Erik Dilan Supporter Pressured Voter Inside Poll Site, Pushing to "Help" with Ballot as More Accounts of Aggressive Behavior Emerge
There are now five separate accounts that seem to identify the same individual and a formal complaint has been filed with NYCBOE.
Following a report from State of the Left on campaign staff of New York State Assemblymember Erik Dilan creating a hostile environment at multiple assembly district 54 poll sites in the 2026 and 2022 election cycles, a voter’s niece has submitted a complaint to the New York City Board of Elections (NYSBOE) on her behalf after she alleges an Erik Dilan supporter attempted to pressure her into voting for Dilan inside a poll site at Bushwick High School. The voter is a mostly Spanish-speaking older woman who is a longtime Bushwick voter. She was nervous about putting her name to this story, instead giving permission to her niece, Melanie, to relay it to State of the Left. The account is below, totally unedited.
“This is what my aunt experienced at the Bushwick High School poll site on Tuesday (06/16/26).
She went to vote at the Bushwick High School poll site on Tuesday. She was the only voter there when she entered and received her ballot. Then one of the poll workers, whom she describes as a tall, heavyset white Puerto Rican man in his 50s, approached her.
She doesn’t remember his exact words, but says he tried to convince her to vote for Erik Dilan and insisted he could help her fill out the ballot.
My aunt says he probably assumed she couldn’t read the ballot properly because she’s a Spanish speaker. She felt pressured and unsure of the procedure, so she followed him to a table away from the private voting booths. She soon realized what was happening, covered her sheet, quickly filled her choice, and brought it to the scanner.”
Melanie added her aunt believed the individual was a poll worker and he was specifically inside the space where people were casting their votes. Her aunt believes he was trying to use the excuse of helping translate for her to pull her to the side of the room where he pressured her to vote for Dilan. Despite many poll workers being present and Melanie’s aunt being the only voter present at the time, none of the poll workers seemed to notice what was happening.
Melanie says she filed the report with the NYCBOE on her aunt’s behalf and they proceeded to call her an hour later to take notes and investigate. It is unclear if the Dilan supporter involved is actually a poll worker who was abusing his position, or if he is not a poll worker, but was appearing as such inside the poll site.
State of the Left has reached out to the New York City Board Of Elections for comment on this story.
Additionally, Melanie gave permission to include that her aunt is actually a long time Dilan voter, with her daughter even canvassing for Dilan years ago as a high schooler. However, she “feels like he’s been here for too long and has done nothing to help the community. She voted for Christian Celeste Tate Tuesday”, even under the aforementioned pressure.
Two More Allegations of Hostile Behavior From Erik Dilan Campaign Staff Emerge
In addition to the story from Melanie, two more individuals have come forward with accounts of behavior they felt was hostile while they were doing otherwise quiet pollsite visibility volunteering with the campaign of Christian Celeste Tate, the grassroots organizer challenging Erik Dilan in AD54.
The first account is from someone named Miles, who asked to have only their first name used. The account below has been edited for grammatical clarity.
“My name is Miles, first name only please. I canvassed for Christian and Albo and Sandy yesterday from about 4:30 - 6pm.
I started a block up from the train station stairs talking to Heriberto [Mateo], I patiently waited to talk to voters after he talked to them, and in my somewhat broken spanish tried to say “dose anos” 12 years and what has Dilan done for you, and Heriberto got very defensive, saying “That’s not me, I’m not him.”
I said “I know, but you’re friends, you’re handing out lit with the two of you.” He was like:
“We’re not friends, we are politically aligned, but not friends.”
Got a little tense, but all good, whatevs.
Then I went over to the train station stairs, where Erik [Dilan] (recognised from the lit) and an unknown canvasser, later identified by Erik as “John” were distributing Erik lit at the bottom of the stairs. I’d been warned of intimidating behaviour from Dilan Canvassers earlier, but as a 6ft something white guy, I felt I could flex my privilege for my fellow DSA candidate. I was not attempting to intimidate, I was simply being the voice of the opposition.
John was right at the exit to the station, filling most of the stairwell, attempting to give out the lit, and pointing out the assembly member standing just there for people to meet. I knew he wouldn’t give me any space, so i just stood to the side, waited for him to do his speech and when he handed out the lit I followed up with:
“and this is the challenger, Christian Celeste Tate.”
I was doing it in front of Erik [Dilan], who was being diplomatic, all smiles. John would occasionally pipe up saying that I (and Christian) were socialists, not democrats. We couldn’t be believed, trying to combat my simple message..
Suddenly John said, “Gimme some space, I don’t need you standing so close to my back” I wasn’t aware that I was imposing on John, but he started getting riled up at me being there, saying that you “don’t stand against someone’s back in East New York, that’s when someone will stick you.”
implying that I wasn’t from East New York (true) and didn’t understand the culture there.
I said “I’m not standing behind you, just trying to get lit to people exiting the station.” He started talking more aggressively towards me, I can’t remember the exact words, but Erik Dilan chimed in and started saying “John, calm down. Calm down John.” John said he was calm; he just didn’t like people standing directly behind him and needed more space. His voice was raised and if I were an Ouraa ring, I reckon he’d have an elevated heart rate for sure. Erik started saying, “they’re just trying to get more votes for their guy.”
After telling John to calm down a few times, and then John saying he WAS calm, Erik started walking away. I said “John, your guy is leaving because you’re so worked up, you’re making your guy (Dilan) leave.” John didn’t agree, but Erik walked away.
For a few more minutes (no more than 10) John looked at his phone and left as well. I don’t know where he went, but a different canvasser, Diana, a positive person with a friendly attitude, walked up.
The next time I saw John he was having a chat with [Councilmember] Sandy Nurse who seems to be the most beloved person in the district by constituents and even John and Heriberto.
I found an effective canvassing message as people were coming out of the station to be “This is Erik’s Challenger, Christian Celeste Tate. We don’t have the money Dilan does, we don’t have the matching shirts or the staff, but we’ve got a hunger for a better Brooklyn.”
I said bye to everyone and headed out.”
Miles added later that the “John” from his account was at least in his 50s or 60s, tall and heavyset, white passing, fluent in Spanish, and he told Miles he grew up in East New York. Not only is the account nearly directly in-line with the physical description of individual who was at the pollsite with Melanie’s aunt, it also matches up with the accounts of the individual voicing anti-trans and anti-Democratic Socialist rhetoric from the first State of the Left article on this subject
The second account is from a young professional named Jake with a career in the public sector. At first, he asked to have a pseudonym used for his name in order to speak freely, as they are concerned with potential retribution at their place of work as a result of Dilan’s status as an incumbent elected official. He then changed his mind to use his real name. The account is below, totally unedited, other than to switch the original name.
“My name is Jake. As the real estate lobby would like to call me, I’m a young, upwardly mobile urban professional, but I am also a volunteer with Central Brooklyn DSA. Over the last week, I’ve been out doing poll site visibility and canvassing for Christian Celeste Tate’s Assembly campaign.
I started Saturday on Irving Avenue in Ridgewood, and the energy was great. The Dilan canvassers out there were all local teenagers. When they found out I was there on my own time, unpaid, they were shocked but incredibly receptive to our message of affordability and creating safe communities where they can actually afford to thrive. They were curious about DSA. Their coordinators would periodically cruise by on motorized scooters to pressure them to push literature, but between the workers on the ground, everything was cordial. We felt like we were in the same boat.
By Monday night, I shifted down to Cypress Hills, pulling up to basecamp just as the hostile environment reported by State of the Left was unfolding. When I hit the doors, the conversations were wonderful, but by Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, the atmosphere at the poll sites near the Fulton Street stations grew intense.
Standing out there, I was targeted by Dilan’s field leads. Through a translator, I could hear them telling voters across the street that I was just a ‘transplant,’ a symptom of gentrification, and someone not to be trusted. To hear that divisive rhetoric weaponized by a 10-year incumbent’s machine was jarring. The reality is, the housing crisis and real estate market have pushed me all over the place as a struggling, working professional trying to stay afloat. I’m out here volunteering because I want to fight the very forces of displacement that impact all of us.
Interestingly, when I actually engaged in a one-on-one conversation with one of Dilan’s downballot electeds, Heriberto Mateo, the hostility melted away. We reached a genuine understanding. He even admitted that Dilan was difficult to work with and expressed regret about being on his slate. Because I’m a clean-cut, approachable guy, the team kind of took to me, and it felt like there was some camaraderie we could share as everyday people working the ground. By Wednesday evening, I actually crossed paths with Assemblyman Dilan himself as he stepped out of a brand-new Mercedes. When I introduced myself, and we got to hobnobbing, he asked me how I’m doing. I said that things in life ‘could be better,’ he chuckled and said, ‘Me too, man.’
The contrast of this election is stark. On one hand, you have an establishment machine riding entirely on decades of name recognition. I spoke with elderly abuelas who told me they were voting for Dilan simply because they’ve known him since he was four years old. (One of whom l was later able to convince to take some Claire Valdez lit!). On the other hand, you have a machine that is visibly sweating.
Seeing the Assemblyman and his team on the ground, it’s clear they are deeply shaken by this political insurgency. Whether we were born and raised in these exact blocks or came here later, the momentum is entirely on our side. We aren’t outsiders; we are neighbors fighting for a neighborhood that the political establishment has left behind.”
State of the Left has now gathered five total accounts of, seemingly, the same individual responsible for a wide array of hostile rhetoric. In the case of the Bushwick High School poll site allegation, it could potentially go beyond just rhetoric and into the territory of a violation of city election law. One striking aspect of this story is how many people are hesitant to speak out against an elected official for fear of retribution to their careers or local standing in the community. In a statment, Christian Celeste Tate’s Campaign said this is an example of why AD54 needs new leadership.
“Our campaign is deeply disappointed by the reports we’ve received from voters and volunteers about harassment at the polls. This pattern of behavior from Erik Dilan and his team shows exactly why our community needs change. Corporate Democrats like Erik Dilan are propped up by billionaires and take their constituents for granted. Nobody should be afraid to vote, to organize, and to demand what they deserve. We need elected officials who love this community and are committed to the hard work of earning every vote.”
State of the Left has once again reached out to Erik Dilan’s campaign for comment and has specifically asked if the individual in question will face disciplinary action. This story will be updated if an answer is received.