New York’s Big Seat Shuffle
A wave of retirements kicks off musical chairs for New York’s politicos
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When Congressman Jerry Nadler announced in September that this term would be his last, he kicked off a critical conversation about our nation’s aging politicians—and an exciting round of musical chairs. In the months since, nearly a dozen candidates have entered the fray, vying for this storied seat—including three current abundance champions in office, Assemblyman Micah Lasher, Assemblyman Alex Bores, and Councilman Erik Bottcher.
It’s an embarrassment of riches, an abundance of abundance-minded candidates—and their runs in turn are opening up opportunities further down-ballot. Because they are running for Congress, both Lasher and Bores’s Assembly seats are up for grabs this spring. This dynamic is playing out across the city; as legislators retire or make big moves (including one Assemblyman’s move to Gracie Mansion next month), they’re leaving their own seats open for the taking.
It’s a high-stakes moment: on the one hand, we could lose some of our biggest champions in the state legislature to campaigns for higher office (successful or unsuccessful); on the other hand, we could see a new cohort of abundance champions fill their seats and their shoes, bringing a coordinated wave of energy to Albany.
Who’s vacating a seat and who’s circling around, hoping to win this round of musical chairs? Which of these races will likely have high abundance stakes? Read on for our preview of primaries to watch in 2026.
Congressional Seats to be Given—or Taken
NY-12: Upper West Side / Upper East Side / Midtown — Open
Who’s retiring: Congressman Jerry Nadler, who has represented the district for 30 years, chaired the Judiciary Committee, and led the city’s congressional delegation in securing subway funding for the city.
Who’s in the race: Leading the pack are Assemblyman Micah Lasher, Assemblyman Alex Bores, and Councilman Erik Bottcher, all of whom have been outspoken advocates for building more housing in New York. Lasher was Governor Hochul’s Director of Policy and was an architect of her 2023 Housing Compact proposal. Bores, a former software engineer, has co-sponsored legislation to increase government transparency and regulate AI, the latter drawing fire from AI industry super PACs. Bottcher has had an impressive fundraising haul and highlighted his work to build more housing and create a more welcoming New York for LGBTQ folks like himself. The list of declared candidates stretches on, including Jack Schlossberg, JFK’s grandson and content creator; civil rights lawyer Laura Dunn; journalist Jami Floyd; Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting and gun control activist; Alan Pardee, a finance executive; and Mathew Shurka, an LGBTQ rights activist.
What we’re watching: This race is an abundance advocate’s dream scenario: Lasher, Bores, and Bottcher are all strongly aligned with building more housing and modernizing New York’s land-use rules. With three growth-minded candidates competing, the policy debate could reach a level of nuance rarely seen in congressional races. The question is less whether an abundance-aligned candidate will win, and more which flavor of abundance politics NY-12 voters prefer.
NY-07: North Brooklyn / parts of Queens — Open
Who’s retiring: Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez, first elected in 1993, who was the first Latina elected to Congress and has served on the House Small Business Committee and Financial Services Committees.
Who’s in the race: Brooklyn Borough President, 2025 Abundance New York endorsee, and prominent housing advocate Antonio Reynoso announced his candidacy last week. He’ll likely face one or more DSA opponents; Councilwoman Tiffany Cabán, State Senator Kristen Gonzalez, and Assemblywoman Claire Valdez are all exploring runs. Each of these candidates has a record of supporting some abundance legislation (including City of Yes for Housing Opportunity in the council and the Faith-Based Affordable Housing Act in the legislature).
What we’re watching: The media will almost certainly home in on the ideological contrasts between Reynoso and his further left-leaning opponents, but there may be interesting areas of alignment among the candidates—and opportunities to move the entire field to take more aggressive positions—on housing, transit, and climate policy. We’ll also be tuned into whether these candidacies open up competitive races in the legislature.
NY-10: Lower Manhattan / West Brooklyn — Challenge
Who’s the incumbent: Congressman Dan Goldman, who narrowly won the seat in 2022 in a crowded primary field; he sits on the Judiciary and Homeland Security Committees and has focused on public safety, civil rights, and oversight work.
Who’s in the race: Just today, outgoing NYC Comptroller, 2025 mayoral candidate, and former Abundance NY endorsee Brad Lander announced he is mounting a challenge with incoming mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsement. Councilwoman Alexa Avilés and former Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou—both of whom had been exploring runs from the left—said they would not run, clearing the left lane for Lander.
What we’re watching: This may be the highest-profile left-vs-center fight in New York’s Congressional primaries. We’ll be tuned into how Goldman and Lander position themselves on abundance issues, and whether either attempts to pair broad, coalition-building campaign messaging with an explicitly pro-housing agenda.
NY-15: South Bronx — Challenge
Who’s the incumbent: Congressman Ritchie Torres, who has publicly positioned himself as an abundance champion and introduced federal legislation to unlock financing for affordable housing.
Who’s in the race: Former Assemblyman, 2025 mayoral hopeful, and previous NY-15 candidate Michael Blake and public defense attorney and DSA member Dalourny Nemorin both announced their entry into the race last month. Assemblywoman Amanda Septimo is rumored to be planning a run as well.
What we’re watching: While the race risks being consumed by foreign policy, we hope that abundance issues—especially housing—get a fair amount of air time given the district’s needs. NY-15 is the poorest congressional district in the country and one of the most housing-burdened; it would benefit from any serious version of an abundance agenda.
State Senate Seats in the Spin
Senate District 47: West Village / Chelsea / Hell’s Kitchen / Upper West Side — Open
Who’s making moves: State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, who will be sworn in as Manhattan Borough President next month.
Who’s in contention: Because Hoylman-Sigal is leaving his post mid-cycle, the Governor will call a special election for someone to serve the remainder of the term. In the special election context, the Democratic candidate is chosen through county committee nominating processes. The most likely nominee in this scenario would be either Assemblyman Tony Simone, who has been one of the most outspoken abundance advocates in the chamber, or Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal, who has chaired the Assembly’s Housing Committee during a period of relatively modest housing growth statewide.
What we’re watching: The county committee’s choice of a nominee will effectively determine the district’s next senator. With major housing and transit debates on the horizon in Albany, this quiet procedural step could end up being one of Manhattan’s more significant political moments of the cycle. And it could trigger further down-ballot movement, as we describe below.
Senate District 13: Corona / East Elmhurst / Jackson Heights — Challenge
Who’s the incumbent: State Senator Jessica Ramos, a 2025 mayoral hopeful whose eleventh-hour endorsement of Cuomo earned her a primary challenge.
Who’s in the running: Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas, who is DSA-aligned and a close political ally of Mayor-elect Mamdani.
What we’re watching: This is one of the cycle’s most direct counterpunches. Ramos backed Cuomo over Mamdani in the mayoral primary; González-Rojas’s challenge is seen as the Mamdani faction asserting its strength. Beyond the political drama, this district faces some of the city’s highest housing pressures—so we’re eager to see how each candidate frames their housing commitments.
Assembly Chairs Changing Hands
The scramble to fill up-ballot seats has led to an unprecedented number of open races in the Assembly. A few races we’ll be following:
Assembly District 36 (Astoria / Long Island City), previously occupied by a little-known Assemblyman who will be assuming the role of Mayor of New York City in January. A few DSA-aligned candidates have entered the race; we’re curious to see whether any will model Mamdani’s interest in boosting housing supply.
Assembly District 66 (Village / SoHo / TriBeCa); Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, one of the state’s longest-serving legislators and consistent opponent of the abundance agenda, is retiring after 36 years. Abundance New York Co-Founder (and former Glick challenger) Ryder Kessler is rumored to be entering the race, having spent the past several years building power and developing policy for the movement.
Assembly District 69 (Upper West Side / Morningside Heights) is opening up as Assemblyman Micah Lasher runs for NY-12, and while a few early contenders are exploring a run, the field is still taking shape.
Assembly District 73 (Midtown East / Upper East Side) is opening up as Assemblyman Alex Bores runs for NY-12; with potential candidates only beginning to signal interest, the contours of the race remain unclear.
Assembly District 74 (East Village / Stuy Town / Murray Hill / Kips Bay) is opening up as Assemblyman Harvey Epstein moves to the City Council in January. As in Senate District 47, it could be decided by a special election, with a Democratic nominee determined by the county committee. Keith Powers, the outgoing Councilman for CD-4, is considered the frontrunner and endorsed by Epstein; he was a 2025 Abundance NY endorsee in his bid for Manhattan Borough President and would bring a strong pro-housing record to the Assembly. Sarah Batchu—a former CB3 vice chair and also a 2025 Abundance NY endorsee in her bid for CD-2—has entered the race as well, along with a few others.
Assembly District 67 (UWS / Hell’s Kitchen) or 75 (Chelsea / Hell’s Kitchen / Midtown) will open up depending on whether Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal or Assemblyman Tony Simone is tapped as the nominee to represent Senate District 47; if so, a competitive field is likely to form quickly in either district.
A Surprising Statewide Scuffle
Finally, we’ll be tracking the race for New York State Comptroller, a little-known office with outsized responsibilities. New York is one of a handful of states that use a sole trustee model for the management of state pension funds; essentially, current Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has total authority over nearly $300B in investments. In his 18 years as Comptroller, DiNapoli has not had a competitive primary; this year, several people have entered the fray to challenge him.
Previous Congressional candidate Adem Bunkeddeko would likely challenge him explicitly from the left; but challengers Raj Goyle, a businessman and former Kansas legislator, and Drew Warshaw, an executive at Enterprise Community Partners, have focused less on ideological battles and more on critiquing the incumbent’s performance and use of the office, proposing ways the Comptroller could drive housing growth or lower energy costs. This could be a rare race where it’s politically expedient to foreground abundance issues—and where our community as a swing vote could help move the whole field.
Over the next few months, we’ll be engaging in an in-depth evaluation and endorsement process to zero in on the most competitive races, identify the most viable abundance-aligned candidates, and communicate our insights to our broader community. We’ll keep you posted on how the fights for these seats are shaping up—and when the music stops, we’ll have voting recommendations at the ready. Stay tuned!
Thanks for the rundown, super useful! I'm a huge Alex Bores fan but didn't know many of these. Any key races you would recommend focusing attention/funding on for YIMBY priorities?
(Was just writing last night about how Mamdani can approach housing: https://substack.com/@connorflexman558784/note/p-181649289 )