Preliminary ranked-choice count for borough president, City Council races released
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A New York City Board of Election staff member, left, shows a ballot to a campaign observers as they count absentee ballots in the primary election, Friday, July 2, 2021, in New York. AP photo by Mary Altaffer
By Jacob Kaye
The New York City Board of Elections finally released preliminary ranked-choice tallies in borough presidents’ races and City Council races throughout the city Friday night following several days of delays.
The unofficial results – which don’t factor in absentee ballots –– were promised Tuesday but were put on hold after a mistake in the preliminary mayoral race count threw the agency into turmoil.
The mayoral results were pulled back, corrected and released the following day. But the release of the results of the City Council and borough president races, which were supposed to be made public after the citywide races, was stalled as the BOE employed quality control checks to ensure further mistakes weren’t made.
Released around 10 p.m. on Friday, July 2, the results gave voters their first glimpse into how ranked-choice voting shapes – or in plenty of cases, doesn’t shape – races for local office. The count is unofficial and doesn’t include any of the 37,041 absentee ballots returned to the Board of Elections.
A second preliminary count is expected to be released on Tuesday, July 6.
In Queens, nine of the 15 races for City Council advanced to a ranked-choice count – the other six races had a candidate leading with over 50 percent of the vote after the first round of counting, eliminating the need for a ranked-choice tally.
In every City Council race in Queens that advanced to RCV rounds, the candidate who was leading after the first round ended up in the lead by the final one.
See a breakdown of the unofficial ranked-choice count throughout Queens below:
It appears that Jimmy Van Bramer voters like incumbent Borough President Donovan Richards more than former City Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley.
After the first round of counting, Richards held 41 percent of the vote to Crowley’s 40 percent. A distant third, Van Bramer received a little over 17 percent of the vote. Because he was in last place, Van Bramer’s ballots were redistributed in the third and final round of counting, boosting Richard’s number to a leading 51 percent.
Former City Councilmember and State Senator Tony Avella led the pack of six candidates after the first round of counting. After the RCV tabulation, the story was the same – Avella was out in front with nearly 54 percent of the vote.
Sandra Ung, who was in the lead after the first round of counting, finished on top of the race in District 20 with around 56 percent of the vote. Ellen Young currently sits in second with 44 percent of the vote.
Incumbent City Councilmember Francisco Moya held a little over 51 percent of the vote following the first round of counting, eliminating the need for a ranked-choice count.
With one of the largest leads in Queens, Tiffany Caban finished the ranked-choice tabulation well ahead of second place candidate Evie Hantzopoulos. The former candidate for Queens District Attorney had around 62 percent of the vote following the third and final round of counting.
Linda Lee led the race in District 23 after RCV tabulation with 53 percent of the vote. The race was the only in Queens in which the eventual leader wasn’t in first place after every round of counting. Candidate Jaslin Kaur pulled out with a slim lead after the fifth round, but Lee was back on top after the sixth and final round.
City Councilman James Gennaro received nearly 60 percent of the vote after the first round of counting, eliminating the need for RCV tabulation.
Shekar Krishnan led all rounds of counting, finishing the seventh and final round with 61.7 percent of the vote. Yi Andy Chen finished in second, with 38 percent of the vote.
The most crowded race in Queens saw 15 rounds of RCV counting. Julie Won, who held a slim lead over Amit Bagga after the first round of counting, finished the race on top with 56 percent of the vote.
Nantasha Williams led the District 27 race with 35.6 percent of the vote after the first round of counting. Williams finished the RCV tabulation with the largest lead in any of the RCV races in Queens with nearly 73 percent of the vote.
City Councilmember Adrienne Adams held over 50 percent of the vote against challengers Ruben Wills and Japneet Singh after the first round of counting. An RCV tabulation wasn’t necessary.
Lynn Schulman led the pack in District 29 with 22 percent of the vote after the first round of counting. After the final round, Schulman held 58 percent.
City Councilmember Robert Holden led challenger Juan Ardilla with 53 percent of the vote after the first round of counting, eliminating the need for a RCV tabulation.
Incumbent Selvena Brooks-Powers, who won the special election for the seat in February, the first RCV race in the city’s history – came out on top after the first round of counting with 67.9 percent of the vote.
Her two challengers, Nancy Martinez and Nicole Lee, also ran against Brooks-Powers in the special election. During that race, both were among the first three candidates eliminated in the count.
Felicia Singh led with the 36 percent after the first round of counting in a close race in District 32. By the final round of RCV tabulation, Singh led Michael Scala with 52 percent of the vote.
The biggest blowout in Queens, Jennifer Gutierrez led challengers Scott Murphy, Andy J. Marte and Lutchi Gayo with 79.7 percent of the vote after the first round of counting, eliminating the need for an RCV tabulation.
