Chi Ossé, Black gay NYC Council member, files for potential challenge to Hakeem Jeffries for Congress

Chi Ossé, a 27-year-old Black gay member of the New York City Council, has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission for a potential run for the U.S. House of Representatives, challenging Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the Democratic primary in New York’s Eighth Congressional District, based in Brooklyn.

“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 said in a statement to Axios, which was the first to report the news of his filing. “These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District.”

So who is Chi Ossé?

BLM organizer to youngest NYC Council member

Ossé was elected to the council in 2021 at age 23, making him the youngest member and the only one from Generation Z. He represents the 36th District, which covers the Bedford-Stuyvesant and North Crown Heights neighborhoods of Brooklyn, and is up for reelection in November. He is cochair of the Brooklyn delegation. He was previously an organizer with the Black Lives Matter movement.

Related: NYC Elects Record Six Out City Council Members

“When George Floyd was murdered, it stirred something different in me — as it did in a lot of people, Ossé told Vogue in 2022. “Obviously, I’ve seen Black folks killed by law enforcement before; however, this was different. I took to the streets and started protesting and was seeing the violence that the police were lashing out against nonviolent protesters. And that gave me this passion to continue going out every single day after that and organize with other people.” So a run for public office was a logical next step for him.

The Vogue interview came about because Ossé is known for his fashion sense and has appeared at the Met Gala. He often wears clothing from Black designers and businesses. “My identity is with me through everything that I put on and how I wear what I wear,” he told Vogue. “I like to dress my age and dress my sexuality and dress my race.”

His priority issues

On the City Council, Ossé has emphasized what his website calls “innovative and human-centered public safety solutions” and affordable housing. He has won passage of a law to provide anti-overdose medication at nightclubs, legislation to fight rat infestation, and the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act. The latter ends the practice of charging broker fees to tenants even if they found the apartment without a broker.

He recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America, of which newly elected NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a member. “I joined DSA earlier this year because the movement surge that carried Zohran into office must grow into a tidal wave,” Ossé wrote in Jacobin. He continued, “DSA is unbought and unbossed. We wholeheartedly believe that the world can look different, that there can be enough to go around, and that we can make that our reality. Our power comes from building solidarity across the working class of every background and showing that when we fight together, we win.”

“Socialism offers not just a structural strength to resist fascism but also a positive vision worth fighting for,” he added, while “Democratic Party leaders seem asleep at the wheel” in fighting Donald Trump.

Ossé often uses TikTok and Instagram to explain his progressive policies.

His relationship with Mamdani: It's complicated

Ossé initially donated to two other candidates in the mayoral race, City Comptroller Brad Lander and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, but he endorsed Mamdani in May. He was disinvited from Mamdani’s Election Night party, however, because it already known that Ossé was considering a run against Jeffries, who had finally endorsed Mamdani in October.

“Mamdani has privately tried to discourage [Ossé] from running,” The New York Times reported last week. “The mayor-elect and his team fear that another high-profile challenge from the left might compromise his own bid to push the Democratic establishment to support his affordability agenda.”

Related: Here is New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's LGBTQ+ rights record

Ossé plans to seek the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America. Mamdani has said he won’t necessarily follow all DSA endorsements, though. Mamdani also told reporters Monday, “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.”

Some other progressives have cautioned against Ossé's run. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents New York's 14th Congressional District, told Axios Monday that she wasn't aware of Ossé's candidacy, but added, "I certainly don't think a primary challenge to the leader is a good idea right now."

Adam Green, cofounder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, told The Hill, “Especially at this moment, just after Mamdani’s big victory and House Democrats holding firm during the shutdown fight, it is not the right moment to launch a primary challenge to Hakeem Jeffries.” .

Jeffries, first elected to Congress in 2012, has seldom had a primary challenger since then. He decisively defeated activist Queen Johnson in the 2022 Democratic primary. He was elected Democratic leader in November 2022. He has a record of perfect or near-perfect scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s Congressional Scorecard.

Jeffries and his team “welcome this primary challenge” from Ossé and “look forward to a rigorous debate,” Justin Chermol, a spokesperson for Jeffries, told ABC News Monday.

Another candidate, Vance Bostic, has announced a primary challenge to Jeffries for 2026, but little has been heard from him. He has completed a questionnaire for Ballotpedia, however.

Following in the footsteps of ...

The other Black gay members of the U.S. House, both Democrats, have come from New York City and the surrounding area. Ritchie Torres, from the Bronx-based 15^th Congressional District, is in his third term. Mondaire Jones won a seat representing the 17^th District, located in the NYC suburbs, in 2020, the same year Torres was first elected. After redistricting, he lost the Democratic primary in the 10^th District in 2022, and he lost another bid to return to the House in 2024.

In the U.S. Senate, Black lesbian Laphonza Butler of California was appointed in 2023 to fill the remainder of the late Dianne Feinstein’s term, but she did not run for the office in 2024. She is the only LGBTQ+ person of color to have served in the Senate.