Gennaro scores big Election Night lead in NYC's first ranked-choice contest
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James Gennaro is set to reclaim his old city council seat. City Council Photography
By David Brand
James Gennaro’s quest to reclaim his old Council seat is nearly complete, as unofficial Election Night results show him notching nearly 60 percent of in-person votes in the special election for Queens’ District 24.
Gennaro was one of eight candidates in the race to replace Rory Lancman, who left office in November 2020 to take a job in the Cuomo Administration. Gennaro held the seat from 2002 until 2013, when term limits forced him to step aside, making way for Lancman.
His strong showing, powered by a large get-out-the-vote effort in the Orthodox Jewish community of Kew Gardens Hills, means New York City will almost certainly have to wait for a real test of its new ranked-choice voting system.
The New York City Board of Elections said Tuesday that it had received about 600 absentee ballots. The BOE had sent about 1,400 other ballots out to voters, but had not yet received those.
Second-place candidate Moumita Ahmed, who received about 16 percent of the vote, would need virtually all 2,000 of those potential absentee ballots to break her way in order to cut Gennaro’s total to less than 50 percent, triggering a second round of balloting.
“I feel humbled that the early returns show that our campaign is likely to prevail,” Gennaro said in a tweet Tuesday night. “I am of course compelled to respect the process of the counting of all the ballots. I eagerly await those final results.”
Gennaro served as chair of the environmental committee during his time in the Council and said he looks to further his sustainability goals. He said he supports preserving the NYPD budget, halting a plan to close Rikers Island, blocking a new jail in nearby Kew Gardens and raising the value of CityFHEPS housing vouchers for families and individuals living in homeless shelters.
After Gennaro and Ahmed, the remaining six candidates in the field accounted for about 24 percent of the in-person votes.
Queens County Women’s Bar Association President Soma Syed scored about 8.6 percent of the total, business owner Deepti Sharma recorded about 5 percent and higher education executive Dilip Nath received about 4.5 percent.
Democratic District Leader Neeta Jain took in about 3 percent of the in-person ballots, Bangladesh Society of North America president Mujib Rahman recorded about 2.22 percent and real estate agent Michael Earl Brown received 1.3 percent.
Gennaro won’t have much time to relax in office. His likely victory means he can serve out the final 10 months of Lancman’s term, but he will have to run again in the June Democratic primary to secure a new term starting in 2022.
He and five of the other candidates say they plan to run again in the June Democratic primary.
The race in CD24 isn’t Queens’ only election this month.
Another special election takes place on Feb. 23 in Council District 31.
That contest will decide which of nine candidates will fill the seat vacated by Donovan Richards, who left the Council after winning the race for Queens borough president last year.
