Yvette Clarke: Relationships
Yvette Clarke's political relationships span family, Brooklyn's Democratic establishment, the Congressional Black Caucus, and the broader New York and national Democratic leadership. The groupings below organize her most significant connections.
Una S. T. Clarke
Clarke's mother, Dr. Una S. T. Clarke, is a Jamaican-born former New York City Council member who represented the 40th District from 1992 to 2001 and was the first Caribbean-born woman elected to the Council. Yvette Clarke succeeded her mother in that seat, making them the first mother-daughter succession in the Council's history. Una Clarke remains a prominent figure in Brooklyn's Caribbean-American political community and a central influence on her daughter's career. 2
Major Owens
Clarke's House seat was previously held by Representative Major Owens, in whose Washington office she interned as a college student. She unsuccessfully challenged Owens in a Democratic primary before winning the seat after his retirement in 2006, and she later sponsored legislation honoring him with a named Brooklyn postal facility. 2
Shirley Chisholm
Clarke repeatedly invokes the legacy of Shirley Chisholm, the Brooklyn congresswoman who was the first Black woman and Caribbean American elected to Congress. Clarke frames her own service as a continuation of Chisholm's trailblazing example.
Hakeem Jeffries
Clarke maintains a close alliance with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a fellow Brooklyn representative. As CBC Chair she has urged caucus members to support his leadership, and Jeffries has publicly described her as a close friend. The two appeared jointly in 2025 outreach to Brooklyn clergy during the mayoral race.
Congressional Black Caucus
As the 29th Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Clarke leads a bloc of Black senators and House members. She succeeded Steven Horsford in the role and has positioned the caucus as a counterweight to the second Trump administration. Her CBC relationships place her alongside members such as Gregory Meeks in New York-focused political efforts.
Zohran Mamdani
Clarke endorsed Zohran Mamdani for New York City mayor in September 2025, praising his people-powered primary campaign. She participated in earlier meetings between Mamdani and Black clergy and elected leaders as the mayoral race unfolded.
Adriano Espaillat
In the 2026 congressional primary cycle, Clarke stood with Hakeem Jeffries, Gregory Meeks, and other Black elected officials to back Representative Adriano Espaillat against a Mamdani-endorsed Democratic Socialist challenger, illustrating the tensions between establishment Democrats and the party's insurgent left even after her Mamdani endorsement.
Primary Challengers
Clarke's most notable intraparty rival was Adem Bunkeddeko, who challenged her in the 2018 and 2020 Democratic primaries and came within roughly a thousand votes of unseating her in 2018. Her early career also included a rivalry with the family and allies of her predecessor Major Owens, whose son Chris Owens she defeated in the 2006 primary.