Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Kristin Richardson Jordan

Kristin Richardson Jordan

  • After Incumbent Drops Reelection Bid, Wide Open Harlem City Council Race to be Decided This Month

     

    (l-r) Al Taylor, Inez Dickens, Yusef Salaam

    New York City voters are now heading to the polls in this month’s City Council primary elections, where dozens of districts are home to intraparty contests that will determine nominees for the fall general election. All 51 Council seats are on the ballot this year, though not every district has a primary race, after the decennial Census and subsequent redistricting.

    One of the most hotly contested primary races is in Harlem’s 9th Council District, where three prominent Democratic candidates are vying to replace City Council Member Kristin Richardson

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  • Adrienne Adams Elected Speaker of the New York City Council

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    City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams (photo: John McCarten/City Council)

    Adrienne Adams, a Democrat from Queens, was officially elected as the Speaker of the New York City Council on Wednesday in a near-unanimous internal vote of the 51-member legislative body. Adams is the first Black person to lead the New York City Council and will lead the first-ever women-majority Council, with 31 seats held by women.

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    Wave of LGBT Candidates Eyes City Council Seats in 2021 Elections

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    City Council members at a Pride march (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)

    The City Council’s LGBT Caucus could shrink after the 2021 elections, with all five current caucus members -- including Council Speaker Corey Johnson -- prevented by term limits from running for reelection next year, when all of city government will be on the ballot. However, there are more than a dozen openly LGBTQ candidates running throughout the city to replenish and perhaps grow the ranks of LGBTQ representation in city government, encouraged by advocates and current Council members who ...