Queer Socialist NYC Councilman To Challenge Jeffries For House Seat

Hoping to ride New York City’s wave of surging Marxism, socialist City Council member Chi Osse has filed federal paperwork to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. The move adds new a new dimension of entertainment value to next year’s midterms, but has sparked some discouragement from prominent members of the far left.

“The Democratic Party’s leadership is not only failing to effectively fight back against Donald Trump, they have also failed to deliver a vision that we can all believe in. These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District,” Osse told Axios. 

A comrade of mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, the 27-year-old Osse represents a diversity triple-play, as he’s queer, black and Chinese. His late father was a prominent hip-hop media personality known as Combat Jack. Osse will be vying to represent New York’s 8th district, which includes areas of south and east Brooklyn. Jeffries has held that seat since 2013. 

Osse has been weighing a big against Jeffries for weeks, according to the New York Times, ruffling the feathers of figures who readers would otherwise assume to be supportive, including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. While both are allies, each has expressed disapproval of Osse’s run. 

Mamdani’s reluctance to be associated with Osse’s attempt to unseat the top Democrat in the US House is so strong that Mamdani reportedly disinvited Osse from Mamdani’s election night watch party – this despite the fact that Jeffries refused to endorse Mamdani until the eleventh hour, and even then did so with language that didn’t exactly exude enthusiasm. 

To this point, Mamdani has largely kept his criticism of Osse’s bid private — or at least opaque. When asked about Osse’s potential bid on Monday, before the run became official, Mamdani told reporters, “I believe that there are many ways right here in New York City to both deliver on an affordability agenda and take on the authoritarian administration in the White House.” 

According to Times sources, Mamdani and his advisors worry that another far-left targeting of an establishment Democrat could undermine the mayor-elect’s attempt to nudge establishment Dems into supporting his ambitious socialist agenda, which includes “free” child care for all, rent-freezes for a million apartments, “free” buses, a higher minimum wage, city-run groceries, and higher taxes for corporations and top earners. 

Another New York City leftist luminary has been publicly pointed with her dismay. “I certainly don’t think a primary challenge to the leader is a good idea right now,” AOC told Axios. Similarly, at the national level, Progressive Change Campaign Committee leader Adam Green told Politico, ”It is not the right moment to launch a primary challenge against Hakeem Jeffries.”

AOC’s throwing of cold water on Osse’s run against a powerful establishment Democrat has a waft of hypocrisy. After all, AOC took down Rep. Joseph Crowley, who was the fourth-ranked Democrat in the House and viewed as a potential successor to then-Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Mamdani similarly seems to be saying, “Establishment upsets for me, but not for thee.” 

Some of Osse’s fellow leftists have questioned his devotion to socialism. He rankled some by joining the New York City Democratic Socialists of America in October 2020, only to ditch the group a month later, but then rejoin the group earlier this year. Writing this week at The Socialist Tribune on Substack, Holden T unloaded on Osse:

Chi is dedicated to himself and his career. During the George Floyd Uprising, he and a clique of models and influencers donned black berets, called themselves ‘the Warriors in the Garden’, and sought out attention at every turn with few political principles to guide them. Now, he comes sprinting back to NYC-DSA after Zohran’s historic success in the mayoral primary and general election.

Last month, Jeffries pledged legal retaliation against Trump officials and associates if Democrats retake power, telling MSNBC’s Chris Hayes: 

“These people don’t have immunity. And the reality is the statute of limitations is five years, and there will be accountability with the next administration, if not before, when Democrats take back control of the House of Representatives.”