‘Red mirage’ fades in Bayside as Braunstein takes big absentee vote lead
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Assemblymember Ed Braunstein has reversed his Election Day deficit following an absentee ballot count and is claiming victory in Assembly District 26. AP Photo/Mike Groll
By David Brand
Incumbent Assemblymember Ed Braunstein has reversed a nearly 1,800-vote Election Day deficit and now leads his Republican challenger after an unofficial count of nearly every absentee ballot in his Northeast Queens district.
Campaign poll watchers say Braunstein, a Democrat, has received more than 28,000 total votes compared to about 23,000 to his GOP rival John-Alexander Sakelos. Braunstein claimed victory in a statement Sunday night, though the results have not yet been certified.
“Now that the absentee ballots have been counted, I am proud to report that I have won re-election and will continue to represent the people of the 26th Assembly District,” he said.
Sakelos, a drama instructor, has not yet responded to a phone call seeking comment.
He initially led Braunstein after the Board of Elections counted in-person votes Nov. 4, but another 15,713 votes had yet to be tallied. Registered Democrats accounted for about 63 percent of those votes, while registered Republicans accounted for about 12 percent, according to totals published by the BOE Nov. 15.
A voter’s official party affiliation does not necessarily mean they will select the candidatesnominated by that party, but, as has been the case throughout the country, absentee ballots have been extremely favorable to Braunstein and the Democrats in Northeast Queens this election.
He is one of a number of Democratic lawmakers to erase Election Day deficits following the absentee ballot tally. The phenomenon has been characterized as a “red mirage” by political observers to describe how a Republican leads — depicted as red on election maps — evaporated as more votes were tallied.
“Yet another red mirage falls this weekend. Congratulations to @edbraunstein on your re-election!” Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie tweeted Sunday.
Braunstein’s victory would ensure that the entire Queens Assembly and Senate delegations remain Democrat, though their ideology varies from the more moderate Braunstein to the Democratic Socialists of America-backed Zohran Mamdani, who won his election in Astoria’s Assembly District 36.
