Crystal R. Hudson (born April 14, 1983) is an American politician from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she represents the 35th district of the New York City Council, which covers parts of central

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

Early life and education

Born and raised in Prospect Heights,

, Hudson graduated from

Spelman College Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...

with a degree in economics and later received a Master's degree in Tourism Administration from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

Career

Hudson began her career working for the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

, a WNBA team based in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

In 2011, she joined

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

as a marketing executive. After moving back to

to care for her mother, Carole Kay, Hudson switched to public policy work, joining

Brooklyn Community Board 8 Brooklyn Community Board 8 is a New York City community board that encompasses the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, and Weeksville. It is delimited by Flatbush Avenue on the west, Atlantic Avenue on the north, Ralph ...

and later working for Councilwoman

Laurie Cumbo Laurie A. Cumbo (born February 4, 1975) is an American politician and Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. A Democrat, she served in the New York City Council for the 35th district from 2014 to 2021, which includes t ...

as her chief of operations. Hudson was chosen in 2019 to be a Deputy Public Advocate under Public Advocate

Jumaane Williams Jumaane D. Williams ( ; born May 11, 1976) is an American activist and politician who has served as the New York City Public Advocate since 2019. He is a former member of the New York City Council from the 45th district, which includes East Fla ...

, a position she held until the beginning of her campaign for New York City Council.

2021 City Council campaign

In 2020, Hudson announced her 2021 campaign to succeed the term-limited Cumbo in the City Council's 35th district. She was quickly regarded as a frontrunner in the race, raising the most money of any candidate in the field and receiving influential endorsements from Congressmembers

Hakeem Jeffries Hakeem Sekou Jeffries (; born August 4, 1970) is an American politician and attorney and leader-elect of the Democratic caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. Jeffries has represented New York's 8th congressional district, anchored in s ...

and

Yvette Clarke Yvette Diane Clarke (born November 21, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 9th congressional district since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 2007, representing ...

, neighboring Councilman

Brad Lander Bradford S. Lander (born July 8, 1969) is an American politician, urban planner, and community organizer who currently serves as the New York City Comptroller. A member of the Democratic Party, Lander is a progressive politician, and has been d ...

, and most of the city's major unions. Hudson's main competition came from tenant organizer Michael Hollingsworth, who was backed by the New York City

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

and politicians from the city's leftmost flank. The race was characterized by ''

Gotham Gazette The ''Gotham Gazette'' is an online publication of the Citizens Union Foundation of the City of New York, a government watchdog group focusing on issues confronting New York City. Its purpose is fourfold: it reports daily on New York City news, ...

'' as "split

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 1992 ...

the city's left," as Hudson similarly claimed "progressive" policy positions and endorsements, but was put on the defensive about her establishment ties and work for the controversial Cumbo. Hudson worked to distance herself from Cumbo during the campaign, writing an op-ed for Bklyner.com calling one of Cumbo's key policy achievements a "disgrace." On election night on June 22, Hudson led Hollingsworth 38–34% in first-place votes, with minor candidates taking the remainder; when absentee ballots and ranked-choice votes were counted, Hudson expanded her lead to 54–46%. She declared victory, and Hollingsworth conceded defeat, on July 6. Hudson faced minimal opposition in the November general election, and won.

Personal life

Hudson is openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

, and lives in Prospect Heights with her partner,

political strategist Political consulting is a form of consulting that consists primarily of advising and assisting political campaigns. Although the most important role of political consultants is arguably the development and production of mass media (largely tel ...

Sasha Neha Ahuja Sacha, Sasha, Sascha, or ''variant'' may refer to: People * Sasha (name), includes list of people with the name and the variants Sascha or Sacha Musicians * Sasha (DJ) (born 1969), born Alexander Coe * Sasha (German singer) (born 1972), born Sas ...

. Hudson served as the primary caregiver for her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, until she died in April 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudson, Crystal Living people People from Prospect Heights, Brooklyn Politicians from Brooklyn Spelman College alumni George Washington University alumni Lesbian politicians LGBT people from New York (state) LGBT African Americans New York (state) Democrats 21st-century American women politicians 1983 births 21st-century American politicians American LGBT city council members Women New York City Council members New York City Council members African-American New York City Council members