November 20, 2025
New York City Council member Chi Ossé is launching a Democratic primary challenge against House Democratic MInority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in New York’s 8th District.
New York City Council member Chi Ossé has filed paperwork to challenge House Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the Democratic primary for his Brooklyn-based congressional seat.
Ossé, a new member of the Democratic Socialists of America and ally of NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, filed with the Federal Election Commission on Nov. 17 to challenge Jeffries in the Democratic primary for New York’s 8th District, Axios reports. The campaign launch for the district Jeffries has represented since 2013 reflects a broader push by younger, progressive Democrats to unseat incumbents they view as out of touch with their constituents.
“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,” Ossé said. “These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District.”
He hinted at his campaign plans on X, replying to a post that referenced his earlier claim he wouldn’t run for Congress and that it would take a ‘dire situation’ for him to spend his 20s in Washington, D.C.
“Seems like we’re in a dire situation,” he wrote.
Ossé, first elected to the City Council in 2021 after working as a Black Lives Matter organizer and activist, is not expected to receive a public endorsement from Mayor-elect Mamdani. Sources say Mamdani and his team have privately discouraged him from challenging Jeffries, as the new mayor seeks to build ties with establishment Democrats and advance his agenda.
“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,” Mamdani said.
Fellow Democratic Socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has voiced her doubts about Ossé’s primary challenge, telling reporters, “I certainly don’t think a primary challenge to the leader is a good idea right now.”
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