She’s been there
Formerly homeless woman backed for Council
A formerly homeless social worker is among three women of color getting the endorsement of Brooklyn’s Democratic organization in the upcoming primary elections.
Darma Diaz, 51 — who ran unsuccessfully for City Council 10 years ago — is the only Democratic candidate seeking a Council seat that covers Cypress Hills, Brownsville and Bushwick.
While she faced her own struggles of being homeless and a single mother, Diaz earned a college degree and embarked on a career as a social worker.
“Working [in social services] has given me a snapshot of the bigger picture of what is going on in New York City. I don’t see myself coming into the Council just serving the 37th District,” Diaz said. “I hope that I can share both my personal experience and my educational experience with my colleagues.”
Diaz is running for a seat left vacant since former City Councilman Rafael Espinal stepped down in January to become executive director of the Freelancers Union.
Brooklyn Democrats have also endorsed Assemblywoman
Tremaine Wright for a state Senate seat that covers Gowanus, Park Slope, Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, Red Hook and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Wright is running for the now held by Sen. Velmanette
Montgomery, who plans to retire.
The organization also backs Stefani Zinerman’s campaign to take Wright’s former Assembly seat, which covers parts of Bedford-Stuyvesant and northern Crown Heights.
Brooklyn’s Democratic leader, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte, is herself the first woman of color atop the borough’s Democratic organization. “It’s so important to have women and women of color leading,” Bichotte said.