Sosa’s Surprising Run

When Chris Sosa was debating whether to enter the race for City Council in District 5, he asked himself three questions: Was he ready for public office? Was there a place for him in the race? And how would he feel if he didn’t run? With the answers to the first two questions being “yes,” the final question seemed particularly persuasive.

“I knew I couldn’t stomach not doing it,” Sosa, 31, told Our Town in a recent interview. “Sometimes an opportunity presents itself and it would just feel wrong not to take it.”

So, without a clear idea of how it would go, and without establishment backing, Sosa announced his candidacy. Now, with just about three weeks remaining before the Democratic primary, Sosa finds himself in somewhat of a surprising place.

“This has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” said Sosa. “I expected the race to form along more traditional political lines as it moved forward, and instead, we’ve kind of set this example for the entire city about how we can behave as candidates in a ranked choice system. And I think my candidacy has stood out for the level of camaraderie and kindness that we showed while standing very true to our values.”

Though many council races have remained somewhat tame this year as a result of ranked-choice voting, which adds an incentive for candidates to play nice with one another in order to earn a top ranking from opponents’ supporters, Sosa said the relationships formed between the candidates running in District 5 are really genuine – and not a show for audiences tuning in to the frequent virtual forums.

Just as surprising as the dynamics between candidates, Sosa feels as though he has a real shot in what’s been a closely watched and competitive race to replace the term-limited Council Member Ben Kallos, who has served the Upper East Side since 2014.

“We’re entering the last 30 days, and I’m one of the candidates left standing – and we’re in a competitive six-way race,” said Sosa.

Solving Problems

A former New York State Senate staffer, Sosa came to politics by way of journalism. As he said, the more he reported on the problems people face, the more he wanted to be a part of solving them. But his actual politics were shaped much earlier, through his experiences growing up as the gay grandson of Costa Rican and Guatemalan immigrants from a low income family in rural Virginia. His father worked construction, taking classes at night and eventually earning a degree and changing the course of his family’s life.

“My family saw a bump in our socio-economic status, which is actually really unusual, because most people in the U.S. don’t have that ability,” he said, crediting their change in status partially to a bit of luck that his family had family nearby who could pitch in for groceries from time to time. But a lot of families don’t have that, and that’s a big point of motivation for his candidacy.

“When you’re looking at New York, the ZIP code that you’re born into often determines your entire life trajectory in terms of economic stability. So we’re dealing with issues like food insecurity, bad health care, faltering employment, discrimination based on both race and income,” said Sosa. “And as a candidate, I want to ensure that every family has the same opportunity to succeed that I had – and right now a lot of people don’t have that. So they’re relying on social safety nets that are tattered or barely exist in a lot of cases.”

But it doesn’t have to be this way, Sosa says.

“It’s a series of policy choices that we make daily about where we put the money and resources and where we don’t. And given that we’re electing a majority new council, since the vast majority of folks are term limited, we can change that trajectory,” he said. “But we have to look at more than policy, we have to look at the character of the people who are running and ask ourselves, who do we trust to actually enact these changes? And who’s playing the game?”

Concept of Equality

In this primary race, Sosa has staked claim to the left of the majority of his opponents. But plainly, he says, his platform is built around the concept of equality.

“I believe that every child deserves to live with an opportunity to succeed in this world, every child deserves a roof over their head, and a good education and food security,” said Sosa. “And we’re not meeting those metrics for every child in New York.”

In the long term, he said he’s focused on issues of affordable housing, public housing, rent stabilization control that he said are key to achieving equality in the city. More immediately, Sosa said that in rebuilding the economy in the wake of the pandemic, the city can’t use the same broken system that existed before.

As Sosa has been able to get out and meet voters face to face in recent months, he does find that his message is resonating. He’s looking forward to primary day, but he was clear that regardless of the outcome, he is just getting started.

“Win or lose, this won’t be my last campaign.”