Brian Romero, the Democratic socialist nominee for New York State Assembly District 34 in Queens, posted a GoFundMe asking strangers for $2,000 to cover his rent. He pulled it down after the internet noticed. But not before 13 donors chipped in over $1,000.
The Assembly seat he's running for pays $142,000 a year.
Romero isn't some first-time activist scraping by on idealism. He spent five years as chief of staff to Assemblywoman Jessica González-Rojas. His last reported salary was $106,469. He's also worked as a DEI consultant, a college instructor at CUNY Hunter College and SUNY Stony Brook University, and a legislative staffer. This is a man with a résumé and a paycheck — plural, in most years.
His apartment in Queens costs $2,600 a month, which he splits with a partner. So his share is roughly $1,300. On a six-figure salary. And he still couldn't make it work without panhandling on GoFundMe.
When the New York Post and Fox News picked up the story, Romero didn't apologize. He reframed. "The right-wing media thinks it's a 'gotcha' that a working-class candidate has to face similar economic pressures as his neighbors and millions of New Yorkers," Romero said.
Working-class. At $106,000 a year. Running for a job that pays $142,000.
He kept going: "Unlike the corporate class that the Post loves to prop up, I live in the real world. Many of us struggle to pay rent, lack access to healthcare, and are spending less on food." Then he pivoted to the pitch: "That is precisely why I'm bringing the fight for a living wage, social housing, and universal healthcare to Albany."
So the man who can't budget his own rent wants to restructure the state's housing system. The man endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and the Working Families Party — who received $43,750 in public matching funds in April and another $4,862 in June through the New York Public Campaign Finance Board, totaling $48,612 in taxpayer money — wants you to also Venmo him for the light bill.
The socialist argument has always been that the system is rigged against ordinary people, and only massive government intervention can fix it. Romero is living proof that personal financial management might be the more immediate problem. He had a $106,000 job. He has a partner splitting the rent. He received nearly $49,000 in public campaign funds. And he still went online to beg.
Romero won his Democratic primary on June 23 and faces the general election on November 3 in a district so blue the primary is the election. Which means the voters of District 34 in Queens are about to send a man to Albany who thinks $142,000 a year might not cover rent — to decide how the state spends its money.
Redistributing wealth sounds different when the guy proposing it can't distribute his own.