Rafael Espinal

Rafael Espinal is an American politician who was elected to the New York City Council in the 37th District, in Brooklyn, in 2013. Espinal won the open 54th district seat in the New York State Assembly in a special election held on September 13, 2011. He left his Assembly post to run and win a seat on the Council, replacing Erik Dilan The seat was left vacant after Darryl Towns resigned from the post in order to take a position with Governor Andrew Cuomo's administration. The assembly district represents parts of Bushwick, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Cypress Hills, and Cityline in Brooklyn. Espinal had the endorsement from the Brooklyn Democratic Party boss, Vito Lopez, and from the Republican Party and the Conservative Party of New York State. Espinal defeated Jesus Gonzalez running on the Working Families Party line and Deidra Towns running on her party platform, "Community First". In 2012, Espinal was named one of City & State's "New York City Rising Stars: 40 Under 40" for his work as New York State Assemblyman. Espinal has lived in Brooklyn all his life, while his parents are from the Dominican Republic.