NYC-CC17: Bronx Council District 17 race heats up as four candidates vie to replace Salamanca (D)
Constituents in District 17 of the South Bronx will soon get to pick their new representative to the City Council, choosing between four candidates all jockeying to win the seat that term-limited incumbent Rafael Salamanca Jr. has held for nine years.
The contenders: Freddy Perez, Justin Sanchez, Antirson Ortiz and Elvis Santana have varying degrees of political experience but largely align on policy agenda items like public safety, affordable housing, childcare and education, jobs and healthcare. However, some notable differences in their respective campaign coffers and endorsements could sway the outcome of next month’s primary.
The district’s current representative, Salamanca, has thrown his political weight behind Democratic district leader and small business owner Freddy Perez Jr., saying in a campaign video on social media that the candidate has a “fire in his belly.” Perez previously served as chair of Bronx Community Board 1’s Land Use Committee, paralleling Salamanca’s current role as chair of the City Council’s influential Land Use Committee.
Perez — a decades-long South Bronx resident and small party rental business owner — told the Bronx Times that in addition to his deep roots in the district, his views are more moderate than those of some of his opponents.
https://www.bxtimes.com/bronx-council-district-17-race-heats-up-as-four-candidates-vie-to-replace-salamanca/