How many Democrats does it take in NY to fill a seat in the House? Try 15.

Beneath the maple trees of a red-brick elementary school in Brooklyn, a tall, recognizable silhouette lingered one recent morning, hoping to attract the attention of parents, public The caretaker is mowing the lawn.

“Registered Democrat?” asked Bill de Blasio, a two-term former mayor of New York City, when he appealed to potential voters to help get him back in the game.

Mr. de Blasio, who once believed he could be elected president, has now downplayed his vision to represent a redrawn New York City neighborhood. But he is far from alone.

Others competing for seats include heir of Levi Strauss who helped impeach Donald J. Trump; rising stars from the City Council and Parliament; a Chinese-American activist related during the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989; and a groundbreaking liberal, the youngest woman ever elected to Congress – 50 years ago.

There was also a sitting congressman representing a suburb, who had just moved to the county. Exactly when, he could not say.

“Times are hazy, revolving around questions about your new residency,” said Congressman Mondaire Jones, “when you’re fighting to end gun violence in America. ”

Nature hates vacuums, and so do politicians. So when New York’s failure redistribution Last month unexpectedly opened a House seat in a safe Democratic precinct, stretching from Lower Manhattan through much of brownstone Brooklyn, the political districts have expanded.

A total of 15 Democrats, representing a variety of ages and backgrounds, have taken steps to head into the summer primaries that could prove to be one of those elections. largest and freest in the nation.

Steven M. Cohen said: “It’s like a sweepstakes contest, a longtime government official and regular donors from the school district, who said he has been inundated with fundraising requests. “Everybody can be a winner, no purchase required.”

The candidates have until August 23 to win over primary voters who represent some of New York’s most politically engaged and diverse neighborhoods: Greenwich Village, Wall Street , Chinatown, Park Slope, Sunset Park and even some areas of Borough Park, an extremist – Jewish Orthodox stronghold.

As a result, there wasn’t too much of a scramble for ideas – almost every major candidate denounced threats to abortion rights and lamented the lack of strict limits on guns – like brute force. , outspoken ambition and political identity.

“Let me start by saying this: I fear no one,” said Mr. Jones, the incumbent congressman who decided to try his hand at the re-established District 10, rather than running for re-election in District 17. or run for election in the vicinity. southern. Either option would involve competing against an incumbent House of Representatives.

Mr. Jones did not need to move to Brooklyn to run for office; House candidates must live in the state they represent, but not the school district. Mr. Jones, who grew up in Rockland County, considers his status as a newcomer inappropriate. He suggested that he was sufficiently attached to the area through his time living elsewhere in the city and socializing in Greenwich Village, as a young gay man of color trying to discover break “The authentic self.”

In any event, he said, voters are often more concerned with what a congressional candidate has done and whether he can fight for their interests than where he comes from or when he moves. Go. (A spokesman later clarified that the move happened last week.)

“Invading someone’s residency in a county and the lines drawn only a few weeks ago is something that the political class, including many journalists, takes seriously,” Mr. Jones said.

Jo Anne Simon, a former disability rights attorney who now represents parts of the area as a state congresswoman in Brooklyn, categorically disagreed when she launched her own application. nominate.

“People vote for people they know, they trust and they have a reason to show up,” said Ms. Simon, referring to her decades of work on local issues like pollution. from the Gowanus Expressway. “Nobody here voted for Mondaire Jones.”

Then, in such a crowded race, there is perhaps no home advantage.

Take Carlina Rivera, a city councilwoman who lives just outside the county, and Yuh-Line Niou, another state congresswoman. Both are rising women of color representing areas of Lower Manhattan and may end up cannibalizing each other’s support base.

Ms. Niou said she has more than 600 volunteers who want to bring the petition for her. Ms. Rivera on Friday won endorsement of Representative Nydia Velázquez, who now represents much of the new region and is expected to gain considerable attention among voters. She is expected to win re-election in a neighboring redrawn county that includes parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

They will, in turn, face off against a progressive rising star from another era, Elizabeth Holtzman, driven back into the arena by the threat of abortion rights.

In 1972, Mrs. Holtzman became Youngest woman ever elected to Congresswhen she beat a 50-year incumbent at 31. Now, at 80, she’s trying to be oldest non-incumbent elected to the House of Representatives in history.

In between, she’s had a pioneering career as the first woman elected district attorney in Brooklyn and in control of New York City, drawing on the experience she argues she It will have an immediate impact in Washington. However, she has not held an elected office since 1993, when some of her competitors were in primary school.

“Someone told me your tagline should be something like ‘Google me,’” Ms Holtzman said.

Chinese-American activist, Xiong Yan, who after his role in Tiananmen became a chaplain for the United States Army and now believe he can attract a significant number of votes from big Asians in Manhattan’s Chinatown and Sunset Park in Brooklyn.

Voters could be forgiven for being overwhelmed. It wasn’t even supposed to be a major race in New York’s 10th District until a court-appointed expert scrutinized New York City’s congressional map so thoroughly in May that the incumbent was Art, Representative Jerrold Nadler, decided to run in the 12th District of Manhattan. .

That decision put him on a collision course with a longtime ally, Representative Carolyn Maloney, but it also left a rare vacancy in Manhattan and Brooklyn — political gold that no one has the right to claim.

“Anyone who tells you they know what’s going to happen in this race, or have an obvious outcome, is lying to you and to themselves,” said Chris Coffey, chief executive officer of Tusk Strategies, who not affiliated in the race, said.

Mr. de Blasio has his statement. He entered the race with a near-recognized name, years of electoral success, and a number of policy accomplishments – most notably preschool. But Mr. de Blasio has no fundraising advantage. That belongs to two other candidates.

As of March 31, Mr Jones had $2.9 million on hand – a huge sum in a race so short that fundraising would be difficult. Last week, he dropped out for the first time in a highly anticipated round of TV commercials, with a spot of at least $169,000, according to Ad Impact, an ad analytics firm.

Daniel Goldman, Lead investigator for House Democrats Trump’s first impeachment, and is a regular MSNBC legal analyst, working with a record of fighting for democracy and public safety.

He’s also a former federal prosecutor who has spent a decade working in the Southern District of New York, a little-known piece of background that could help him stand out from voters as the city confronts this situation. what Mr. Goldman called “the biggest public safety crisis in decades. ”

“The core experiences of my professional career, having been devoted entirely to public service, are very timely given our circumstances today,” he said in an interview.

However, he was a relative newcomer to electoral politics and started the race short with few institutional ties that other candidates would rely on. In an attempt to differentiate himself, Mr. Goldman, the heir to Levi Strauss, who rents a Tribeca apartment for sale for $22 million, said he was ready to “put some of my money into it.” This is to level the playing field.”

But given the contest’s timing and brevity, the race is also widely expected to generate voting efforts, which could benefit candidates like Ms. Niou.

“The field is the most important thing,” she said. “We’re running against people with 100% name recognition.”

Unions and outside political groups can also help turn the tide of the race. The retail workers union endorsed Mr. Jones. According to Grace Meng, Queens congresswoman and PAC chair, Aspire PAC, a congressional group of Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders, is reviewing the candidates and will make a decision soon. . It is not yet clear whether other unions will be involved.

It’s also difficult to gauge how many voters will be in the county at the end of August, when the city turns terrible and everyone can leave town. Matthew Rey, a prominent Democratic consultant who is not involved in any of the campaigns, estimates turnout could be as low as 70,000 to 90,000 in a county of 776,000 residents.

The other Democratic candidates are Brian Robinson, John Herron, Maud Maron, Peter J. Gleason, Quanda Francis, Laura Thomas and Jimmy Li.

With an overcrowded arena and late summer election day, the race is unlikely to end.

Last week, after sending his two children to school in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn, Nicholas McDermott said he would absolutely consider voting for Mr. de Blasio.

“I think it’s great to have someone with experience coming from the area,” Mr. McDermott said.

He’s not sure if he’ll be in around August to vote.

“That’s a good question,” he said.