With just 33 days from the primary scheduled for June 24, New York City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan, who represents District 25, announced some big endorsements for his campaign to get re-elected. The top five candidates in the primaries of June 24, will be up for election on November 4, 2025.
“As we build towards Election Day, I am humbled and grateful to be endorsed by a broad and growing coalition for progress. New York is a better place for everyone when we work together,” Krishnan, an Indian American, said in the email blast.
Among those organizations endorsing him were – 32BJ, United Federation of Teachers, Planned Parenthood, New York State Nurses Association, New York State Iron Workers, International Union of Operating Engineers, Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, LiUNA-NY, Central Labor Council, NY Immigrant Coalition, Make The Road Action, Stonewall Democratic Club, Lights Out Coalition, Working Families Party, and the League for Conservation Voters.
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“I’m fired up to keep fighting by the side of these incredible organizations and unions for our district and for our city,” Krishnan said, adding, “We are running a grassroots campaign that depends on community members like you to reach our neighbors and get everyone to the polls. We can’t do any of this without you, and we’re grateful for any time you can spare!”
Early voting for the primaries begins June 14, when all 51 seats on the Council are up for grabs, several of them being vacated by term limits, thus attracting new faces to the races.
Krishnan was first elected in 2021 as the first Indian American on the Council. District 25 includes Jackson Heights, Elmhurst and Woodside in Queens, one of the most diverse immigrant communities in the nation.
Among those Krishnan is hoping to defeat are Mac Merchan, Queens Community Board 4 member; former NYPD officer Ricardo Pacheco, Abukakar Ashiq, a paralegal, community activist Ramses Frias, and Shah Haque, founder of World Human Rights Development USA. Merchan and Pacheco are fellow Democrats, and the rest are Republicans.
Krishnan is credited with negotiating the highest allocation for the city’s parks; getting more resources for Elmhurst Hospital, particularly its new surgery clinic; housing, road safety, especially Roosevelt Avenue, seniors health care and programs. Krishnan has posited himself as a grassroots representative on the Council. He was a community rights activist and a civil rights lawyer before being elected to the Council. He co-founded the housing legal services organization Communities Resist.
Krishnan is the son of Indian immigrants from South India. He has two young children and is married to Zoe, an immigration public defender and reproductive justice advocate, according to the bio on Krishnan’s election website voteshekar.com.