The National Executive Committee (NEC) of Social Democrats USA unanimously endorses Adam Bojak for the New York State Assembly’s 149th District (Buffalo).
Michael Mottern, a member of the NEC who lives near the 149th Assembly District, issued the following statement explaining why SDUSA is endorsing Adam Bojak and why this local primary election has national implications:
“In our current economic system with police brutality, social injustice, voter suppression and our New Deal democracy and Great Society being eroded daily, it almost seems apocalyptic. Like Germany in the Weimar Republic, you do not know who the next victim of violence is going to be. America is not only on a downward spiral, mostly because of the authoritarian and fascistic policies of Donald Trump, but also when a cop will kill you for no reason, the masses tend to get very enraged. And, what happens at the federal level of government directly effects the states as well. In turn, what happens at the local level allows for a mass movement of people to grow quickly, informed by solidarity and racial justice.
“After joining DSA in college, I eventually became an officer in Social Democrats USA to help foster that mass movement. For those young people and Buffalonians who think that voting is futile, look at AOC and Ayanna Pressley. Since the 2018 elections of a wave of Progressives, I would argue that America has taken a turn to the left. You can not vote for a ‘Democratic Socialist’ or a ‘Social Democrat’, they are not on the ballot in New York State like the Working Families Party, but you can vote for an insurgent Democrat in the Democratic Primary – a Justice Democrat – in the 149th Assembly District like Adam Bojak. A DSA member in Buffalo, NY and a member of a very good fair housing organization called PUSH BUFFALO, Adam is a fair housing advocate and an attorney who is running for Sean Ryan’s old seat in the heart of Buffalo’s famous upper west-side neighborhood.
“Bojak, 36, is a Buffalo resident who believes that gentrification and bad landlords are not good for the City of Buffalo, and that the City needs more pro-active leadership and better accountability not only from absentee landlords but from Albany as well… I think he would be a great asset in Albany when it comes to housing, rent control, full employment policies for NYS, and maybe single payer health care for all New Yorkers.
“Caring and compassionate about a variety of social issues in Buffalo, I spoke with him several times on the telephone and met him at a couple of good rallies in the Queen City, and he told me how the Buffalo area was short-changed on “wasted” time and energy by its leadership when it came to the urban destruction of the City’s Humboldt Parkway. He guaranteed that he favors burying the 198 Expressway that bisects the main Olmsted Park in Buffalo and will work with the City’s organizers in the East Side of Buffalo to convince the Governor, Mayor, and NYSDOT (New York State Department of Transportation) to remove those concrete and steel monstrosities from the park space, reversing a long-term decision by our past elected officials that devastated neighborhoods and replaced park space with ugly and unaesthetically pleasing expressways.
“Adam Bojak will be a fresh face in the New York State Assembly that can finally be the voice for change in Albany, and because of that, Social Democrats USA respects, endorses and will help with his bold campaign in West NY. We are proud to endorse attorney Adam Bojak’s candidacy for the New York State Assembly in the 149th District in Buffalo!!!