News Americas, BROOKLYN, NY, Tues. June 5, 2018: The on-again, off-again debate between a New York Caribbean American Congresswoman and her challenger is now on-again!
Congresswoman Yvette Clarke of NY’s 9th congressional district, has now agreed to debate her Democratic Congressional Primary challenger, Adem Bunkeddeko, ahead of the June 26th election according to Kings County Politics.
Clarke, the daughter of Jamaican immigrants, will debate the son of Ugandan immigrants in a 20-minute debate slated to for June 19th on NY1’s ‘Inside City Hall.
Journalist Errol Louis will moderate the debate, which comes just a week before the election.
Congresswoman Clarke, 53, represents the areas of Crown Heights, Lefferts Gardens, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Brownsville and Sheepshead Bay in Brooklyn, NY.
Bunkeddeko, a 29-year-old Harvard graduate turned community activist, had challenged Clarke to a series of debates but she had initially not accepted the challenge with her office saying she had a full schedule.
However, following an editorial in KCP, the congresswoman changed her mind and now has agreed to a single debate.
“After weeks of denying voters the opportunity to hear directly from both candidates because she was ‘too busy,’ my opponent has finally agreed to one debate,” Bunkeddeko was quoted as saying. “That’s right, she is willing to debate once for 20 minutes. It is deeply disappointing and disrespectful to our community that there will not be a series of debates throughout the district, but I am not surprised.”
Clarke has outraised her Democratic challenger 3-1 as NAN reported recently and on May 21st, lined up dozens of supporters and elected officials including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries on the steps of the Brooklyn Museum to sing her praises. Most cited her experience, saying her challenger lacks any.
GOP CHALLENGER
Meanwhile, a Republican Jewish African-American is also considering challenging Clarke for her seat in November.
Jaime Sanders, 28, the son of a Trinidadian Jewish-convert mother, told KCP that he feels it’s important that voters get the chance for an alternative to the status quo.
Sanders graduated high school from Brooklyn College Academy, and college from SUNY Empire State College where he majored in computer science. He is also an entrepreneur having founded his own small business Zion Zaibatsu Corporation while still in college, and most recently, the non-profit Millennial Voice Project to address the concerns of all millennials.
