Fernando Cabrera (politician)

Fernando Cabrera
Senior Advisor to the New York City Mayor's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships
In office
February 16, 2022 – June 2023
Majority Whip of the New York City Council
In office
January 11, 2018 – December 31, 2021
Member of the New York City Council
from the 14th district
In office
January 1, 2010 – December 31, 2021
Preceded byMaria Baez
Succeeded byPierina Sanchez
Personal details
Born (1964-04-16) April 16, 1964
New York City, U.S.
PartyDemocratic (2008–present)
Other political
affiliations
Republican (before 2008)
SpouseElvia Cabrera
Children2
EducationSouthern California College (BA)
Liberty University (MA)
Argosy University (EdD)
OccupationPastor, politician

Fernando Cabrera (born April 16, 1964) is an American pastor and politician from the Bronx, New York City. A Democrat, he represented the 14th district in the New York City Council from 2010 to 2021, serving as the council's majority whip in his final term.

Cabrera is the founding senior pastor of New Life Outreach International, a Bronx church, and previously directed the mental health counseling program at Mercy College. He was a registered Republican before changing his affiliation in 2008. After winning the 14th district seat in 2009, he ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Senate in 2014 and 2016 and for Bronx Borough President in 2021, and briefly sought to challenge Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2020. From 2022 to 2023 he was a senior advisor in Mayor Eric Adams's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships, an appointment opposed by LGBT advocacy groups because of his earlier statements on homosexuality. He sought his former council seat again in 2025 and lost the Democratic primary.

Cabrera is a socially conservative Democrat. He is an opponent of abortion and opposes same-sex marriage.[1]

Early life and education

Cabrera was born in the Bronx to a Dominican father and Puerto Rican mother. He was born at Lincoln Hospital in the South Bronx and has an identical twin brother, Angelo. When the brothers were four the family moved to Puerto Rico and then to Southern California, in part to relieve Angelo's severe asthma. Cabrera has said that he converted to Christianity at the age of 17.[2] He received a B.A. in Religion from Southern California College, a M.A. in Counseling from Liberty University, and a Doctorate in Education from Argosy University.[3]

Career

Ministry and academic career

After completing his studies Cabrera directed New Life for Youth, a faith-based drug rehabilitation program in Virginia. He returned to the Bronx in 1988 and founded the church New Life Outreach International, which grew to several locations in the northwest Bronx. He also worked as a counselor at Walton High School and served on a local community board, and by 2000 was head of the counseling program at Mercy College.[2][3]

Cabrera was a registered but, by his own account, politically inactive Republican until after the 2008 presidential primaries. He changed his registration to Democratic, saying he had been inspired by the candidacy of Barack Obama and had concluded that his values were better aligned with the Democratic Party.[2]

New York City Council

In 2009, Cabrera challenged Maria Baez in the Democratic primary for the 14th City Council district in the Bronx. He had the support of the Bronx Democratic Committee and key labor unions.[4] He defeated Baez by 1.37% in a three-way race that also included Yudelka Tapia.[5] In November, he won the general election against Republican Yessenia A. Duran and Conservative Lisa Marie Campbell.[6] He won re-election in 2013 by a large margin. The district covers Claremont Village, Fordham, Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Morris Heights, Mount Eden, Mount Hope and University Heights.[3]

On September 12, 2017, Cabrera won 55% of the vote in the 14th district Democratic primary election, compared to 35% for challenger Randy Abreu and 10% for Felix Perdomo. On January 11, 2018, he was elected Majority Whip and Chairman of the Committee on Governmental Operations.[7] He was term-limited and left the council at the end of 2021, and was succeeded by Pierina Sanchez.

Campaigns for other offices

In 2014, Cabrera challenged Senator Gustavo Rivera in the Democratic primary but lost 59% to 41%. He challenged Rivera again in 2016 and lost by a larger margin, 63% to 37%.[8][9]

In 2019, Cabrera announced that he would challenge Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in the Democratic primary for New York's 14th congressional district, while criticizing her support for democratic socialism.[10] On March 1, 2020, Cabrera announced that he was ending his bid against Ocasio-Cortez and that he would instead run for Bronx borough president in 2021.[11] He lost the nomination to Vanessa Gibson, then chair of the council Committee on Public Safety. The contest was decided by ranked-choice voting; after the final round of tabulation Gibson had 53.5% to Cabrera's 46.5%.[12]

Adams administration

In February 2022, New York City mayor Eric Adams appointed Cabrera as a senior advisor in the city's Office of Faith-Based and Community Partnerships. LGBT groups criticized the appointment, citing Cabrera's history of opposing same-sex marriage.[13] Cabrera had previously been considered for a senior position related to mental health in the Adams administration.[14] Shortly before the appointment was announced, he publicly apologized for his past remarks, saying that he had been unaware of the treatment of LGBT people by the Ugandan government when he spoke there in 2014 and that he believed "in the rights of all people, regardless of sexual orientation". Adams said that he had heard and accepted the apology.[15]

Cabrera left the position in June 2023. City Hall said he was departing to devote more time to his ministry.[16]

2025 City Council campaign

In 2025, Cabrera sought to regain his former City Council seat, challenging his successor, Pierina Sanchez, in the Democratic primary. He campaigned on issues including crime and housing conditions. In the June 24 primary, he finished second with 22% of the vote, behind Sanchez, who received 66%. A third candidate, Bryan Hodge Vasquez, received 10.8%.[17]

Political positions

LGBT rights

During his first primary bid against Rivera in 2014, Cabrera attracted ire for his opposition to abortion and gay marriage, as well as his apparent praise of a Ugandan anti-gay law.[18] In a video posted to YouTube and later deleted, Cabrera, speaking from Uganda, said, "Gay marriage is not accepted in this country. Why? Because the Christians have assumed the place of decision-making for the nation."[13] In February 2022 he apologized for those remarks.[15]

Food and nutrition

In 2018, Cabrera and then-Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams introduced a resolution calling on the New York City Department of Education to ban processed meats from its school meal programs.[19] The resolution was approved in September 2019, shortly after the department implemented a policy banning processed meats.[20]

Electoral history

Election history
Location Year Election Results
NYC Council
District 14		 2009 Democratic primary √ Fernando Cabrera 38.53%
Maria Baez 37.16%
Yudelka Tapia 24.31%
NYC Council
District 14		 2009 General √ Fernando Cabrera (D) 87.58%
Yessenia A. Duran (R) 10.59%
Lisa Marie Campbell (Conservative) 1.83%
NYC Council
District 14		 2013 Democratic primary √ Fernando Cabrera 74.83%
Israel Martinez 25.18%
NYC Council
District 14		 2013 General √ Fernando Cabrera (D) 95.36%
Stanley Butler (R) 3.50%
Alan H. Reed (Conservative) 1.05%
NY Senate
District 33		 2014 Democratic primary √ Gustavo Rivera 59.31%
Fernando Cabrera 40.70%
NY Senate
District 33		 2016 Democratic primary √ Gustavo Rivera 62.97%
Fernando Cabrera 37.93%
NYC Council
District 14		 2017 Democratic primary √ Fernando Cabrera 55.06%
Randy Abreu 34.69%
Felix Perdomo 10.03%
NYC Council
District 14		 2017 General √ Fernando Cabrera (D) 83.67%
Randy Abreu (Working Families) 10.41%
Alan Reed (R) 4.36%
Justin Sanchez (Liberal) 1.51%
Bronx Borough
President		 2021 Democratic primary
(final RCV round)		 √ Vanessa Gibson 53.5%
Fernando Cabrera 46.5%
NYC Council
District 14		 2025 Democratic primary √ Pierina Sanchez 66%
Fernando Cabrera 22%
Bryan Hodge Vasquez 10.8%

Personal life

Cabrera is the senior pastor of New Life Outreach International in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx. He is a former program director for the Mental Health and Counseling program at Mercy College.[3] He is vegan and adopted a plant-based diet to help manage his heart disease following a cardiac event.[19] He is married to Elvia Cabreraб the couple have two children.[3]

References

  1. ↑ a_henning (October 10, 2019). "City Councilman Fernando Cabrera is challenging AOC". CSNY. Retrieved September 26, 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 "Cabrera's Journey From Pulpit to Council Bid". Norwood News. August 27, 2009. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "District 14 - Fernando Cabrera". Council.nyc.gov. Retrieved February 20, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Kappstatter: Dem party pick Cabrera no wascally Pedro". New York Daily News. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ Primary Election 2009 Democratic Member of the City Council 14th Council District Archived 2012-06-02 at the Wayback Machine, September 15, 2009
  6. ↑ "Our Campaigns - New York City Council 14 Race - Nov 03, 2009". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  7. ↑ Neuman, William; Goodman, J. David (February 2, 2018). "In City Council, Power Shifts Away From Progressives (Published 2018)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Rivera Wins Contentious Primary for Bronx Senate Seat". Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  9. ↑ "J. Gustavo Rivera - Ballotpedia". Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ a_henning (October 10, 2019). "City Councilman Fernando Cabrera is challenging AOC". CSNY. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  11. ↑ Campanile, Carl (March 2, 2020). "Bronx councilman drops bid against AOC to instead run for borough president". New York Post. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
  12. ↑ "Primaries 2021: July 6 RCV Tabulation of Bronx Borough President's Race". Norwood News. July 6, 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  13. 1 2 Rubinstein, Dana (February 22, 2022). "Adams Is Challenged Over His Hiring of 3 Gay Marriage Foes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 23, 2022.
  14. ↑ Lewis, Rebecca (February 22, 2022). "Adams taps former councilmember with history of anti-gay views for advisory post despite mounting criticism". Gothamist. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Cabrera appointed to City Hall post after anti-gay remarks apology". NY1. February 22, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  16. ↑ "NYC Mayor Eric Adams' faith adviser Fernando Cabrera steps down in latest City Hall departure". New York Daily News. June 2023. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  17. ↑ Swanson, Emily (June 24, 2025). "Incumbent Sanchez fends off Cabrera, Vasquez in District 14 primary". Bronx Times. Retrieved August 13, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Fernando Cabrera Blames 'Liberal Media' for Senate Loss". Observer. September 10, 2014. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
  19. 1 2 Toure, Madina (March 23, 2018). "New York City School Meals May No Longer Include Processed Meats". Observer Media. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
  20. ↑ "Processed meats banned in New York City public school meals". FOX 5 New York. October 4, 2019. Retrieved October 21, 2025.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.