Second 'Exonerated 5' Member Announces Run For Office In New York

Raymond Santana, who at 14 was wrongfully convicted in the 1989 Central Park jogger rape, is following Yusef Salaam's footsteps in vying for City Council.

Two years after New York City elected one of the five men whose wrongful convictions as teens gained national attention, a second member has decided to join him in running for office.

Raymond Santana, who was 14 when police arrested him and the other “Exonerated Five” members, announced his grassroots campaign for New York City Council’s District 8 on Tuesday. The 50-year-old activist said he is running as a Democrat to represent the very neighborhoods he was born and raised in.

“Raymond knows what most New Yorkers know — that the current system isn’t working for communities like the South Bronx and East Harlem. And that’s why he’s running to represent his home on the New York City Council,” Santana’s campaign website says.

The candidate, according to the site, also plans to focus on reforming the criminal justice system, increasing access to affordable housing and providing more economic opportunities for marginalized communities.

Despite having lived primarily in Georgia since 2015 — where he is registered to vote — the candidate told The New York Times that he had frequently returned to New York City, both for family and for lobbying legislation that would protect youth targeted by police. He said he only moved back full-time to East Harlem last year, according to the paper.