…That would be Gustavo Rivera, one of two Democrats mounting a primary challenge against Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr.

Rivera, a former aide to Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand who worked on SEIU 1199′s field operation during President Obama’s 2008 campaign, has long-standing ties to the labor community.

This event, for which tickets are running from $500 to $6,000, is taking place at Sanford Rubenstein’s Upper East Side penthouse tomorrow night. It’s being co-hosted by 1199, 32BJ, CWA, HTC, UFCW Local 1500 and Tenants PAC.

“Gustavo Rivera has dedicated his career to fighting for working people and that’s why we’ll be fighting for him,” said HTC political director Neal Kwatra. “This district deserves honest and accountable leadership and we will be making Gustavo’s campaign one of our top priorities.”

Rivera had $64,296 on hand as of the 32-day pre-primary filing. He out-raised Espada over the past six months – $61,320 to $9,000 – but Espada has $317,028 on hand.

Oddly, the majority leader reported spending just $14,875 over the past four weeks, which seems awfully low.

GR August 18th Invite

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