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Races to Watch in This Month’s New York City Council Primary Elections


Time to head to the polls (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


Early voting begins this Saturday, June 17, for this year’s New York City Council primary elections, an unusual set of contests mandated by a quirk in the City Charter that requires the full Council to be on the ballot following a decennial redistricting based on the Census. Early voting for the primaries runs through June 25, while primary day is June 27, and absentee balloting is ongoing.

In the two years since the current class of Council members was seated, districts have been redrawn to accommodate an increase in the city’s population and a series of more specific demographic shifts. Some districts saw few changes and others saw drastic ones, while an entirely new “Asian opportunity” district was created in South Brooklyn as part of the response to the new population data. 

Though all 51 Council seats are up for election this year, there are only 24 primary races and perhaps half that many competitive ones. Only one sitting Council member is no longer running for reelection, meaning there are 50 incumbents seeking another two years in office. Some may not be challenged in either the primary or the general. In one case, the new 47th District, two incumbents have been drawn into the same boundaries and could face each other in the general election.

Nonetheless, there is a series of notable races to watch, and anything can happen in what is expected to be an especially low turnout affair, even by New York City’s abysmal standards. The party primaries all use ranked-choice voting, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference up to five. This is only the second time that the new voting method is being put to use after it was introduced for the 2021 citywide election. If no candidate wins more than 50% of first-place votes in the initial tally, an “instant runoff” occurs where some voters’ second choices (and perhaps third and beyond) begin to matter and a cycle of elimination unfolds.

Primary winners, mostly on the Democratic side, are almost all favored to win, though there will likely be another six to 10 competitive races for the fall general election. The eventual victor will go on to serve a two-year term before the next citywide race in 2025. The current City Council includes 45 Democrats and six Republicans, though there are several Democrats who align more closely with their conservative colleagues.

The deadline to register to vote in the primary is also June 17, the first day of early voting. Party primaries are only open to voters registered with the party and it is too late to change party affiliation for this election — while most of the competition is, as usual, among Democrats, there are several competitive Republican primaries this month. While the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot by mail or online has passed, the last day to apply in-person is June 26.

Find your early voting or Election Day poll site and sample ballot here.

Among other races on some voters' ballots this month, there are also Democratic primaries for Queens District Attorney, where DA Melinda Katz is seeking reelection against two challengers, and Bronx District Attorney, where DA Darcel Clark is seeking reelection against challenger Tess Cohen.

Here are several City Council races to keep an eye on: 

District 1
Lower Manhattan including Battery Park City, Chinatown, Financial District, Little Italy, the Lower East Side, NoHo, SoHo, South Street Seaport, South Village, TriBeCa & Washington Square

City Council Member Christopher Marté, a first-term Democrat, is running for reelection and faces three primary challengers – Susan Lee, a freelance nonprofit grant writer who previously lost to Marté in 2021; Ursila Jung, a development policy expert; and Pooi Stewart, a substitute teacher.

Read: In Lower Manhattan, Challengers Look to Unseat City Council Member Christopher Marte in June Democratic Primary

District 9
Central Harlem, Morningside Heights, Upper West Side, East Harlem 

In a surprising move, Council Member Kristin Richardson Jordan, a first-term Democrat, announced last month that she was dropping out of her reelection race. Jordan, a democratic socialist, won a closely fought battle for the seat in 2021 and was part of the far-left wing of the City Council. 

Though her name will still appear on the primary ballot, Jordan’s abrupt departure has effectively created an open seat, leading to one of the most closely watched races. Three candidates are now vying for the Democratic nomination: Assemblymember Inez Dickens, who previously held the Council seat from 2006 to 2016; Assemblymember Al Taylor; and Yusef Salaam, a first-time candidate who was one of the Central Park Five, exonerated after serving time in prison for a crime they didn't commit. 

District 13
East Bronx including City Island, Ferry Point, Morris Park, Pelham Bay, Throggs Neck and Van Nest

Council Member Marjorie Velázquez, a first-term Democrat, is facing three opponents in the primary – Irene Estrada, a former Democratic district leader; Bernadette Ferrara, president of the Van Nest Neighborhood Alliance and chair of Bronx Community Board 11; and John Perez, a retired Army officer.

There is also a Republican and Conservative party primary in the district among three candidates. The leading candidate seems to be Kristy Marmorato, a health care professional who has been endorsed by the Bronx GOP. She is the sister of Bronx GOP Chair Michael Rendino and is married to Gino Marmorato, the Bronx GOP commissioner for the city Board of Elections. Marmorato faces George Havranek, president of the Spencer Estate Civic Association and former member of Community Board 10, and Hasime Samantha Zherka, an insurance adjuster who unsuccessfully ran for State Senate last year. 

District 19
Auburndale, Bay Terrace, Bayside, Beechhurst, College Point, Douglaston, Flushing, Little Neck, Malba, Whitestone

Council Member Vickie Paladino, a first-term Republican, doesn’t face a primary challenger. But there is a three-way contest in the Democratic primary for the district’s nominee. The candidates include Tony Avella, who previously served in the City Council and the State Senate for eight years each and lost to Paladino in a 2021 upset; Christopher Bae, a former assistant district attorney; and Paul Graziano, a land use expert.  

District 23
Eastern Queens, including Bayside Hills, Bellerose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, New Hyde Park, Queens Village, and Little Neck 

Council Member Linda Lee, a first-term Democrat, faces two challengers in the primary – Steve Behar, who previously served as Counsel to former Council Member Barry Grodenchik, and Rubaiya Rahman, founder of the Autism Society Habilitation Organization, a nonprofit group. 

District 26
Sunnyside, Woodside, Long Island City, Astoria, Dutch Kills

Council Member Julie Won, a first-term Democrat, is facing a spirited challenge from Hailie Kim, a housing organizer with the MinKwon Center for Community Action, who came in eighth in the ranked primary for the district that Won won in 2021.

District 29
Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill

Council Member Lynn Schulman, a first-term Democrat, faces two primary challengers – Ethan Felder, a labor lawyer and former assistant general counsel at 32BJ SEIU, the powerful property services workers union (which has endorsed Schulman) and Sukhjinder Singh, a community activist.   

District 41
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush, Crown Heights

Council Member Darlene Mealy, a Democrat, held the District 41 seat from 2006 to 2017, when term-limits forced her from office. She ran and won again in 2021, unseating he successor, Alicka Ampry-Samuel, in the primary. For this year’s primary, Mealy faces three challengers – Isis McIntosh Green, who previously worked for Assemblywoman Latrice Walker and has been endorsed by the Working Families Party; Reginald Bowman, a three-term president of the City Wide Council of Presidents of the New York City Housing Authority; and Joyce Shearin, an author.

District 42
East New York, New Lots, Remsen Village, Spring Creek, Starrett City

Council Member Charles Barron, a Democrat, is a former longtime member of the State Assembly. Barron gave up his Assembly seat for the current Council seat previously held by his wife, Inez Barron, whom he preceded in the Council as they repeatedly swapped seats. This is his fourth term in total as a Council member.

Known as an outspoken radical gadfly and famous for his principled protest votes, Barron faces two challengers – Chris Banks, a community organizer who has challenged Barron several times in the past; and Jamilah Rose, a grant writer and community advocate. 

District 43
Bensonhurst, New Utrecht, and parts of Dyker Heights and Sunset Park

The redistricting process led to the creation of an entirely new District 43, an “Asian opportunity” district that acknowledges the growing Asian-American community in South Brooklyn. The borough has never before elected an Asian City Council member. 

It is one of two open seats in the Council in this election, along with District 9, and three Democratic candidates seeking the nomination – Wai-Yee Chan, executive director of Homecrest Community Services, a local nonprofit; Susan Zhuang, chief of staff to Assemblymember William Colton; and Stanley Ng, a retired computer programmer.

There is also a Republican primary in the district between Vito LaBella, a former NYPD officer who unsuccessfully ran for State Senate last year; and Ying Tan, a community activist.

District 47
Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, Coney Island and Sea Gate

Council Member Ari Kagan, who represents the current District 47, was originally elected as a Democrat in 2021. But, in December, he broke with the party and flipped his registration to Republican as part of the fallout of redistricting and his assessment of his political fortunes. He faces two challengers in this year’s Republican primary for the district – Anna Belfiore-Delfaus, who has faced scrutiny over her declared profession as a teacher and about her residency in the district, and who is backed by neighboring GOP Council Member Inna Vernikov; and Avery Pereira, a special education teacher.

Council Member Justin Brannan, a Democrat who represents the old District 43, saw his political base in Bay Ridge redrawn into the new District 47, where he is seeking reelection without facing a primary challenger.

***
by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
     

Read more by this writer.

Note - this article has been updated. 



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