Darma Diaz

Diaz filed to run for the District 37 special election, following the resignation of Councilmember Rafael Espinal. A nonpartisan special election was scheduled for April to fill the vacancy for the remainder of his term. A primary election was also scheduled to take place in June to nominate candidates for the November general election; the winner of which would take office in 2021.

In the June 2021 Democratic primary, three of the candidates who were dropped in the 2020 election will run against Diaz for her seat on the council. While Diaz is well-backed by the Brooklyn Democratic Party, she faces intense criticism over the manner in which she was elected in 2020. Some have alleged that the "party machine" was behind getting her opponents kicked off the 2020 ballot. She was defeated in the Democratic primary by Sandy Nurse.

Prior to her tenure on the New York City Council, Diaz had accumulated more than four decades' worth of experience in community and public service, including a brief stint where she worked as a staffer for then Assemblyman Darryl Towns. As a young mother, Diaz was a victim of spousal abuse and was temporarily homeless. In the twelve years leading up to her 2020 campaign for City Council, Diaz worked as a social worker for OverComing Love Ministry, where she assisted families experiencing homelessness with finding housing and employment.

After working for Towns for ten years, Diaz filed to run for City Council in 2009. After being challenged for insufficient signatures, she ultimately did not make the ballot.

Darma V. Diaz (born August 5, 1968) is a Democratic politician. She is a former New York City Councilmember for the 37th district, which includes Bushwick, East New York, Cypress Hills, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, and Brownsville, Brooklyn. A member of the Democratic Party, she was elected unopposed in December 2020 following the resignation of Rafael Espinal. Diaz presided as Chair of the New York City Council's Committee on Women and Gender Equity.