After years of community organizing and working in the state senate as chief of staff to New York Senator Julia Salazar, Bushwick resident and Williamsburg native Boris Santos will be taking the leap to run for public office himself. Santos will be challenging incumbent Assembly Member Erik Dilan for a seat in District 54, which covers parts of Bushwick, Cypress Hills, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and East New York. 

The next election will likely be front-and-center for local voters following the recent uptick of millennial candidates running on socialist platforms. The race is also seen as another go-round between familiar foes; Assembly Member Dilan’s father, former senator Martin Malavé Dilan, was beaten out by Senator Salazar (Santos’ current employer) in the 2018 race for the senate seat representing North Brooklyn. 

Since Santos’ announcement of his campaign less than a month ago, the Brooklyn native has been vying for endorsements and support, particularly from the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The New York branch of the political group has been credited as the driving force behind a slew of fresh faces giving the city’s political establishment a run for its money.