Eon Huntley believes the second time is the charm when it comes to winning a key state Assembly seat in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.
“This is me taking another step to deliver more when I see my community struggling,” he said.
The high-end clothing retail worker is challenging incumbent Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman for a second time after losing by a couple hundred votes two years ago.
“We have rising rents, we have childcare that [is] unaffordable and we have real struggles that people are experiencing every day and that’s why I’m doing this,” Huntley said.
Zinerman, on the other hand, says Huntley lacks any real experience or connection to the district.
“Some people don’t want to start from the beginning. They want to co-op on the progress that’s been made. I believe that if you want to run for office, you should run for office, but I do think you have to have a resume and have some receipts of having served the people,” she said.
Huntley is a member of and is endorsed by the city’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.
The political organization is looking to grow its ranks in Central Brooklyn, where the DSA already has a foothold through officials like City Councilman Chi Ossé and state Sen. Jabari Brisport.
“Our politics really try to embrace a multi-racial working class. The candidates running in Bed-Stuy are from Brooklyn, are from Bed-Stuy, have built lives there, Grace Mausser, the co-chair of the NYC-DSA, said.
The DSA has been criticized for struggling to connect with Black voters and their issues, especially around homeownership.
But a recent dispute over an eviction case in the neighborhood has offered an opportunity to bridge the divide.
“The same market forces and the same crooks and like capitalist cronies that try to steal from tenants, to try to exploit tenants do the same thing to Black homeowners,” Mausser said.
Huntly and other DSA candidates have rallied around the issue, showing support for candidates in state committee races or district leader positions.
The push has unsettled longtime leaders who feel the democratic socialists remain out of touch with the community.
“We have outsiders who are trying to determine who should be the leaders of our community,” Henry Butler said.
Bulter is a district leader running for reelection in the area who believes that the move to challenge him by candidates who have support from DSA officials is racist.
“You can find a puppet that will do your bidding. That has always been the way to take down Black leadership,” he said.
Then there’s longtime community member and candidate Marlon Rice, who is looking to unseat Brisport.
“Our incumbent is completely disconnected from our district. He chose to run on a national messaging and a national agenda,” he said. “Our community deserves an elected official [who] is sitting in that seat for the benefit of the community, and that’s not what we have right now.”
NY1 reached out to Brisport for comment multiple times and did not hear back.
“They figured it out like a brilliant strategist. If we focus on these neighborhoods, on these buildings, and focus on bringing these people out, we can win.” J.C. Polanco, a political consultant, said.
Polanco added that a particular issue with the DSA’s push in Central Brooklyn is the idea that new blood is undermining Black political power.
“When you’ve finally had some political power after decades of trying to make it, and here come these new jacks and say, ‘Give me that.’ It’s really creating friction,” he said.
