Chi Ossé, one of the City Council’s most progressive members, has spoken in recent years about how voting for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary was a formative experience for him politically.
But there’s a catch: Ossé didn’t back Sanders at the ballot box in 2016 because he wasn’t registered to vote at the time, according to records unearthed by the Daily News.
The revelation comes at an awkward time for Ossé, who is seeking an endorsement for a potential 2026 congressional run from the Democratic Socialists of America, the influential left-wing group that counts Sanders as one of its champions.
Ossé was expected to appear Wednesday night before the DSA’s Electoral Working Group to make the case for why the group should back his 2026 primary challenge against Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the powerful House minority leader whose district covers a swath of central, eastern and southern Brooklyn.
Ossé’s push to challenge Jeffries, New York’s second-highest-ranking Democrat on Capitol Hill, has ruffled feathers among local left-wing power players.
Incoming Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the local DSA chapter’s most prominent elected official, has urged Ossé to not challenge Jeffries, and a member of the DSA’s Socialist Majority caucus published an op-ed this week also discouraging him from running, arguing the group’s focus at the moment should be on enacting Mamdani’s agenda.
Ossé’s Sanders support adds another wrinkle to his fraught interactions with the DSA.
The most recent instance The News found of Ossé referencing 2016 support for Sanders was in the DSA questionnaire he filled out this month as part of the process of being considered for a congressional endorsement.
“Bernie’s 2016 campaign opened my eyes to the power of class solidarity and a ‘not me, us’ mass movement that’s bigger than a single candidate. I supported him in both 2016 and 2020 and would not be where I am today if not for him,” Ossé wrote in the questionnaire, a copy of which was obtained by The News.
Ossé mentioned the 2016 race in that answer even though the corresponding question asked only whom he supported in the 2025 mayoral primary and the 2020 presidential election.
In a text message late Tuesday, Ossé said his answer wasn’t misleading because he used the phrase “supported,” not “voted.”
“My DSA questionnaire states I supported Bernie in 2016 and 2020, which is true,” Ossé wrote, bolding the word.
On other occasions, though, Ossé has indicated he voted for Sanders in the 2016 election.
“The first election that I voted in was the 2016 election when it was initially the primary between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Rodham Clinton. Bernie really engaged me in politics,” Ossé, at the time running for his Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights-based Council seat, said in a November 2020 interview with Revolt.tv.
A few months earlier, in September 2020, Ossé posted on Twitter: “Happy Birthday to the first candidate I ever voted for, @BernieSanders! Bernie played a large part in getting me involved in politics! I hope I can somewhat carry your torch in anyway that I can.”
There are problems with both statements. Ossé didn’t register to vote until July 11, 2016 — almost three months after the New York presidential primary Sanders was a candidate in that year, the records reviewed by The News show. Despite registering after the primary, Ossé didn’t cast a ballot in that November’s general presidential election that Donald Trump won, per the records.
The records also show the first time Ossé voted was in the 2018 general gubernatorial election, which featured Democrat Andrew Cuomo and Republican Marc Molinaro as the main party candidates on the ballot.
Asked about the inconsistencies, Ossé acknowledged he has misspoken in the past about voting in the 2016 election.
“I was a strong supporter of Bernie and thought I voted for him,” he wrote, noting he turned 18 in March 2016. In a tongue-in-cheek reference to findings about Russian government meddling in the 2016 contest, Ossé added: “Maybe the Russian stole my vote LOL.”
As it relates to the first election he voted in, Ossé clarified he didn’t vote for either Cuomo or Molinaro. Rather, he said, he wrote in left-wing actress Cynthia Nixon’s name on his general election ballot.
Ossé, who signed up as a dues-paying member of the DSA over the summer after Mamdani’s mayoral primary victory, is positioning himself as an unapologetic socialist in seeking to challenge Jeffries.
For instance, Ossé wrote in his DSA questionnaire that he supports increasing taxes on individuals earning more than $350,000 annually, a position further to the left than that of Mamdani, who has favored a hike on those making more than $1 million.
In his questionnaire, Ossé also made clear he’s unlikely to ultimately run against Jeffries unless he gets the DSA’s nod.
“I hope NYC-DSA will be my first endorsement, because I can’t run this race without the organization,” he wrote in the questionnaire.
