State Sen. Gustavo Rivera has had a rough couple of months.
It started in February when the original state Senate lines were approved by the Legislature. Rivera’s home had been redistricted out of his northwestern Bronx district by just a smidge. Running and winning in his old district would have necessitated giving up his rent-stabilized apartment of 20 years. But he probably could have run unopposed.
Matters got worse when the courts approved the final lines in May. Rivera would still need to move – unless he wanted to challenge state Sen. Robert Jackson largely on his turf – but this time, he would face competition. And though he welcomed the primary challenge from first-time candidate Miguelina Camilo, Rivera needed to get his stagnant campaign apparatus up and running – and fast. “This was the worst-case scenario,” Rivera said in a recent interview with City & State. He thought back to the week following the release of the final lines that left him with no good options if he wanted to remain in office: “I was depressed, I’m not going to lie.”
Now that the race against Rivera and Camilo in the newly drawn state Senate District 33 has gotten underway, things have only gotten more complicated. Despite running against a sitting lawmaker, Camilo won the backing of the Bronx Democratic Party as well as a slew of influential elected officials, including Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz and Reps. Adriano Espaillat and Ritchie Torres. Rivera, meanwhile, has the lion’s share of powerful unions backing him as well as progressive organizations like the Working Families Party and Tenants PAC.
It’s not new that county parties in the city may try to push out members who won’t toe the party line. But the Bronx Democratic machine remains the most powerful in New York City, managing to maintain its influence even as other machines have crumbled in recent years. The race between Rivera and Camilo will serve as its latest test of power in the face of well-organized competition. But with demographic shifts in the West Bronx, the race may also prove to be a critical testing ground for Espaillat as a burgeoning power broker.
This was the worst-case scenario.
– state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, on the final district lines
This was the worst-case scenario.
When the state Legislature approved new district lines in February, Camilo announced that she would run in the state Senate district being vacated by state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi running for Congress. The open seat attracted other candidates as well, but the 36-year-old lawyer entered with the support of the Bronx Democratic Party. The former president of the Bronx Women’s Bar Association, she had first gotten involved with the party through judicial elections – meeting candidates and carrying their petitions – and had made connections from there. Born in the Dominican Republic before moving to Washington Heights, Manhattan, at the age of 2, Camilo also worked at the city Board of Elections.
But when the courts released new district lines following a lawsuit invalidating the districts drawn by the Legislature, Camilo’s home of Riverdale shifted into District 33 – a district without an incumbent, since Rivera’s home had wound up a short distance outside the district. So Camilo decided to switch gears and campaign there instead. “To me, it was never going to be a question of running anywhere else,” Camilo told City & State. “This is the district that I know and I’ve worked in.” She added that “it’s not about musical chairs” in order to get into the Legislature, referring to the prospect of moving to run in a district without challenging a sitting lawmaker.
When Camilo switched districts, the Bronx Democratic Party stuck with her, reiterating the endorsement it had already made for her in District 36 – where she originally planned to run – would also apply to her District 33 run. The district stretches across the northwestern Bronx to the…
Read More: It’s Gustavo Rivera versus the Bronx machine