Chi Ossé, a rising star on the New York City Council, filed to run against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in Brooklyn, putting a progressive challenger squarely in the path of one of the Democratic Party’s top national figures and highlighting simmering ideological and generational divides in the party.
“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. “These failures are some of the many reasons why I am currently exploring a potential run for New York’s 8th Congressional District.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries
The 27-year-old represents New York City’s 36th District, which includes North Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Elected in 2021 at just 23 years old, Ossé became the council’s youngest member and the first Gen Z lawmaker in New York City politics. His rise was fueled by his organizing work during the 2020 uprisings, and he has since established a reputation as one of the council’s most left-leaning voices.
Axios first reported last month that Ossé was considering a bid against Jeffries, and his team has also launched an ActBlue page to begin fundraising, signaling that the campaign is moving forward.
Ossé’s alliance with Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani adds another layer of intrigue. Mamdani’s upset in the Democratic mayoral primary sent shockwaves through New York City’s political establishment, and analysts are already drawing parallels between his rise and Ossé’s congressional bid.
Still, it’s not clear whether Mamdani will endorse Ossé. Axios reports that Ossé has faced private discouragement from the mayor-elect and his team, who are focused on building ties with establishment Democrats and advancing their policy agenda.
Jeffries has so far shrugged off the challenge. When asked in October about Ossé’s potential run, the House Democratic leader told Axios, “If you ask me a serious question, I’ll give you a serious answer. And you know that’s not a serious question based on everything coming out of Brooklyn.”
When pressed again last week, Jeffries tersely replied, “No.”
“[Jeffries] is focused on battling Donald Trump, ending the Republican shutdown of the federal government and addressing the crushing GOP healthcare crisis,” a spokesperson for Jeffries told the New York Post earlier this month.
Zohran Mamdani speaks after winning New York City’s mayoral election, on Nov. 4.
Ossé’s entry into the race fits a broader national pattern of young, progressive Democrats opposing incumbents whom they view as out of step with the party’s evolving base.
Primary challenges have cropped up against Reps. Nancy Pelosi of California, Jan Schakowsky of Illinois, and Steve Cohen of Tennessee, with challengers arguing that older Democrats have failed to confront President Donald Trump aggressively enough and have not offered a compelling vision for the future.
Even within New York, tension between the party’s wings is on full display. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has faced criticism from both progressives and moderates over his handling of the recent government shutdown, revealing the deep divides that Ossé’s campaign could tap into.
For Ossé, the campaign is a high-stakes gamble. He is betting that the energy from Mamdani’s mayoral victory—and the broader progressive momentum in Brooklyn—can translate into a credible challenge against a party leader with national visibility.
A win would mark a significant shift in New York politics, signaling that the progressive wing is capable of defeating the old guard.
Whether Ossé can convert youthful energy and left-wing idealism into political reality remains to be seen, but the progressive challenge to Jeffries is now concrete—and the stakes could extend far beyond Brooklyn.
