2025 Primary Election

Justin Sanchez has spent the majority of his career in government, working for the City Council, the Bronx Borough President, and Nathalia Fernandez as Chief of Staff in both the State Assembly and Senate. Sanchez’s demonstrated knowledge of the district made him stand out during his interview. He offered a greater understanding of his district’s needs, addressing the opioid crisis, sanitation, and quality of life issues. Sanchez also supports all of CU’s reform agenda, and his experience from both the city and state level helped him articulate all options one has to pass legislation in the Council. Citizens Union liked all three candidates it evaluated in this primary and the district will be well served by any one of them, but the organization was most impressed with Sanchez, and thus, for the reasons outlined above, prefers him as the first choice in this race.

Antirson Ortiz has worked his way up through the Comptroller’s office for eight years, beginning under Scott Stringer and continuing under Brad Lander, and now leads constituent services. He started out as a youth counselor, later serving as a staffer in the State Assembly before joining the Comptroller’s team. Ortiz also volunteers as an NYPD auxiliary police officer and is active in local Democratic Party affairs. His dedication to helping New Yorkers and his alignment with Citizens Union’s reform agenda impressed the evaluation committee. For these reasons, Citizens Union ranks Antirson Ortiz second in this race.

Elvis Santana recently served on the community-engagement team at consulting firm Ichor Strategies and remains active in party politics as a State Committeeman and co-founder of the Estella B. Diggs Democratic Club. Earlier in his career he worked at two political-communications firms and as a program director at East Side House Settlement. Santana has twice run for office—when this seat was last open in 2017 and for State Assembly in 2020, the latter campaign earning Citizens Union’s preference. He brings humility and organizing skill, relying on coalition-building to achieve results. While his strengths are clear, Citizens Union ranks him third in this contest.