NYC Primary Election 2020: Bunkeddeko Aims To Unseat Clarke

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — Brooklyn Democrats in a week will cast their ballots in a spate of local, state and federal primary races — including the 9th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Yvette Clarke is defending her seat against challengers Adem Bunkeddeko, Chaim Deutsch, Lutchi Gayot and Isiah James.

Bunkeddeko, a community organizer, previously ran against Clarke in 2018 and nearly unseated her. His campaign this time has racked up endorsements from a variety of local groups and the New York Times.

The 9th Congressional District includes Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay and more.

The primary election, slated for June 23, is open to registered Democratic voters. All New York voters may request a mail-in ballot due to the coronavirus pandemic. Ballots must be postmarked by the date of the election for the vote to get counted.

For those who want to head to the polls, click here to find your poll site. Early voting is available from June 13 to June 21.

Patch reached out to all candidates in the primary election to create these profiles. Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.

Age as of Election Day (Nov. 3)

32

NYC neighborhood of residence

Crown Heights

Position Sought

U.S. Congress

Party Affiliation

Democratic

Family

Sully Bunkeddeko (father), Jean Bunkeddeko (mother), I also have 5 siblings

Does anyone in your family work in politics or government?

No

Education

BA from Haverford College, MBA from Harvard Business School

Occupation

Organizer and non-profit employee

Previous or Current Elected or Appointed Office

NA

Campaign website

ademforcongress.com

Why are you seeking elective office?

I’m born and raised in New York City. Through my personal and professional pursuits I have seen an enormous set of challenges in our district including state-sanctioned violence in the form of police brutality and ICE patrols, under-funded public housing, segregated public schools, and children of color with high asthma rates.
In my view, a member of Congress has three main responsibilities. The first is to draft public policy that is well-researched, grounded in facts, and ensures that we improve the lives of working families and those who live on the margins of society. Congresswoman Clarke has not passed any meaningful legislation in her almost 14 years. The second responsibility is to shape the conversation on key issues facing their constituents. Central Brooklyn needs an active vocal fighter on police reform, desegregating our public schools, and that housing is a human right. We cannot settle for a representative who supports the curfew and said that our police problem was just a “few bad apples.” It is thanks to many freshman members of Congress who have shone a light on the marginalized that we have had more in-depth and fruitful discussions about issues such as defunding the police, Green New Deal and Medicare for All. Finally, members of Congress must work on constituent services. This is extremely important in a district such as ours where there are high needs and working class folks require an energetic advocate to help them as they navigate complicated bureaucracies such as the IRS or Social Security. In my 7 years on the Community Board, I never saw the Congresswoman come to a board meeting to hear about the issues her constituents faced.
When confronted with both the high needs of my community and the absence of leadership from our Representative, I feel an imperative to be the energetic advocate that central Brooklyn needs in the U.S. House.

The single most pressing issue facing our nation/state/community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

The single most pressing issue facing our nation is the dehumanization of black people that propagates through our criminal justice system, housing system, education system, and healthcare system (to name a few). I intend to attack this in many forms. First through criminal justice reform. We need to defund the police, demilitarize the police, and end qualified immunity. Second through housing, we need to correct the wrongs of red-lining by reducing FHA rates and insurance requirements for low and moderate income households in formerly redlined neighborhoods. Third by desegregating our public schools, we need to provide funding for school districts that change historically discriminatory district lines and allocate a portion of Title I funding towards school integration.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

I have spent my career working to make life better for folks in Brooklyn and through that I understand their concerns. Beginning as a grassroots organizer for the New York Working Families Party, I knocked on doors and collected petitions for candidates and causes that made a difference in the lives of working families throughout Central Brooklyn. As a leadership fellow at the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, I helped create a support network to improve the educational and social outcomes of low-income families in Central Brooklyn. Working in state government, I helped to revitalize underserved communities throughout Brooklyn.
For five years, I served on Brooklyn Community Board #8 (Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Weeksville), playing an active role in shaping my community. As associate director for business initiatives at Brooklyn Community Services, I helped create job-training programs that provided Brooklyn residents with the skills to take advantage of meaningful employment opportunities.
Through my work in the community I have had the opportunity to work with and engage in discussions with community leaders across the district. I am proud of all the endorsements I have received in this race, but I am most proud about the list of 20 community leaders who have endorsed me. https://bklyner.com/adem-bunke...

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Rep Clarke is out of touch with the district. She believes in the curfew and that our police brutality problem is “just a few bad apples.” Her quote about the curfew can be viewed at the NY1 link below and found at 18 mins and 40 sec. https://cheddar.com/media/new-york-rep-yvette-clarke-bad-apples-of-the-nypd-must-be-rooted-out
https://twitter.com/RepYvetteClarke/status/1267489699939127296?s=20

Rep Clarke and her supporters do not believe the federal government has the power to set education policy or housing policy. We need a representative who will fight for our community’s needs in Congress.
https://www.kingscountypolitics.com/congressional-race-bunkeddeko-clarke-spar-over-education/
https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-frank-seddio-profane-email-adem-bunkeddeko-20191022-ygbke3zgx5hq3mpziiijphcerm-story.html

During the NY1 debate, candidates were asked if they supported raising taxes on those who earn more than $500,000 a year. Rep. Clarke responded saying that she did not support this. The quote can be viewed at 42 mins and 54 sec in the video below.
https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/politics/2020/06/04/nyc-elections-2020-whos-running-9th-congressional-district-debate-brownsville-park-slope-sheepshead-bay

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Ensuring Housing as a Right: I believe suitable housing is a right. To ease the rent burden and give families a future, I will fight for a program to combat our housing crisis

Ensuring a Fair and Just Education system: I will fight for a new federal program, the “Race to Racial Fairness” School Desegregation Program

Providing Quality Healthcare for All: I support Medicare-for-All, which will put us on the path to a single-payer healthcare system that is cheaper, better, and more just.

Reforming the Criminal Justice System: We need to end cash bail, legalize marijuana and expunge the records of people convicted for the possession of marijuana. We also see that our country is badly in need of policing reform. I support ending qualified immunity for law enforcement officials and being able to hold individual officers accountable.

Setting up Humane Immigration Policy: I believe we need to abolish ICE, end the Muslim ban, fight for a path to citizenship for all DACA recipients, and reform the employee sponsored visa system so that visas are given directly to employees and expanding the skills eligible for the system.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

I would cite my work that has impacted the most people who live in our community. First was helping hundreds of folks in our community get good paying jobs through my work in the state government. I also helped formerly incarcerated folks reintegrate back into society.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

Pursue what you love, not money

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

It would be an honor to represent this district. I have devoted my career to Brooklyn and I am ready to represent this diverse community. I ran in 2018 because I felt our district deserved a more active and energetic representative in Congress. Now we’re facing an economic crisis within a public health crisis within a national crisis of police violence and systemic oppression and our community cannot wait any longer. This time around I have a diverse coalition that includes endorsements from 20 community leaders, Zephyr Teachout, New York Progressive Action Network, Empire State Indivisible, Lambda Independent Democrats, Arena, Leadership Now, Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed and UAW-Region 9a.
https://ademforcongress.com/en...