District 35 City Council Race: Who Will Replace Laurie Cumbo?

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — For the first time since 2013, Brooklyn's 35th District will have someone other than Laurie Cumbo representing them in City Council.

So far, 11 candidates have put their hat in the ring to replace the term-limited council member, who currently serves as the City Council majority leader. Brooklyn's 35th District extends over Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights and parts of Bed-Stuy and Crown Heights.

The 2021 campaign will have some familiar faces for Brooklynites, including one of Cumbo's former staffers, local activists who organized against her and current and former members of local community boards.

Several of the candidates have already raised tens of thousands of dollars for their campaigns — the front-runner in terms of fundraising stands at almost $96,000 as of the latest campaign finance filing deadline.

Here's a look at all eleven candidates:

Alejandra Caraballo

• Money raised: $10,881
• Caraballo is a self-described "Trans Latina progressive activist" and civil rights attorney. She would be the first openly-transgender person to serve in City Council should she be elected. Find out more here and here.

Renee Collymore

• Money raised: $18,793
• Collymore is a self-described progressive democrat and activist. She served as a district leader between 2012 and 2014 and names affordable housing, homelessness, police accountability and the reallocation of resources to social programming as priorities in her campaign. Find out more here.

Curtis Harris

• Money raised: $18,793
• Harris has called himself Brooklyn's "arts and culture candidate." A former member of Brooklyn's Community Board 8, he is the founder of the Green Earth Poets Cafe and a former accountant. Find out more here and here.

Michael Hollingsworth

• Money raised: $60,449
• A Crown Heights native, Hollingsworth has been a tenant organizer since multi-million dollar condos threatened to replace his own rent-stabilized building in 2016. He has taken stands against Cumbo's involvement in local projects, including at the Bedford Union Armory and developments on Crown and Carroll streets. Find out more here.

Crystal Hudson

• Money raised: $95,718
• Hudson is a former staff member for Cumbo and has also served in a senior role in the New York City Public Advocate's office. Spurred into public service after becoming a primary caregiver for her mother, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, Hudson has also served on Community Board 8 and on the board of the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, North Prospect Heights Association and New Leaders Council. Find out more here.

Regina Kinsey

• Money raised: $6,780
• Kinsey is a director at the Crown Heights North Association and a member of Community Board 8, where she is the vice chair of the Seniors Committee. Patch could not find a website or social media account for Kinsey's City Council campaign.

Terrance Knox

• Money raised: $1,721
• Spurred to run for the seat by the Brooklyn protests following the death of George Floyd, Knox has served on Community Board 2, on the board of the Brooklyn Community Pride Center, and on Brooklyn Hospital Center’s community advisory board, according to a profile in Gay City News.

Deirdre Levy

• Money raised: $6,161
• Levy is a special education teacher at a public school in Prospect Heights. She lists affordability, food and nutrition in New York City has her campaign priorities. Find out more here.

Hector Robertson

• Money raised: $3,445
• Robertson is a tenant activist, including with the Washington Avenue Botanic Block Association (AKA - WABBA) and the Crown Heights Community Council (CHCC). He lists rezonings that have led to high-rise luxury development, escalation of rent, police misconduct, a lack of public hospitals and the COVID-19 pandemic as his reasons for running. Find out more here.

Sharon Wedderburn

• Money raised: $0
• Wedderburn is a member of Community Board 8, where she is chair of the Youth & Education Committee. Patch could not find a website or social media page for her campaign.

Maayan Zik

• Money raised: $0
• Zik is a local activist who most recently organized on behalf of the Black and Hasidic Jewish communities in the wake of the death of George Floyd, according to a profile in Vogue. Patch could not find a website or social media page for her campaign.

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