All 20 City Council and five school board seats are up for grabs this election cycle that will also include referendum questions in the November general election to be determined by the city’s legislative body.
Keyla Medina, a senior operations and projects manager at Make the Road CT, has entered the race for City Council in the Upper East Side 138th District. She had sought recently to replace a resigning JazMarie Melendez but came up short against Samia Suliman to fill the vacancy in a 12-7 vote by the council.
She is the wife of school board member Willie Medina who won running on the Bridgeport Independent Party line during the last municipal election in 2023 so his seat is not up for reelection until 2027.
Maria Pereira is the other council member representing the 138th District. She and Suliman, once allies, are no longer, so it goes with many of Pereira’s political relationships. Pereira is challenging multiple state charges of alleged absentee ballot fraud from the 2023 election when she backed John Gomes for mayor.
Political insiders see Medina as a viable anti-establishment candidate where she is particularly well known among voters at Success Village that vote at the JFK Campus, a precinct that is also Suliman territory.
Suliman and 138th District Leader Kevin Monks ran ahead of Pereira with the walk-in vote in the 2023 Democratic primary but Pereira’s absentee ballot operation prevailed in a tight outcome. Pereira ran well behind her running partner Melendez to win the other seat. Pereira and Melendez quickly had a falling out as well.
From Medina’s Facebook page:
As many of you know, I’m running for City Council in the 138th District, and I could really use your help. Campaigning is a team effort, and I can’t do it alone!
It’s been an incredible experience so far, meeting neighbors, hearing their concerns, and talking about the changes we want to see in our community.
Now I’m looking for volunteers to help knock on doors and get the word out. If you’re interested in supporting the campaign, even just for a few hours, please SEND me a message!
Thanks so much for your support truly means a lot.
