Diana Ayala has a possible successor in mind: her chief of staff

The race to succeed New York City Council Deputy Speaker Diana Ayala in East Harlem and the South Bronx is officially on.

While the Democratic primary for City Council District 8 is still roughly a year away, three candidates have filed for the seat and started fundraising. Ayala, who has represented the district since 2018, is among the class of City Council members whose final term will come to a close at the end of 2025. For the departing council member, the matter of whom to endorse to succeed her is crystal clear.

That’s Elsie Encarnacion, Ayala’s current chief of staff and a first-time candidate, who currently leads the field with $23,518 raised (not including expected matching funds) since she launched her campaign in late May, according to the latest campaign finance numbers. 

Ayala said she encouraged Encarnacion to consider running. The two met years ago while working for then-City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito back in 2006. 

“I think really highly of her,” Ayala said. “When you’re thinking about succession and the work and the love you put into your projects and your district, who would love it and take care of it in the same way is important.”

If she were to succeed Ayala in the council, Encarnacion would join a large group of members who were elected after working for their predecessor. Staffers with support of their incumbent boss can have an advantage with fundraising and leveraging community relationships.

Encarnacion attributed the swell of local support she’s seen to her deep ties to the community. She was born and raised in the district, spent a number of years serving on the local Manhattan Community Board 11, and worked as a parent coordinator at a school in the Bronx. She acknowledged the frenzy that can follow an open seat.

“Sometimes, especially with open seats, there becomes this opportunity for division and an opportunity for everybody to come out of the woodwork,” Encarnacion said. “My goal really is to try to focus on our community and say let’s get behind something that’s real and we’ve agreed on in the last X amount of years that has been working for us and let’s continue to support it.”

Wilfredo López, a government affairs professional at a local nonprofit and the former legislative director and counsel for then-City Council Member Ben Kallos, has raised $16,200 since launching his campaign in April. While it’s Lopez’s first time running for City Council, he’s not a first time candidate. López challenged Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs for his seat in 2022 with support from the Working Families Party.

López said he turned his sights to the City Council because he was motivated by a desire to address issues that have long plagued East Harlem and the South Bronx like the lack of affordable housing, growing homelessness and heightened cost of living.

“As a new dad I kind of woke up with a desire to address these problems so that by the time my kid is my age, hopefully the world’s in a much better place for him,” he said.

Both López and Encarnacion said they expect to qualify for public matching funds.

Daniel K. Aulbach-Sidibe, a learning specialist at the Dwight School, according to his LinkedIn, is also in the running. He’s raised $3,690, according to the latest campaign finance filings.