Campaigns & Elections
In southeast Brooklyn, community organizer Jibreel Jalloh files to run against Jaime Williams
The conservative Democratic Assembly member will face a challenge to her left.
Community organizer Jibreel Jalloh, left, is running against Assembly Member Jaime Williams. Courtesy of Jibreel Jalloh / NYS Assembly
Community organizer Jibreel Jalloh of Canarsie, Brooklyn, filed Wednesday to challenge Assembly Member Jaime Williams in the June 2026 Democratic primary for District 59.
“We are knowing this true affordability crisis in our city, and I believe we have a lack of leadership right now that doesn’t address that,” he told City & State. “This campaign is going to be focused on the future, on bringing down the cost of living.”
Jalloh is the founder and executive director of the nonprofit The Flossy Organization, which focuses on grassroots activism on a number of issues facing southeast Brooklyn, such as gun violence, climate change and transportation struggles. He is also an Obama Foundation Scholar at Columbia University.
Jalloh would be a more progressive alternative to Williams, a right-leaning Democrat who has represented the district since 2016. While she’s active in her district, in recent years, Williams has come under fire from other Democrats for her more conservative moves – such as her vocal support for Curtis Sliwa’s mayoral campaign (though she said it was not an endorsement), and her strong opposition to the City of Yes local zoning overhaul. Back in 2023, Williams was even mistaken for a Republican by Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, after the Assembly member advocated against a migrant shelter at Floyd Bennett Field in her district.
Williams did not immediately respond to City & State’s request for comment.
There could be an appetite for a more left-leaning lawmaker in Assembly District 59, which covers waterfront communities in Canarsie, Mill Basin, Georgetown and Bergen Beach. And it would certainly follow the trend of outsider candidates finding success recently against well-established elected officials. The district typically votes blue in local elections, but grew more Republican in the 2024 presidential election. With 65% of residents being registered Democrats in overlapping City Council District 46, half of District 59 voted overwhelmingly for mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, while the other half fervently supported former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Tuesday’s election.