Bay Ridge Dems Founder Chris McCreight Running For District Leader
Brooklyn activist and Bay Ridge Democrats cofounder Chris McCreight announced he is running for District Leader in the 46th Assembly District last week.
The September 13 election, will be the first for Male District Leader in the 46th Assembly District — which covers Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights and Coney Island — in more than a decade.
“I am running for District Leader to build a stronger Democratic Party for everybody, no matter age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religion or income,” McCreight said to a full house at a meeting of the Bay Ridge Democrats. “As District Leader, I will not only bring an independent voice to the Kings County Executive Committee, but I’ll work tirelessly to help elect Democrats whose first priority is lifting up our neighborhoods.”
McCreight hopes to send a message across the aisle to Republicans, who maintain a foothold in southern Brooklyn, despite waning support.
“In this part of Brooklyn, we’re represented by a Republican in both Congress and the New York State Senate. Their priorities don’t represent the Brooklyn we remember or the one we live in today, and it’s not acceptable,” he added.
In addition to working on various political campaigns for local Bay Ridge Councilman Vincent Gentile and former Councilman Sal Albanese, Chris cofounded the Bay Ridge Democrats Club and was the club’s first Vice President. His community involvement extends to being the Secretary of the Bay Ridge Street Art Walk (SAW), an organization that brings public art to local small businesses along 5th Avenue.
McCreight also called on his neighbors to commit to “rooting out corruption, no matter which party it lives in,” which was the reason he found Bay Ridge Democrats but good Democrats,” McCreight said. “I am running for District Leaderbecause we need a Democratic Party that promotes Democratic values. We need a Party that fights to raise the minimum wage to $15, protects women’s rights, stands up for students and teachers, and isn’t bullied by greedy developers.”
The position of District Leader is also known as State Committee. A State Committeeperson is an unpaid, volunteer, elected official who serves on the Executive committee of a County political party for a two-year term. In Kings County registered Democrats are responsible for electing two Democratic State Committee persons, one male and one female, in each New York State Assembly District. There are 21 Assembly Districts in Brooklyn and thus there are 42 Democratic State Committeepersons.
Striking a proudly progressive note, McCreight insisted that it was time for Brooklyn Democrats to “lead the charge in helping ordinary people take back their government from big campaign donors and special interests that couldn’t care less about us.”