Ex-Democrats Gonzalo Duran & Dion Powell Revitalize Conservatism In The Bronx

Published on July 30, 2024, 7:03 pm
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The Bronx, long a Democratic stronghold, has seen little attention given to Republican and Conservative activities. However, two former Democrats are on a mission to change that. Gonzalo Duran and Dion Powell left the Democratic Party over a year ago and have been steadily increasing conservative visibility in dense Democratic areas such as the South Bronx.

Duran stated that he and Powell started out last year with a goal to shake up Bronx politics but were both pushed aside by the Democratic Party. Duran was kicked off the city council ballot last election cycle by Democratic opponents who successfully challenged his petitions, according to a Board of Elections representative. Fortunately, Duran had already secured the Conservative Party endorsement.

Powell, on the other hand, was disenchanted by the direction of his local Democratic club and elected officials, who were swaying more towards progressive socialist values. He added that the more he pushed agendas to move away from those topics, the more he encountered hostile tensions from Democratic leaders, even though many Democratic members and community members shared similar concerns.

Before the 2023 elections, the Bronx County Conservative Party had very little activity outside of submitting a handful of candidates during the 2021 and 2022 elections. The last recorded activity was a Christmas party partnered with the Bronx Republican Party, which former Congressman Lee Zeldin attended, with almost no public presence before that.

In the last year, Powell stated that through the actions of the party, himself, and Duran, they have hosted over a dozen events all over the Bronx. “Many of them have been led by District Leaders such as Duran and myself. I am the District Leader of the 78th Assembly District, and Gonzalo is the Vice Chairman of the party and District Leader of the 79th Assembly District.”

“Four of the biggest events we have done include the Christmas toy giveaway and Christmas party we held last year, this year’s Candidate Mixer, and the Presidential Watch Party. Plus, we participate in community events, hold monthly events open to the community, and make our party’s executive committee meetings open to the public,” Powell continued.

When asked what they have planned for the next year, Duran said, “This past year, I focused on increasing the party’s registration numbers, closing the gap of our vacant positions, overhauling the party’s administration, and running for office to show the community that the party has a purpose to serve the community. In the next year, I want to continue increasing the party’s registration, filling in the remaining vacant positions, increasing our visibility in the media, securing more locations that are party-friendly for events, and winning this year’s congressional race against Representative Ritchie Torres. Plus, I would like to transition from simply being a Conservative Party standout to the voice and face of conservatism in the Bronx.”

Powell added, “There are a few ambitious but achievable goals I have for 2025. I want to continue re-registering people into the party while engaging the community. I want to continue to support our candidates by knocking opponents off the Working Families Party (WFP) line. This year, I was able to knock off Congressman Adriano Espaillat and Assemblywoman Yudelka Tapia from the WFP lines, giving our candidates a leg up for the general election. I want to do a virtual and in-person school choice event in my district and support my small business partners with in-person activities. I want to do more civic education for our members to get them to run for office and become better community leaders. Potentially, have our members get hands-on training by attending community board meetings and New York Police Department council meetings. Lastly, I would like to reorganize our bylaws so I can be the official parliamentarian of the county committee.”

Reaching out to Patrick McManus, Chairman of the Bronx County Conservative Party, on the activities and actions taken by his two-party leaders, McManus said, “I have been waiting for members like them for years. Keeping the party alive has not been easy, but I truly believe that our ideologies are needed with how these Democrats are running rampant towards socialism. Gonzalo and Dion are very different; they have different methods of approaching problems and how they take action, but their results are clearly visible. I wish I had ten more like them. It has been great seeing my staunch members and new members collaborating, and I feel the Bronx Conservative Party is heading in the right direction. Especially this election year with 18 candidates under the Conservative banner running for Congress, State Senate, and State Assembly.”

There is no doubt that changes are happening within the political landscape of the Bronx. This past election saw its first Republican in a legislative office in a generation, former President Trump visiting Crotona Park, and progressive candidates like Jamaal Bowman, endorsed by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, losing to a much more moderate Democrat in the primary election. Only time will tell if there will be any additional changes, but it does not look like Duran and Powell will be stopping anytime soon.

Jonas Bronck is the pseudonym under which we publish and manage the content and operations of The Bronx Daily.™ | Bronx.com - the largest daily news publication in the borough of "the" Bronx with over 1.5 million annual readers. Publishing under the alias Jonas Bronck is our humble way of paying tribute to the person, whose name lives on in the name of our beloved borough.