Two blue seats. Two of the worst Democrats in the country. Here's what you need to know about next week's NY primary:

Next week's primary in New York gives progressives a rare opportunity to move the next Congress to the left in a major way—or elect a pair of the worst Democrats in the nation.

A pair of progressive rock stars in two safely blue districts—Ritchie Torres in NY-15 and Mondaire Jones in NY-17—have huge momentum heading into next week's primary. Daily Kos has endorsed both, and just last week, the New York Times followed our lead in endorsing them as well.

The stakes here are huge: Winning these races would allow us to send two excellent Democrats to Congress. Losing could saddle congressional Democrats with two of their worst members: A pro-Trump homophobe is Torres' chief rival in NY-15, while a renegade "Democrat" who routinely voted Republicans into power in the state Senate is Jones' main rival in NY-17.

Please take a minute right now to give $3 each to Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones. The primary is just one week away!

I've written you about these endorsees before, but here's a quick recap on what you need to know:

• NY-15: Ritchie Torres is running in literally the bluest House seat in the entire country. He's the son of an African American mother and Puerto Rican father who grew up in public housing and was repeatedly hospitalized as a child due to asthma attacks brought on by uncontrolled mold growing in his home. He was unable to tell anyone outside of his immediate family about his sexuality until he was in his 20s, fearful of a homophobic backlash, ultimately sinking into depression and dropping out of college. But Torres stormed back, entered the world of politics, and became the youngest member of the City Council when he was elected in 2013 and the very first gay person to win elected office in the Bronx—and now we can help make him the first gay Latino member of Congress.
  
  Torres' opponent is New York City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., a pro-Trump homophobe with a long history of stunningly offensive comments who was stripped of his committee assignments on the council last year for saying city hall was "controlled by the homosexual community."


• NY-17: Mondaire Jones was raised by a single mother reliant on Section 8 housing vouchers and food stamps, and he credits strong public education for helping to pave his way to Stanford and then Harvard Law School. As an attorney, Jones has devoted countless pro bono hours to representing victims of discrimination and fraud. He later founded a nonprofit that teaches leadership skills to underserved middle school students. He is the only candidate in the race who supports Medicare for All and who has refused corporate PAC donations. He would also be the first gay African American man to serve in Congress.
  
  Jones' main opponent is state Sen. David Carlucci, a founding member of the so-called "Independent Democratic Conference." The IDC is a group of renegade Democrats who for most of the last decade allowed Republicans to run the state Senate even when the GOP held a minority of seats, blocking progressive priorities for years.

Please send $3 to send these Daily Kos-endorsed Democrats to Congress!

Keep fighting,

David Nir, Political Director (and lifelong New Yorker)
Daily Kos

Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612.