By Gus Saltonstall
Eli Northrup, a public defender and policy advocate, announced his campaign Monday in the race to succeed Micah Lasher in Assembly District 69, the candidate told West Side Rag exclusively.
Northrup finished second in the Democratic primary for the same Upper West Side and Morningside Heights Assembly seat in 2024, which represents the area from West 80th to 125th streets, from the Hudson River to Central Park.
The District 69 seat is once again open, after Lasher announced his bid in September to succeed Rep. Jerrold Nadler in Congress, after the longtime Upper West Side leader revealed he would not be seeking re-election.
West Side Rag will cover the entirety of the Assembly District 69 race, which will have its primary election in June of 2026.
Northrup told WSR he was “uniquely prepared” for the current moment.
“I care deeply about this community and the people who make it what it is. With Assemblymember Lasher running for Congress, there is once again an opening in the state legislature,” Northrup said to the Rag. “While I didn’t expect to be running again this quickly, I believe I’m uniquely prepared for what this moment requires.”
“The Upper West Side has always stood as a bulwark of progressive values and conscience. It is a community that shows up, speaks up, and leads with integrity and compassion,” Northrup added. “With the threats facing our city and state, we deserve a representative who will continue to honor that tradition.”
Before Lasher came to office at the start of 2025, the Assembly District 69 seat was held for more than 20 years by Assemblymember Daniel O’Donnell.
O’Donnell endorsed Northrup the first time he ran in 2024, and while he can no longer provide an official endorsement for any candidate in New York as a member of the state’s Parole Board, he spoke glowingly about Northrup.
“He is an extraordinary human being with a history of commitment to community service and knows the area of criminal justice very well, which will serve him well in the state legislature,” O’Donnell told the Rag. “I’m very excited that he decided to give himself another chance. It took me two times to get elected, and I hope he has the same luck I did. I like him very much.”
Northrup released his first campaign video on Monday.
Northrup is the policy director for the Criminal Defense Practice and special counsel to the Bronx Cannabis Hub at the Bronx Defenders. He is also on the Board of the New York State Association of Criminal Defense Laywers, and is a member of the Three Parks Democratic Club.
Northrup is the first candidate to officially announced his bid for the Assembly District 69 seat.
You can find out more about Northrup on his campaign website — HERE.
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What “threats [are] facing our city and state”?
That line caught my eye too. The problem is this politician and his supporters see the only “threat” as the Bad Orange Man. They do not consider the violent criminals, and the city’s refusal to lock up dangerous repeat offenders, as the threat.
Easy just to act upset and do nothing about the actual issues. Deflection at its best.
Trump is a big one.
I disagree.
Mamdani is a bigger one
Oh boy you’re gonna have a fun next 4 years
You will too. Be careful what you wish for.
It’s like these people are churned out of a factory somewhere. Decarceration (except for Mr. Santos who deserves his entire 7-year tariff), ganja, jacking up energy prices. Those are their hobbyhorses. Hard pass.
The “factory” is the Humanities Department at every college in America!
You’re saying Northrup advocates higher energy prices? I didn’t notice anything like that in the above story, at the candidate’s website, or in his campaign video. Maybe you could help us out with a reference?
You have to be smart and read between the lines. When a politician says, as Mr. Northrup says, that he will “advance clean energy, green jobs, and sustainable urban design” those are not just empty slogans. They’re economic weapons aimed at the middle class. Ask Mainers what happened to their energy prices under these policies.
“The Upper West Side has always stood as a bulwark of progressive values”
While it is undeniable that the Upper West Side overwhelmingly votes blue, do we vote for the Democratic candidate because they endorse “Progressive” policies or do we simply find the alternative unacceptable? Democratic voters are not monolithic in their beliefs and it would be encouraging for candidates to acknowledge that there are voters whose views are more towards the center. Hopefully this election will provide some more granular data as to how Upper West siders actually fall on the blue part of the spectrum.
I feel the same as you. I am a liberal Democrat but not a progressive. I immediately feel like he may not be the representative for me. I’ll do more research but that statement seems far left.
The big issue here is that there are people being discriminated against whether it is in Republican areas or even UWS liberals. As someone who happens to be both a minority and have a disability, if West Germany treated me the same way that I have been treated during my adult life in this country, I’d willingly defect to East Germany.
Data? Look at the electeds the UWS has put into the council, NYS legislature and Congress.
The neighborhood is one of the furthest left in the city. And has been for generations
Sad but true.
It takes more than “compassion and integrity” to make a community. We need someone who is going to look at the ongoing problems such as , crime, mental illness, homelessness, education, transit and housing and not continue to do the same thing over and over.
Unfortunately he is cut from the same cloth of ideologues described in this article:
https://thespectator.com/topic/race-hustle-is-losing-power/?vcrmeid=wix59boOC0emEgHdHLffQw&vcrmiid=vggP4PrVeU2LpeB35rM6kw
“such as , crime, mental illness, homelessness, education, transit and housing”
So the absence of mention of any of those issues on Northrup’s website indicates he isn’t or won’t be looking at them? (That said, he DOES address most of them there, and I for one trust the man is more than capable of looking at anything left unmentioned. I’ll bet he even multitasks.)
Yes and also there’s a lack of respect towards Muslims on the UWS, especially ones that did nothing wrong.
It’s honestly sad that it feels like only super-left progressives, who don’t have real plans to improve quality of life, lower crime, or fix our schools, are running the show in our party. No wonder we moderates are starting to back away. We need normal, down-to-earth candidates who actually listen to what people care about.
I agree with you!
There’s nothing superlefty in this article.
“normal, down-to-earth candidates”
Or in other words, no Democrats? Just trying to ensure my translation is correct.
Re-read and process before jumping with a nonsensical reply.
Love how conservatives are now ‘moderates’. That rebrand hasn’t worked in the Bay Area and it is not working in NYC
I see both sides, I can certainly see how farther left the Dems have gone and how much more arrogant Democrats, especially progressive Dems have become, but also how there are people who pretend to be “moderate” but are really closet conservatives who support Trump who are hiding in plain sight in an area like the UWS.
Does “hiding in plain sight’” mean you’re hunting them down, or are they not meant to exist at all?
Plenty of closet conservatives on the UWS if you know where to look for them.
And why are you looking for them?
Misery loves company
This comment is a very good example of how the super-left hijack any point they don’t like and turn it into shaming.
I AM a Democrat, have never been a conservative and you are not to tell me otherwise.
I looked at his website. He’s another “progressive” calling for “housing rights” and “racial and social justice”.
Northrup is regurgitating tired old lefty nonsense. No thanks.
You have a problem with any one of those things? What’s the opposite of housing rights? Homelessness?
“Housing rights” in UWS progressive parlance means more rent regulation which is the equivalent of trying to put out a fire by pouring gasoline on it.
You have plenty of housing rights, everyone does. The right to go on one of at least half a dozen very popular websites showing thousands of available apartments in every imaginable location in this country and hundreds of others. The right to compare the price to the amount of dollars in your bank account. The right to choose a place that is cheaper or more expensive based on the amount in said bank account and your needs and preferences. The right to hire a competent professional to help you choose. The right to choose a place, and move, to a city that’s better suited for that bank account and your lifestyle. The right to sign a lease or a purchase contract enforceable in an established court of law. The right to keep dreaming and working and saving for that more expensive place you couldn’t initially afford. The right to have said property and your presence there protected by the agents of law established by civil society. The right to get out of that that big place if/when you no longer need it and prefer to downsize. The right to leave any contract by terminating it in one of several available methods. And if things are really bad, the right to go to a tax-payer-funded, City-provided shelter housing and start over. Etc etc.
All rights that have not existed in many, many countries as recently as within the last 50 years.
No. It is called personal responsibility. You study hard, you acquire skills, and you work hard. You don’t expect your fellow citizen to support you unless you happen to be disabled from birth. Nobody owes you support.
Please enough super leftists. We want more centralist politicians,
We need someone who is going to support and fund Columbia University, our largest employer, and economic and entrepreneurial engine of Morningside Heights. I am sick of all the bashing. A strong Columbia helps all of us. I don’t see Cambridge, Palo Alto, Princeton bashing their universities.
NYS is funding Columbia to the tune of a $250 mil/year tax break.
As a moderate Democrat, I am more “progressive” than the vast majority of America. But when someone uses that term when campaigning in NYC, it is a huge red flag for me. Because around here “progressive” means “woke” (a term I normally despise). I want someone who will put the convicted bad guys away with meaningful sentences that will deter future criminals – note that I said convicted. Someone who will allow the police to do their job and also not seeing the criminals they risked their lives to apprehend immediately back on the street, while also holding the police accountable for good behavior?
Someone who will find a way to create affordable housing in New York City, not necessarily the most expensive neighborhoods but in the places where it can be built most economically and efficiently, without totally alienating the wealthy and businesses – it it is a delicate dance but I think it can be done.
Could someone who supports traditional Democrat values while also having more common sense please run? Pretty please?
My Democratic Party continues to be a mindless echo chamber of “progressive values”.
No new ideas.
No attempts at fixing public safety for fear of offending anyone.
This is why I vote more and more for GOP candidates in general elections.
Will he get the toothpaste unlocked ? (metaphor for crime).
Asking for a friend,
O’Donnell endorsement is a red flag
This guy works for the “Bronx Defenders”. You put him and Mamdani into office. You have forfeited the right to complain about public safety. Or quality of life
Do you have an issue with the right to counsel?
He’s got my vote!
If my vote can cancel just one of the anti-transit, pro-car, anti-affordability NIMBY boomer votes that seem so plentiful in one of the richest neighborhoods in the United States, then I will sleep very easily knowing I’ve done the right thing.
Go Eli and go Zohran!
Maybe you need a closer look at our backyard.
These boomers cleaned up the neighborhood for you and made it desirable. Your Zohran will undo all that.
We need fresh thinking in congress not more of the same. Micah Lasher is more of the same UWS political group think. Nadler 2.0. I hope we get more interesting options—and more independent thinking.
“Special counsel to the Bronx Cannabis Hub at the Bronx Defenders.” Does this mean more cannabis stores?