Since 2018, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has steadily grown its bench in the New York state legislature, now boasting five assemblymembers and three state senators. But though DSA member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez prominently represents the Bronx in Congress, DSA has not yet elected any representatives from the borough at the state level.
Jonathan Soto, a community organizer and former staffer for AOC, hopes to change that. He is running for the 82nd State Assembly District, which includes the neighborhoods of City Island, Co-op City, Country Club, Edgewater, Morris Park, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck, and Westchester Square. Soto is challenging incumbent Democrat Michael Benedetto, his second attempt after trying for the seat in 2022. Jacobin sat down with Soto recently to discuss why he’s running and what he hopes to accomplish alongside other socialist legislators in Albany.
Why are you running for state assembly?
I am a public-school parent — a democratic socialist who has a thirteen-year-old kid in New York public schools, a school that has been defunded by the mayor. The mayor supports my opponent, Michael Benedetto, who also happens to be the education committee chair for the entire state [in the assembly].
I think that, since last time I ran two years ago when I received 36 percent of the vote, conditions are different. Not only in terms of the likelihood of our chances of winning — because we are running with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America’s New York City branch — but also because the mayor, who is Benedetto’s main surrogate and ally, is deeply unpopular. The Bronx Democratic Party is a paper tiger, whose time has come to yield to the working-class power that’s in this borough.
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