Biaggi to run for Congress on new map

State Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a progressive representing the Bronx and Westchester, said Monday she will run for the Long Island congressional seat occupied by Rep. Thomas Suozzi (D-N.Y.) after it was redrawn to extend further west.

Suozzi, a moderate Democrat, is currently staging a campaign for governor, running to Gov. Hochul’s right. He has represented the 3rd Congressional District since 2017.

Biaggi (photo below), a 35-yearold granddaughter of Italian immigrants, has crusaded against sexual harassment and police abuse during three years in the state Legislature. She said in a tweet that she is running to “bring progressive and honest leadership to the frontlines of our country’s most important fights.”

“Our country doesn’t just need more Democrats in Washington — we need bolder ones,” wrote Biaggi, who has supported “defunding” the police. “This race will not be easy, but it is worth the fight. My campaign for Congress will be people-powered — no corporate PACs, no nonsense.”

Biaggi appeared to get an instant nod from Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), a progressive lawmaker who represents the Bronx. In response to her announcement, he tweeted: “Let’s go!”

Under the new congressional map, which was drawn by Democrats in Albany and approved by Hochul, the 3rd District curls into the Bronx and Westchester.

The map, which has faced intense criticism from Republicans, made several districts friendlier to Democrats.

In the map, the 1st Congressional District, a Long Island district represented by Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican, takes a path further west into blue New York City suburbs. The 3rd District, in turn, advances into the Bronx and Westchester.

The Republican Party is leading a lawsuit filed in state Supreme Court in Steuben County in opposition to the new map.

Courts have historically been deferential to lawmakers’ legislative maps, but a 2014 amendment to the state Constitution that girds against gerrymandering may complicate the case.