David Siffert’s Late Election Win Boosts Progressive Momentum Headed to Albany
Siffert's win adds another voice to state legislators in 2027 who will likely be calling for the passage of various Progressive policy items.
Note From Andrew: City and State’s Rebecca Lewis released a full interview with David shortly before this article was released, so I’m linking it here. Great article, check it out!
Primary election day in New York may be almost a month past, but the grassroots left just added another win to their column, with David Siffert declaring victory in the race for New York’s 66th Assembly District on Manhattan’s Lower West Side last Wednesday.
On election night, Siffert was 56 votes behind Community Board 2 Chair, Jeannine Kiely, who was endorsed by outgoing assemblymember Deborah Glick. The recount declared Siffert the winner by just 15 votes, with a final tally of 17,172 votes cast.
Siffert attributed the win to the grassroots nature of the campaign. “I literally wore a hole through my shoe walking the district. This campaign didn’t just go door-to-door. It went park-to-park, community meeting-to-community meeting, and living room-to-living room. It was a true grassroots operation.”
A civil rights lawyer, founding Executive Director of NYU’s State Government Initiative, NYU professor, and lifelong Manhattanite, Siffert was endorsed by a broad coalition of entities and figures, including local Democratic clubs, The Jewish Vote, New York Progressive Action Network, Our Revolution, State Senator Jabari Brisport, and State Assemblymember Emily Gallagher.
While they were not endorsed by the NYC-DSA, they were a founding member of the Invest in Our New York coalition, which calls for more taxes on corporations and expanded investments in social services. Additionally, Siffert attended the Tax the Rich rally in Albany on February 25, 2026, aiming to pressure Governor Hochul to support many of the platform planks in the Invest in Our New York package.
In a statement, Siffert told State of the Left one of their top legislative priorities is housing.
“We have to figure out how to make housing more affordable. There isn’t a silver bullet to solve that problem, but the state needs to take a much more active role in the process, including building social housing and increasing voucher funding, rather than simply leaving it to private developers and hoping the free market trickles down. We need to protect New Yorkers from a cruel federal government hellbent on hurting the most vulnerable among us. Making New York a sanctuary state is a good start. And we need to get serious about regulating AI and big tech. As AI evolves, its impact grows exponentially, and we need laws to protect our privacy, civil rights, education system, environment, and jobs, and ultimately to protect against catastrophic risks. These laws exist; we just need to pass them.”
Manhattan political analyst Josh Arnon said Siffert’s win is a testament to the electorate’s desire for more Progressive candidates and platforms. “As one of the writers of the Invest In Our New York package, David will be a strong ally in the fight to tax the rich. Only a couple years ago, even with WFP’s or DSA’s backing, it would have been widely viewed as a tough race for David to run against Deborah Glick’s handpicked successor. It goes to show the hunger by New Yorkers for more progressive candidates that they won without endorsements by WFP, DSA, Bernie, Zohran, or AOC against both the establishment pick and WFP’s candidate.”
Editing Credit: River Shi
Thank you River!