Washington Heights, Inwood City Council Race: Where Things Stand

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — With five weeks remaining until the June 22 primary elections, the stage is set for a competitive finish to the Washington Heights and Inwood City Council race.

Six Democrats are running to replace the term-limited incumbent Ydanis Rodriguez in District 10. The candidates are vying to become the main representative for the more than 200,000 people that live in Washington Heights and Inwood.

In the coming weeks, Patch will publish the results of question-and-answer forms sent to each candidate, shedding light on each person's policy priorities.

With no polling available for the race, it is impossible to know how each campaign is faring. A look at fundraising and endorsements, however, can provide some clues.

The Candidates

First, a brief recap of who is running in the Democratic primary:

James Behr, a lawyer and author, Carmen De La Rosa, a local Assembly Member and former chief of staff to Councilmember Ydanis Rodriguez, Angela Fernandez, a lawyer, nonprofit executive director, and former chief of staff for Congressman Jose Serrano, Johanna Garcia, an advocate, nonprofit founder, and former chief of staff to Councilmember Robert Jackson, Josue Perez, a teacher and director of a Dominican political group, and Tirso Pina, who ran against Robert Jackson in 2020 for New York State Senate, but Patch wasn't able to find added information about the candidate.

The Fundraising Game

De La Rosa is leading the fundraising race, but it's neck and neck among the three top candidates.

De La Rosa has raised $233,523 combined, including $73,103 in private funds and $160,420 in public matching funds, according to the latest disclosures. The current Assembly Member has also spent $83,709 — the most of any district 10 campaign.

The fundraising race is a close one, though. Garcia and Fernandez have both hit the maximum match for public funds.

1. De La Rosa: $233,523
2. Garcia: $227,116
3. Fernandez: $224,684
4. Perez: $133,449
5. Pina: $5,105
6. Behr: $297

In terms of spending, Fernandez and Garcia have spent $77,575 and $75,091, respectively. Perez has spent $22,670, while Pina and Behr have both spent less than $10.

Looking at the total number of donations made to the campaign, Garcia far outpaces the rest of the field. She has had 1,151 donations made to her campaign at an average price of $56. There are only a handful of candidates in any City Council race that have seen more than 1,000 donations made to their campaign.

De La Rosa is second with 797 donations, Fernandez third with 578 donations, and Perez fourth with 281 donations. Fernandez has the highest average donation at $111 and De La Rosa has the most amount of contributions made from people outside of New York City — 24.9 percent of her donations have come from outside the five boroughs.

Who Is Endorsing Who?

Carmen De La Rosa Major Endorsements: Congressman Adriano Espaillat, NYS Senator Jessica Ramos, NYS Assemblymember Danny O'Donnell, Councilmember Mark Levine, Councilmember Carlina Rivera, 32BJ SEIU, Jim Owles Democratic Club, Stonewall Democrats of NYC, Northern Manhattan Democrats For Change, New York State Nurses Association

Johanna Garcia Major Endorsements: State Senators Alessandra Biaggi, Robert Jackson, John Liu, Mike Gianaris, and Brad Hoylman, former candidate for governor and actor Cynthia Nixon, Working Families Party, Citizen Action of New York, Rise Uptown Indivisible, The Jewish Vote, 504 Democrats, Progressive Women of New York

Angela Fernandez Major Endorsements: Mayoral candidate Diana Morales, Reverend Luis Barrios of Holyrood Episcopal Church

Josue Perez: N/A

Tirso Pina: N/A

James Behr: N/A

Here are the campaign websites for each District 10 candidate, other endorsements not listed above can be found there.

• Carmen De La Rosa
• Johanna Garcia
• Angela Fernandez
• Josue Perez
• Tirso Pina
• James Behr