Rana Abdelhamid, a community organizer and Democratic Socialists of America member, is officially kicking off a campaign for Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s state Assembly seat, pitting her against a fellow DSA adherent who has already locked in the leftist group’s endorsement in the race.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily News on Monday, Abdelhamid, the founder of a self-defense group who has unsuccessfully campaigned for Congress, said she’s jumping into February’s special election for Queens’ 36th Assembly District because of her deep ties to the neighborhood.
“It’s home to my community, which is Little Egypt, that is the community that raised me, and one thing that is really motivating me to run is that I’m really tired to see that people are not able to stay here,” Abdelhamid said, vowing she would if elected fight to expand universal child care for city residents and enact other programs aimed at driving down the cost of living for New Yorkers.
“I want to create an Astoria and Long Island City that people can stay in.”
According to her team, Abdelhamid is expected to formally launch her campaign Tuesday with a video announcement as well as a press conference in Astoria. Having earlier this month opened an exploratory campaign account, Abdelhamid has raised about $140,000 so far, a portion of it being money left over from her failed 2022 congressional campaign, her team said.
Abdelhamid’s entry into the race for the Astoria-based Assembly seat could create an awkward dynamic for Mamdani, a DSA member who is as the district’s outgoing incumbent expected to chime in on the contest.
Diana Moreno, a former co-chair of the DSA’s Queens branch, is already running for Mamdani’s seat and expected to receive the DSA’s formal endorsement after its Electoral Working Group recently voted overwhelmingly to give her the nod.
A lifelong resident of Astoria who is friends with Mamdani, Abdelhamid said she’s running for the seat no matter what. She said she at one point “pursued” DSA’s endorsement, but respects that the group had other “priorities” in backing Moreno.
A source close to Abdelhamid told The News she has in recent weeks been in touch with Mamdani about her campaign.
A spokeswoman for Mamdani, who will officially vacate his Assembly seat at some point before he’s sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, didn’t return a request for comment Monday.
Asked about Abdelhamid’s launch, Moreno told The News she looks forward to “a spirited campaign.”
“We’re confident that the people of Assembly District 36, an overwhelmingly 81% of whom voted for Mayor-elect Mamdani in the Democratic primary, will choose to continue his legacy of democratic socialism in the state Assembly so we can deliver on his affordability agenda,” said Moreno.
The 36th Assembly District holds special significance for Mamdani, who was first elected to the seat in 2020.
As mayor, he will be the DSA’s most high-profile elected official, and his team has already waded into some legislative races to exert influence.
In the Jackson Heights-based 34th Assembly District, Mamdani earlier this month threw his weight behind Palestinian-American activist and DSA member Aber Kawas’ campaign, a move that unnerved some DSA activists in the predominantly Hispanic district, as first reported by The News.
Last week, Mamdani also successfully convinced the DSA to not endorse City Councilman Chi Ossé’s 2026 campaign against Brooklyn Congressman Hakeem Jeffries, a centrist Democrat who is the U.S. House minority leader.
