She’s from the woodside projects, I believe. Next door. So what.
Who cares? Even if elected they won’t do anything except coddle criminals, look to raise taxes for special programs, and drone on about racism, sexism and botulism. Progressive Democrats are ruining this city every day with or without the endorsement of blathering Bernie and the darling mixologist of the media AOC