1Hood Power is proud to endorse Dr. Yusuf Salaam for the Harlem District 9 seat in the New York City Council race. Dr. Yusuf is a testament to the strength, courage, and tenacity needed from a City Council leader when our nation is headed back to the dangerous terrain of mass incarceration and over-policing.

Dr. Yusuf has the experience, vision, and plan to ensure everyone can succeed and overcome obstacles and challenges in this unprecedented time. Dr. Yusef overcame his personal circumstances due to his wrongful convictions and has endured xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric during this race. In a District where people look like and have names that sound like Dr. Yusef’s, there is no question he reflects the community he is being called to serve. His character and steadfast commitment to the people of District 9 are unwavering, and there is no choice but to rank Dr. Yusef as number one on June 27th.

As such, 1Hood Power is proud to endorse Dr. Yusuf Salaam for City Council Harlem District 9 seat for the primary election on June 27th. People can find out their voting poll location, voting hours and more by visiting https://www.vote.nyc/elections.

Helpful links to learn more about the candidate:

City and State Profile

Gothamist Profile

1Hood Power is a 501(c)4 organization based out of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

This primary election season, we focused on districts in SWPA with competitive races. We reached out to candidates through email and social media to gather responses. Below is our the May 2023 Primary Election Candidate Scorecards.

On May 16th, Pennsylvania voters across the Commonwealth are choosing judicial candidates and legislators who will make consequential decisions and policies about how we live our lives including affordable housing, safety, elections, school funding, accessibility and livability. These positions have tremendous power over people’s lives and livelihoods. Below is how candidates fared this cycle. Please note we only reach out to candidates in contested races during the primary.

Organizationally we focus on: criminal justice reform, affordable housing, environmental justice, voting rights and other issues impacting Black Pennsylvanian and Working Class People throughout the Commonwealth.

Please Note No Response indicates the candidates did not submit answers by the deadline or respond to requests

Scoring: Scoring is the result of the average score of staff, volunteers, and contractors. Each candidate receives an individualized rating and those score are tallied and averaged. No judicial candidate is penalized for not answering a question they reasonably believe will come before them in the court of law.

Meet the richest man in Pennsylvania, reportedly worth $30 Billion. His name is Jeff Yass and he’s rigging the rules of our society to work for his right wing agenda. He poses an existential threat to Black and
Brown people, working families, the LGBT community and our democracy itself.
Jeff Yass influences politicians, elections and public policy. He gives money to politicians and advocacy
groups to make laws that harm, punish and attempt to erase our communities. He donates some of his
billions to interest groups or political leaders who are on the wrong side of the issues that matter to us
most.


He funds efforts to privatize our public schools, cut corporate business taxes, outlaw abortion & bust
unions. He also funds anti-immigrant groups that supported the Muslim ban, public officials who aim to
disenfranchise voters of color and lobbying efforts to reinstate mandatory minimum sentences. Jeff Yass
has also given funds to campaigns opposing ‘critical race theory’ in schools and important solutions to
climate change.


He has deep ties to the fossil fuel industry and refers to those in the environmental community as “climate
change hysterical people”. Jeff Yass also supports groups who oppose legislation that would protect
LGBTQ people from discrimination in housing, employment, and other public accommodations. Last but
not least, Yass funds politicians with ties to white nationalism who supported the January 6th insurrection,
promoted QAnon conspiracies and sought to overturn the 2020 election results.


We cannot let Jeffrey Yass continue to undermine democracy, sow division and block progress for Black,
Brown, working class; LGBT communities across PA. We need to bring to light his role in attempting to
reshape our lives, society and democracy. No elected officials should ever take money from Jeff Yass.
We need leaders who represent us and stand up to the billionaires. It is time he is held accountable.
We need to come together to stop Yass from rigging the rules by taking 3 important steps:

  1. Tax the rich and abolish the uniformity clause in Pennsylvania so that billionaires pay
    what they owe to our communities and stop having so much money to pollute our
    Democracy.
  2. Pass campaign finance limits in Pennsylvania so those with the most money can’t give
    unlimited campaign donations.
  3. Pass lobbying reform bills, like a gift ban, so billionaires have less influence on
    Legislation.

Learn more about Jeff Yass here :

  • https://www.propublica.org/article/jeff-yass-susquehanna-tiktok-tax-avoidance
  • https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-yass/?sh=88a282f5f1a1
  • https://news.littlesis.org/2022/09/28/jeffrey-yass-the-billionaire-behind-pennsylvanias-right-wing-machine/
  • https://www.penncapital-star.com/commentary/who-is-jeffrey-yass-and-why-is-he-such-a-big-problem-for-pennsylvania-opinion/