City Council Progressive Caucus Alliance backs Jumaane Williams – and themselves – in first endorsements

The New York City Council Progressive Caucus Alliance – the political arm of the Progressive Caucus – is rolling out its first endorsements of the 2025 cycle, starting with Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, who is facing a challenge to his right in Queens Assembly Member Jenifer Rajkumar, and several members of the Progressive Caucus with more competitive challenges. That includes City Council Members Chris Marte, Pierina Sanchez, Shekar Krishnan, Julie Won, Nantasha Williams, Crystal Hudson, Alexa Avilés and Shahana Hanif. 

“During their last two terms in the City Council, our colleagues have shown clear dedication to creating a more just, equitable, and affordable New York City for all,” the Progressive Caucus Alliance said in a statement. “It is critical to ensure that our strongest allies in the City Council return for their third term so we can continue the fight against corruption, xenophobia, transphobia, and fascism together.”

With those endorsements, Won said, the alliance will fundraise for candidates and help send volunteers their way as campaign season gets underway, in addition to giving general support on social media. 

The move is something of a comeback for the alliance, which has been somewhat dormant for a few years. The alliance was formed back in 2012, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, then a member of the council, among its founding members. The alliance has not endorsed a slate of candidates since 2017.  According to Won, the alliance’s hiatus from  the endorsement game is simply the result of term limits and turnover in the caucus. “Now that it's on our official four-year mark, all of us have infrastructure politically in our district, we have high name recognition in our district,” Won said. “We have a lot of value add for anyone who's running a city wide office, and we also have a lot of value for our colleagues to validate them.” Plus, she said, the current political climate makes weighing in more pressing. “Can you imagine if we did nothing under a Trump presidency, as well as the corruption of Eric Adams, the demise of our city, having a vacuum of leadership in a city?”

The rollout comes just over a week after the New York Working Families Party unveiled its first round of endorsements, all for incumbent City Council members. The two slates are nearly identical. Many were taken aback by the WFP’s decision to back Marte, who has faced criticism from housing advocates in his district and opposed the City of Yes housing plan. Being a member of the Progressive Caucus, though, his latest endorsement is no surprise; the same can be said for Nantasha Williams, who did not seek the WFP’s support. Whether the alliance will make an endorsement in the comptroller’s race remains to be seen. The WFP turned heads early last week when it backed Council Member Justin Brannan over Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, a former member of the Progressive Caucus himself. 

Jumaane Williams had been uncontested in his reelection campaign until just over a month ago, when Rajkumar suddenly dropped her bid for New York City comptroller to challenge Williams, in hopes of giving voters a more moderate option. Won said the decision to back Williams was unanimous. “Jumaane has been a long-term champion of progressive values,” Won said. 

Won said the alliance is holding off on endorsing several caucus incumbents in “noncompetitive incumbent races” in order to “to strengthen the efforts around the reelection of Progressive Caucus members.” According to Won, the alliance will have more endorsements coming in the near future; how they approach open council seats depends on who actually gets on the ballot once petitioning is over, she said. As for mayor, she said the alliance will invite candidates for interviews before determining a ranked-choice slate of endorsements. The timeline on that is in flux, though – speaking ahead of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ launch, Won said, “Look, it's as fast as these people are willing to announce.”