NYC CAP Announces First Round of State Assembly Endorsements
UAW Region 9A’s New York City CAP Council voted to endorse four candidates in our first round of endorsements for State Assembly this year, including one current and one former UAW member.
UAW Local 2325 member Conrad Blackburn was our first endorsement in the 2026 cycle for State Assembly, seeking to represent District 70 in Harlem. Conrad is a public defender, a UAW member-leader, and a committed fighter for the working class.
“I couldn’t be prouder to be endorsed by my union, UAW,” Conrad said. “I organized my workplace because my coworkers and I couldn’t afford to live in NYC. We realized the only way to materially change our conditions was to organize. Organizing is relationships, solidarity, and helping people see that the only way forward is together. That’s the power I built as a labor organizer, and it’s the power I will bring to the State Assembly.”
“I am proud we have endorsed Conrad for Assembly,” said Brandon Mancilla, UAW 9A Director. “From organizing his coworkers to found the Bronx Defenders Union in Local 2325, to serving on his shop’s executive board, to now running for State Assembly, Conrad embodies UAW values. We cannot wait for another fighter for justice to fight with us in Albany.”
The CAP also voted to endorse former Local 2325 member and public defender Eli Northrup for District 69 on the Upper West Side, New York State Nurses’ Association member and current Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest for District 57 in central Brooklyn, and immigrants’ rights advocate and union staffer Diana Moreno for District 36 in Queens.
“UAW Region 9A is proud to endorse Eli Northrup, a public defender and one of our former members, who has always stood by working class New Yorkers in the fight for a better, more just legal system,” said Jane Fox, chair of UAW’s New York City CAP Council and the Legal Aid Society attorney unit of UAW Local 2325. “Albany needs real people who have been on the ground pushing change and that's Eli. We know he will continue to push for affordability and advance a powerful pro-labor agenda in Albany.”
“As a working class champion and former NYSNA nurse, Phara has stood with our members on picket lines and in the halls of power,” said Brandon Mancilla, UAW Region 9A Director. “From working together on helping workers reclaim their time off the job, to standing up to powerful corporate interests, we know we can count on Phara. We are proud to endorse her for re-election today.”
“NICE Union is proud that UAW Region 9A has followed the lead of our unit to endorse Diana Moreno and are excited to partner with her in office to support immigrant workers and all workers together,” said Nadya Lucero, chair of the New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE) Union, part of UAW Local 2325.
The Democratic primaries will be held on June 23, 2026. However, in Diana Moreno’s race to replace now-Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the 36th Assembly District in Queens, special election will be held on February 3, 2026.
Members can see all of UAW Region 9A’s 2026 endorsements so far at region9a.uaw.org/cap.