Queens primary races take shape as early tally comes in
/
Some races in Queens began to take shape on Tuesday, June 22, while others may take a couple a weeks. AP Photo/Mary Altaffer
By Jacob Kaye
Though the final results of Tuesday’s primary election won’t be confirmed for at least three weeks, preliminary counts from the first citywide test of ranked-choice voting have begun to trickle in.
What has been made clear though is that the borough will see several prime examples of ranked-choice tabulation come next month and that there were few sure winners after Election Day.
The Board of Elections’ preliminary count, which is unofficial, is only based on voters’ first choice rank and only included ballots cast in-person early or on Election Day. Next week, the BOE will release preliminary, unofficial results based on RCV tabulation of the in-person ballots, again not including absentee ballots. On July 6, the BOE will complete and release an updated tally including the absentee ballots received up to that point.
The final certified results are expected to come on July 12.
A large number of ballots didn’t make it into Tuesday’s count, including the 66,265 absentee ballots requested by Queens voters. No other borough requested more absentee ballots than Queens.
Though the official number hasn’t been certified, in-person voter turnout in the borough topped 156,000, which includes both early and Election Day voters. With around 1.2 million registered voters, in-person turnout was around 13 percent.
If every absentee ballot in Queens is returned, more voters will have cast a ballot this primary election than in the 2020 primary, which saw around 193,000 votes from Queens.
Some races won’t be at all clear until every vote is counted and certified in mid-July.
An unexpected battle for borough president
On Tuesday night, the race for Queens borough president was neck and neck. With 95 percent of scanners reported, Borough President Donovan Richards held the lead with 41 percent of the vote.
Elizabeth Crowley, who was narrowly defeated by Richards in the special election for the seat last year, held a little over 40 percent of the vote. City Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer was third in the race, with 18 percent of the vote.
Van Bramer conceded Wednesday morning, noting that he knew the race would be a challenge but that he wanted to “give Queens voters a choice.”
“While there are still potentially nearly 50,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted, it is clear from the results on Primary Day that we did not get the result we had hoped for,” Van Bramer said in a statement. “I congratulate Borough President Donovan Richards and Elizabeth Crowley for moving on to the next round of ranked choice voting. Although we fell short, there is so much about this campaign to be proud of.”
With Van Bramer more than likely to be the first candidate eliminated in the ranked-choice count, voters who ranked him first will determine the winner of the race once their ballots are redistributed.
None of the three candidates, including Van Bramer, publicly announced who they’d be ranking second in the borough president race.
Crowley said that she was “encouraged” by the early returns.
Former City Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley was in a close second for the Queens borough president’s race early returns show. Photo courtesy of campaign
“There are tens of thousands of absentee ballots to be counted, and we look forward to seeing the complete results and the RCV process,” she said on Twitter. “We believe we’re on a path to victory.”
Incumbents reign supreme
Despite the delay in the count, many races in the borough have begun to take shape, including Districts 21, 22, 24, 28, 31 and 34, which feature candidates who have run away with the race, possibly eliminating the need for a ranked-choice count altogether. If any candidate finishes the official first round of counting with over 50 percent of the vote, the race is over and the candidate is declared the winner.
Though few incumbents were able to run in this year’s primary – a vast majority of current City Council members will be term-limited out of office by the end of the year – nearly all who ran held sizable leads Tuesday night.
City Councilmember James Gennaro led in District 24, which covers Kew Gardens Hills, Pomonok, Electchester, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Jamaica Estates, Briarwood, Parkway Village, Jamaica Hills and Jamaica, with over 59 percent of the vote with 99 percent of scanners reported.
Gennaro won the special election for the seat in February. It was the first race in the city to utilize ranked-choice voting, although because Gennaro won over 50 percent of the vote after the first count, ranked-choice tabulation did not go into effect.
City Councilmember Selvena Brooks-Powers, who also won her February special election, the first in the city to use ranked-choice tabulation, was in the lead Tuesday night in District 31 with over 68 percent of the vote with 92 percent scanners reported. The district covers Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere, Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens.
Her two challengers, Nicole Lee and Nancy Martinez also ran in the special election earlier this year. The pair were among the first three candidates eliminated in the ranked-choice count during the special election.
City Councilmember Adrienne Adams led her race in the preliminary count in District 28, which covers Jamaica, Richmond Hill, Rochdale Village and South Ozone Park. The incumbent had 56 percent of the vote with 99 percent scanners reported.
Incumbent Francisco Moya held over 52 percent of the vote with 82 percent of scanners reported in District 21, which covers East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, LeFrak City and Corona. Challenger Ingrid Gomez was in second place with 18 percent of the vote.
One of the few non-incumbent candidates with a healthy lead who could possibly avoid a runoff was Tiffany Cabán, the former candidate for Queens District Attorney, running for City Council District 22, which covers Astoria, Rikers Island, Jackson Heights, Woodside and East Elmhurst. Cabán led Tuesday night with a little over 49 percent of the vote with 95 percent scanners reported.
Tiffany Cabán is likely headed to victory in her race for City Council District 22. Eagle file photo by Jonathan Sperling
There remain over 3,300 absentee ballots left to count in the district, which saw around 14,000 voters turn up in-person.
Nonetheless, Cabán declared victory Tuesday night.
“Tonight, our movement won. What we did here tonight is a mandate,” the candidate said in a statement. “We have made it clear that the political will is there and we are ready to fight unapologetically and urgently for the communities we deserve.”
Should Cabán win, her district will be represented by Democratic Socialist of America-backed electeds at the local, state and federal level of government.
The biggest blowout of the night came in Brooklyn/Queens District 34. Jennifer Gutierrez received nearly 80 percent of the vote, besting three challengers, none of whom got more than 10 percent.
Though not an incumbent, long-time Queens lawmaker Tony Avella set himself up for a return to the City Council after Election Day.
Avella held 36 percent of the vote in District 19, which covers College Point, Whitestone, Malba, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, North Flushing and Auburndale. Candidate Richard Lee was in second with 29 percent of the vote Wednesday morning.
Avella, who served in the City Council from 2002 to 2009, most recently served in the State Senate. He was ousted from the legislative body in 2018, when he was defeated by current Sen. John Liu in the primary.
There were over 4,800 absentee ballots requested in the district left to be counted, which would represent a third of all votes cast if every ballot is returned.
Leaders emerge in two-person races
There are also a handful of two-person races that won’t head into a ranked-choice voting count no matter what.
In District 30, which covers Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood and Glendale, City Councilmember Robert Holden led challenger Juan Ardilla with 53 percent of the vote with 98 precincts reporting.
There were 2,381 absentee ballots requested in the district. A little over 8,300 voted in-person in the race.
The preliminary results in the Republican races for City Council also began to paint a relatively accurate picture of who might be declared the winner come the official tally.
In District 19, comprised of College Point, Whitestone, Malba, Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, North Flushing and Auburndale, Vickie Paladino led John-Alexander Sakelos with 52 percent of the vote with 99 percent of scanners reported.
James Reily held over 66 percent of the vote in District 23, which covers Bayside, Bellrose, Douglaston, Floral Park, Fresh Meadows, Glen Oaks, Hollis, Hollis Hills, Holliswood, Little Neck and Queens Village. Alex Amoroso held 29 percent of the vote with 92 percent of the scanners reported.
In District 24, Republican Timothy Rosen had over 59 percent of the vote, compared to Angelo King’s 36 percent with 99 percent of the scanners reported.
Queens County Republican Party Chair Joann Ariola led Stephen Sirgiovanni with a little over 82 percent of the vote with 98 percent of in-person votes recorded in District 32.
None of the judicial races in Queens were ranked by voters, who chose candidates the old fashioned way this election cycle.
In the race for Civil Court Judge, Soma Syed led Michael Goldman by a few percentage points with 95 percent of scanners reported.
Cassandra Johnson held 80 percent of the vote in the race for District 4 Judge of the Civil Court. Her opponent, Devian Daniels, held 19 percent of the vote with 96 percent of scanners reported.
The races we’ll have to wait for
In addition to the borough president’s race, several City Council races were miles from being decided after Tuesday’s preliminary count. Though each race has a leader, it’s likely not all of them will win come the final tally.
The most crowded race in Queens was also the most murkey. District 26 featured 15 candidates, none of which cracked 20 percent of the vote on Primary Day.
Candidates Julie Won and Amit Bagga were separated by less than a percentage point with 96 percent of scanners reported – Won had 18.47 percent of the vote and Bagga had 17.65 percent.
The two candidates engaged in several public spats in the final days of the campaign and it’s unlikely there’s much middle ground between their respective supporters. But the real question, as is true for all the races headed into a runoff count, is how many supporters of the other 13 candidates in the race ranked Bagga or Won.
Either Amit Bagga or Julie Won will likely win the race for City Council District 26 – it’ll all come down to how the ranked-choice tabulation breaks down. Photos courtesy of campaigns
“We’re looking forward to the results of the ranked choice count, and it is clear that the people of District 26 are setting the leading example for how this democratic process can be used to ensure all voters have a say in who goes to City Hall,” Bagga said in a statement.
The fight to represent District 29 in the City Council was equally tight. Lynn Schulman, who has run for the seat twice before, held the early lead with 22 percent first place votes. Aleda Gagarin, a candidate backed by a handful of progressive leaders and organizations, was in a close second with a little over 20 percent of the vote.
District 32 – covering Belle Harbor, Breezy Point, Broad Channel, Howard Beach, Lindenwood, Neponsit, Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Rockaway Park, Roxbury, South Ozone Park, West Hamilton Beach and Woodhaven – is also anyone’s game.
Felicia Singh was in the early lead with 36 percent of the vote, trailed closely by Michael Scala with nearly 35 percent.
In District 20, which covers Flushing, Murray Hill and Queensboro Hill, Sandra Ung, who was supported by a handful of elected officials including Rep. Grace Meng, Sens. Toby Ann Stavisky and John Liu and Councilmember Peter Koo, was in the early lead.
With 24 percent of the vote, Ung led her closest challengers, Ellen Young and John Choe, by around 8 percentage points.
In his quest to represent Jackson Heights and Elmhurst in District 25, Shekar Krishnan led the pack of eight candidates Tuesday night. Krishnan, with 30 percent of the vote, was up 13 percentage points up over the second and third place candidates, Carolyn Tran and Yi Andy Chen.
Nantasha Williams was in the lead in City Councilmember I. Daneek Miller’s district, which covers Cambria Heights, Hollis, Jamaica, St. Albans, Queens Village and Springfield Gardens. Williams held a healthy 35 percent of the vote after in-person ballots were counted.
James Johnson is currently in second place in District 27 with a little over 11 percent of the vote. Only one other candidate in the 12 person race had over 10 percent of first choice ballots.
Updated at 7:02 p.m. on Wednesday, June 23, 2021.
