Adem Bunkeddeko stood outside the Grand Army Plaza subway station on a muggy, hot June day with one goal — toppling the Brooklyn political machine.
The 30-year-old Democratic congressional candidate stood behind a table near a fruit stand and greeted voters, asking them to ditch incumbent Rep. Yvette Clarke in Tuesday’s primary.
“We haven’t had the reputation that we need or deserve, and this is our home,” the Crown Heights resident told The Post. “I think her tenure has been a failure.”
The Post repeatedly reached out to Clarke’s campaign for this story, but her reps said she was not available.
This is the first real primary challenge Clarke has faced since winning the seat in a nasty, racially charged primary fight in 2006 with just 31 percent of the vote.
Clarke gained a foothold in Brooklyn politics by succeeding her mother, Una, in the City Council. And Yvette Clarke is close to Mayor de Blasio, with crooked restaurateur Harendra Singh testifying in a Long Island corruption trial last month that the mayor told him to funnel illegal donations to Clarke. De Blasio has denied that claim.
Her district, the 9th, covers a swath of central Brooklyn including Park Slope, Crown Heights, Flatbush and Sheepshead Bay.
Challenging an incumbent Democrat in the Big Apple is always a long shot. Stephen Solarz was the last incumbent Dem to lose a congressional primary — and that was in 1992. He was running for an essentially new seat after redistricting dismantled his longtime district.
But other political hopefuls have joined Bunkeddeko, a Harvard Business School grad and son of Ugandan refugees, in challenging longstanding Democrats for Tuesday’s vote.
Their races, however, have been eclipsed by the nasty clash between two Staten Island Republicans — Rep. Dan Donovan and former Rep. Michael Grimm, a convicted tax cheat.
Meanwhile, in Queens, Rep. Joe Crowley, a longtime incumbent and the chair of the borough’s Democratic Party. is facing a challenge from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to represent the 14th District, which covers parts of Queens and The Bronx. It’s the first primary contest against Crowley in 14 years.
Some liberal activists in the district are backing Ocasio-Cortez, 28, over the heavily favored Crowley, a contender for the next Democratic House leader.
And upstart hotel magnate Suraj Patel is trying to topple veteran Democrat Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the 12th District, which includes eastern Manhattan and parts of Queens and Brooklyn.
Both sides took hits during the campaign.
Maloney was forced to backtrack on her vote for the Iraq war and her criticism of vaccinations. Patel has fended off questions about possible campaign-finance violations, residency and his dodgy use of dating apps, like Tinder, to promote his campaign.
And businessman Jonathan Lewis is taking on Democratic Rep. Eliot Engel in the 16th District, which contains parts of The Bronx and Westchester. Engel was first elected to Congress in 1988.
On Long Island, Democrats are lining up to challenge two GOP incumbents — the 1st District’s Lee Zelden and longtime lawmaker Peter King of the 2nd District.
Five Democrats are running to challenge Zelden. Businessman Perry Gershon, a political newcomer, has gained an edge in the money race by largely self-funding his campaign.
In the 2nd, Liuba Grechen Shirley is facing off against DuWayne Gregory, the presiding officer of the Suffolk County Legislature.
Grechen Shirley is backed by progressive activists and made news when the Federal Elections Commission approved her request to use campaign funds to cover her child-care expenses. Gregory is backed by the Suffolk County Democratic leadership.
There’s also a crowded field of seven candidates to take on GOP incumbent John Faso in the 19th District that takes in the Hudson Valley and capital region. They include Gareth Rhodes, a former aide to Gov. Cuomo and rapper-turned-lawyer Antonio Delgado.