Remember Julia Salazar? Hers was one of the stranger stories to emerge from this year’s already topsy-turvy primary season. A 27-year-old democratic socialist running for state senate in New York City, she defeated an eight-term incumbent in one of this month’s smallest yet buzziest races—and now, unopposed, she’s assured victory in November. What made her race so strange, and drew such outsized attention to it, was that Salazar, whose supporters heralded her as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez 2.0, seemed to lie about everything.
She lied in interviews. She lied on her campaign website. She lied about being a Colombian immigrant. (She later said she was born in Miami.) She lied about her working class roots. (She and her brother Alex went to private school, he said.) Contrary to her claims, their mother had graduated from college, they’d had a maid as kids and lived in a comfortable home in Jupiter, Florida, where she became embroiled in a bizarre defamation suit involving ex-wife of former Met Keith Hernandez.
In the end, the voters didn’t care about any of it. “We were surprised people would even vote for her!” said one New York state senate GOP staffer, who requested anonymity. “It was shocking to see. Not just because of her policy positions, but because of her background. We didn’t think she had a shot. There were so many open questions, things she’d said about her family, her personal life.”
The fact that so radical a candidate could beat a long-serving Democrat even while embroiled in a scandal, “It just doesn’t look good in Albany,” said the Republican, wary of an albeit unlikely shake-up in the typically moderate Senate.
Political transformation is a significant part of Salazar’s backstory, too. She sold herself to her demographically diverse North Brooklyn district —and to democratic socialists cheering her on nationally—as a Jewish woman of color, while dogged reporting by Tablet magazine’s Armin Rosen found she’d spent a significant chunk of her college years as conservative Christian, and that her parents were Catholic and evangelical. She didn’t convert to Judaism until relatively recently, and had misrepresented her spiritual journey to at least one close college friend.
At Columbia, which she also appears to have lied about having graduated from, Salazar was a leading right-to-life advocate on a predominantly liberal campus. She authored thoughtful and compelling op-eds from a pro-life feminist perspective. A friend from before her turn to the left told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the biggest change from the Salazar he knew, and with whom he led a Christian apologetics club at Columbia, to the Salazar who’s on her way to Albany is the then-conciliatory, now-strident manner of her polemical arguments. “It’s very easy to take conventional left-wing stances and made them heroic”—but that wasn’t the Julia he knew: “I admired that she seemed to hold serious opinions, minority stances, but graciously, without a chip on her shoulder.” Whereas now, “The maverick quality is still there but the grace is gone.”
Serving in the state senate will probably steer Salazar away from identity politicking and back toward the conciliatory style that favors compromise, Albany insiders predict. “Compromise is inevitable,” said Morgan Hook, an Albany-based consultant with SKDKnickerbocker. “I think she is going to run into the fact that, like in any legislative body, she is going to be low on the totem pole. Her top priorities”—such as a plan to decriminalize prostitution—“are not necessarily going to be the top priorities of the conference,” Hook said.
“The top priorities of someone like Julia Salazar in that district are not going to be things that someone upstate or on Long Island is comfortable voting for,” he added. “If you come to Albany thinking you’re going to change the world, the reality of Albany will hit you pretty quickly.”
She’ll be disappointed, a veteran staffer of the state senate told TWS, because even if Democrats take the majority, leadership won’t indulge radical ideas like hers. “It’s really difficult to come in as a new state senator, especially when you’re young,” said the veteran staffer, who discussed the controversial incoming senator on the condition of anonymity. “There’s already established procedures, people who’ve obviously been around a long time—senior members who are used to doing things a certain way,” the Albany old-timer said, “New members come in with hope and desire to do things a new way. They hit a wall.” It can’t help much that the senator Salazar defeated was well-liked on both sides, this source added. He’d cultivated collegial relationships in both conferences. And at times, of course, he’d made concessions.
The scandals that swirled around Salazar’s campaign might have faded from the forefront since her win. But they’re likely to resurface in full color, this source also said, trusting in the Albany press corps’ taste for strange stories. “It’ll still come up,” they said, with certainty. “There’s obviously a lot going on in New York state politics right now, and [in Albany] it’s a different perspective from the national press. But a good story sticks.”
Salazar’s brother Alex, two years her senior, was a crucial source for reporters dismantling her backstory. But now that she’s won, he’s washing his hands of the mess his sister made. Asked by TWS whether he was proud of her, Salazar made reference to the comments he’d given previously. “I’ve talked to a bunch of reporters,” he said, his voice fraying. “And I decided I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
Though it may now be one source short, the same Republican staffer who found Salazar’s win “shocking” says the Salazar story is far from over. “It seemed like there was no way someone with that baggage could come back and win,” he said, remembering his conference’s pre-primary mindset—and still reeling. “A lot of the story’s out there. But between now and the election, and once she gets elected, I expect the press corps will keep digging,” he said. “They’re very thorough.”
