The NYC District 23 candidate has pledged not to receive funds from corporations.
Jaslin Kaur, a progressive candidate from Queens for the City Council, has received donations from the community that make the contributions the second-highest among the contenders and allows her to meet the threshold of a city program that brings matching funds.
Kaur says she is the only candidate in her district to have publicly announced not to accept donations from corporations, the real estate industry, law enforcement associations, or fossil fuel interests.
A news release from Kaur says the 947 donors are mostly from New York city, and include “teachers, taxi workers, seniors, and essential workers hailing from every zip code in her district.” The average donation per donor has been $37.
Grassroots donations of New York City residents qualify for a $8 per dollar match as part of a NYC Campaign Finance Board’s matching funds program. Kaur expects to claim in excess of $26,000, which, with matched funds, would amount to over $204,000.
Among Kaur’s campaign efforts have been community needs such as public transportation, mortgage relief for needy homeowners, and investment in public schools. Kaur says she is “blown away” by the support she has been receiving.”As a daughter of Glen Oaks, I know firsthand that we need representation that uplifts and invests in our communities.”
Since October, when Kaur has been in the campaign fray, she has garnered endorsements from progressive organizations including The New York Democratic Socialists of America (NYC-DSA), the New York Working Families Party, State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, State Senator Julia Salazar, and former District 23 Council candidates Ali Najmi and Rebecca Lynch.
Kaur is a CUNY Hunter College graduate with a background in nonprofit work to support immigrant elected officials across the country. She has been an organizer and advocate on behalf of survivors of sexual violence in schools. Kaur’s Punjabi immigrant parents both work in New York—her father as a yellow taxicab worker, and her mother as a grocery store worker.
