2025 Primary Election

Elsie Encarnacion is chief of staff to Council Member Diana Ayala and formerly worked for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. She emphasized her deep experience in city government and long-standing relationships within the district. Encarnacion supports most of Citizens Union’s policy priorities. Citizens Union appreciates her grasp of district challenges, values her government experience, and believes she would be a strong advocate for CU’s agenda. Citizens Union therefore prefers Elsie Encarnacion as its first choice in this race.

Wilfredo López is an attorney with experience in the City Council, city government, and the nonprofit sector. He supports all of CU’s reform priorities and is deeply knowledgeable about how the Council operates. As a staffer for then-Council Member Ben Kallos, he helped craft legislation to expand the public-matching funds program, close “zombie” campaign accounts, and advance other election reforms. However, his campaign is benefiting from unusually large independent expenditures – more than $200,000 at the time of writing – by a super PAC that has also sought to remove every other candidate in the race from the ballot. López, who knows the individuals behind the super PAC but is legally barred from coordinating with them, told CU he would not publicly ask the group to stop spending, arguing that would amount to mere lip service. Citizens Union values his legislative experience but ranks him second because of his reluctance to denounce the PAC’s actions, including its attempts to block ballot access for opponents.

Clarisa Alayeto’s career has centered on youth development, education, and public health. Her civic involvement includes chairing her local community board, serving on the Community Education Council, and appointment to the NYC Public Health Advisory Council. Alayeto seeks to increase transparency and engagement between government and residents, drawing on her community-leadership experience to advocate for working-class families and social services. She supports every item on CU’s agenda in our questionnaire. Citizens Union appreciates her dedication to her community and looks forward to her continued involvement in city government. We rank her third.

Raymond Santana is a criminal justice advocate known for being one of the Exonerated Five. He is running for Council to raise attention to the systemic issues affecting East Harlem and the South Bronx, emphasizing economic empowerment, education and police accountability, drawing on his personal experiences to shape his policy priorities. Santana supported all of CU’s reform priorities in broad terms, though his responses to policy questions at times lacked detail. His story, experience, and voice remain invaluable to our civic life.