Diana Moreno won a decisive victory in the Feb. 3, 2026, special election for New York’s 36th Assembly District, succeeding Zohran Mamdani after his election as New York City mayor. The race drew unusual attention as a “left-on-left” contest in Astoria — long considered a Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) stronghold — with two candidates from the organization competing for the same seat.
Moreno secured roughly 74% of the vote in a three-woman race, positioning herself as both Mamdani’s endorsed political successor and a continuation of his affordability-focused agenda.
Moreno, a longtime Queens organizer and DSA leader, said she did not initially plan to run for office — she described her entry into the race as reluctant but driven by political urgency and movement support.
“I was recruited by a lot of DSA leaders who thought that this seat should be held by someone who comes from the same political home as Mamdani, who has supported him since day one,” Moreno said. “I’m a mother of a young child — I initially said no, and then I saw the way that Trump was escalating his war against immigrants, and I was really inspired by Zohran’s continuation of his historic campaign, and I felt called to the moment — to listen to my comrades who were telling me this is something I should do. And I jumped in.”
Moreno’s campaign was publicly backed by Mamdani, who endorsed her as his political successor, saying she was best positioned to carry on his working-class platform in Albany. The two met through DSA organizing circles and have worked closely for years. Moreno also appeared in Mamdani’s first mayoral campaign advertisement.
Moreno centered her campaign on affordability, childcare, immigrant protections, and housing — issues she says she encountered repeatedly while canvassing District 36.
“[One of my] top 3 campaign priorities is universal child care — delivering relief for working parents,” she said. “It’s not billionaires that are leaving [New York City]. It’s working parents.”
Along the campaign trail, she recalled meeting residents who felt priced out of the city. “I literally knocked on the door of a young Latino couple moving out to New Jersey because they couldn’t afford to live here anymore,” she said, adding that housing policy is another major focus for her.
“Eighty-two percent of people in District 36 are tenants,” she said. “We have to pass stronger tenant protections to keep people in their homes and invest in deeply affordable housing.”
Immigration enforcement and state cooperation with federal authorities also featured prominently in her platform.
“I am going to fight back against the rising tide of fascism from the federal government coming in and attacking immigrants,” Moreno said. “We have to ensure that immigrants in New York are protected. That means passing important legislation in Albany, including New York for All, to ensure that the NYPD and other law enforcement are not collaborating with ICE.”
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Moreno’s main challenger, Rana Abdelhamid — founder of the anti-violence nonprofit Malikah — ran on the independent “Queens for All” ballot line and finished second with about 17% of the vote. Abdelhamid drew endorsements from Rep. Nydia Velázquez, Councilmember Julie Won, and the Muslim Democratic Club of New York, giving her campaign several high-profile endorsements.
And while both Moreno and Abdelhamid ran as DSA members, only Moreno received the DSA’s official endorsement.
“I respect her work in the community,” Moreno said of Abdelhamid. “What differentiates me is that DSA has been the core of my political organizing for the past six or seven years.” Moreno previously served as co-chair of the Queens DSA branch and as communications coordinator for the NYC chapter’s steering committee.
The third candidate, community organizer Mary Jobaida, ran on the “People First” ballot line and received roughly 8% of the vote. Jobaida, a Bangladeshi immigrant, focused her campaign on public housing, canvassed at Queensbridge Houses and was endorsed by State Senator John Liu.
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District 36 has roughly 122,000 residents — 85% of whom are of voting age. According to Census Reporter, 38% of District 36 is foreign-born, and about half of all households speak a language other than English at home according to Data USA.
Although Moreno secured a dominant victory in the special election — fetching 6,209 out of the 8,415 total ballots cast — the overall figures still reflect the typical decline in turnout observed during February special elections. For comparison, in Mamdani’s first race in 2020, where he ran unopposed for the same seat in a normal general election, he garnered 38,221 out of a total 50,774 total votes. Nevertheless, Moreno feels she successfully mobilized the core base of Astoria’s active electorate and views her victory as part of a broader shift for democratic socialists in New York.
“This is a different phase — we have shown that we can build power,” she said. “Now we’re going to show that we can govern effectively.”
