Brooklyn City Council Member Chi Ossé, who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America, has filed to challenge Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in next year’s primary election.
The news comes after Ossé neither confirmed nor denied last month that he was weighing trying to unseat Jeffries from the left. At the time, Ossé said it would “take a very dire situation in order for me to even consider spending the rest of my 20s in DC.”
However, on Monday, he said, “It seems like we’re in a dire situation,” in a social media post that appeared to confirm his decision to run.
“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 told Axios in a statement.
Axios first reported the story. Ossé, who represents Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in the City Council, did not immediately confirm the news when amNewYork contacted him via text.
Ossé appears emboldened to make the challenge in the wake of democratic socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s victory earlier this month.
However, according to a New York Times report, Mamdani does not want Ossé to run against Jeffries, fearing it could disrupt his efforts to push forward his ambitious affordability agenda.
Mamdani spent months during the general election trying to win Jeffries’ support, an effort that ultimately proved successful when Jeffries finally threw his support to Mamdani 11 days before the election.
The incoming mayor would not say whether he would endorse Ossé when asked about it during an unrelated Monday Bronx press conference. Instead, he appeared to discourage the council member from running.
“While I appreciate the great work that Councilmember Ossé has done on the council, especially for tenants,” Mamdani said, “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.”
Jeffries is in line to be elected speaker of the House if Democrats win back the majority in 2026. Now, with Jeffries himself facing a challenge from the left, the House Democratic leader faces the unusual situation of defending his home seat in what could be a difficult primary while also leading the party’s national efforts to retake the House.
Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for Jeffries, said he “welcome(s)” the challenge in response to Ossé’s reported run.
“Leader Jeffries is fighting hard to lower the high cost of living, address the Republican healthcare crisis, combat corruption and win back control of the House for the good of the country,” Chermol said. “We welcome this primary challenge and look forward to a rigorous debate about the type of serious leadership required to deliver for the people of Brooklyn and the nation.”
