The city’s Board of Elections (BOE) on Tuesday night, July 6, released updated results from its preliminary ranked-choice voting (RCV) calculations for borough president races and local City Council contests.
Results had been expected to be released earlier, but following tabulation errors in the mayoral race, the BOE elected to hold off on revealing results for the local races.
In the Brooklyn Borough Presidents race, Councilmember Antonio Reynoso came out on top with 54.8 percent of the vote (107,480 votes) after 11 rounds of Ranked Choice Voting tabulations including absentee ballots.
See the unofficial results for Brooklyn city council races below. Results will not be certified until all affidavit ballots have been counted, and incorrectly filled out ballots have been “cured.”
City Council District 33 (Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, the Navy Yard, Downtown Brooklyn, Dumbo, Greenpoint, Vinegar Hill and Williamsburg)
Lincoln Restler currently holds the top spot among Democratic candidates, having received 64 percent of the votes (16,446 votes) following seven rounds of RCV counting with absentee ballots included. Elizabeth Adams finished in second with 36 percent of the vote (9,254 votes).
Restler declared victory on July 2.
“With all the in-person votes counted and a preliminary ranked-choice voting tally completed, we can say with certainty: we won,” he said on Twitter.
City Council District 34 (Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Ridgewood)
Candidate Jennifer Gutiérrez declared victory on Election Night, having garnered more than 75 percent of in-person votes. While there are still absentee ballots to be counted, there was no need for any rounds of RCV, and the most recent BOE data puts Gutiérrez at 79.7 percent of the vote (12,221 votes), securing her victory.
The activist and chief of staff to the incumbent, borough presidential hopeful Reynoso, campaigned on “community-based solutions,” vowing to expand participatory budgeting and view issues through a “feminist lens.”
On Election Night, Gutiérrez vowed to make the district proud.
“I’m so honored,” she said.
Other candidates, Scott Murphy, Andy J. Marte, and Lutchi Gayot, did not secure enough votes to trigger a ranked-choice voting recount.
City Council District 35 (Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Downtown Brooklyn, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, and Clinton Hill)
Crystal Hudson, a former aide to incumbent Councilmember Laurie Cumbo, won the race for the 35th District, earning 54 percent of the vote (16,457 votes) to tenant organizer Michael Hollingsworth’s 46 percent (14,013 votes).
Hudson was backed by a coalition of the city’s biggest labor unions, as well as bold-face politicos like Hakeem Jeffries, who were able to overcome the Democratic Socialists of America’s large canvassing operation which supported Hollingsworth.
City Council District 36 (Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights)
Chi Ossé won the race for the 36th district, having received 56.9 percent of the votes (10,409 votes) following four rounds of RCV counting including absentee ballots. District Leader and Brooklyn Democratic Party favorite Henry Butler finished in second with 42.3 percent of the vote (7,634 votes).
Ossé, a 23-year-old activist with no conventional government experience overtook politicians with years of experience and deep ties to Bedford-Stuyvesant politics, such as Butler, who had the backing of nearly every major labor union in the city. Ossé declared victory on July 3.
“The amount of people that told this queer 23 year old Black college dropout that he couldn’t do this…this win goes out to y’all,” the candidate said on Twitter.
City Council District 37 (East New York, Cypress Hills, Ocean Hill and Brownsville)
Activist Council candidate Sandy Nurse snagged over 51 percent of the vote on Election Night 4,988 votes) in the race to represent District 37, trouncing Kings County Democratic Party-backed incumbent Darma Diaz, who walked away with just 24 percent of the vote (2,330 votes) after taking the seat in a special election rife with controversy and confusion.
Following Ranked Choice Voting tabulations including absentee ballots, Nurse ended up with over 65 percent of the vote (6,089 votes) to Diaz’s 34.7 percent (3,235 percent).
Other candidates include Misba Abdin, Christopher Durosinmi, Rick Echevarria, and Heriberto Mateo, though none of them secured enough votes to trigger RCV.
Though hesitant to declare victory on June 22, Nurse said she felt “confident” in the preliminary results.
“This is a victory for our movements, and for the people who have worked for years in our district for real leadership,” she said in a statement. “There is a clear momentum for the left and progressive movements. Together, we are ushering in representatives who will bring our values and goals into local government.”
City Council District 38 (Sunset Park, Red Hook, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, and Dyker Heights)
Alexa Avilés won the race for the 38th district with 65 percent of the vote (6,843 votes) following five rounds of Ranked Choice Voting tabulations including absentee ballots, beating out second-place candidate Yu Lin by over 3,000 votes. Avilés, a public school organizer from Sunset Park, was the only candidate endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America to win in Brooklyn, and only one of two of the organizations six endorse candidates to claim victory in city council races citywide.
Aviles celebrated her victory on July 6.
“Our movement reflects our district: It’s diverse, it’s vibrant, it’s incredibly hard-working, dedicated and full of love,’ she said in a statement. “It’s the honor of my life to represent this district in the City Council, and to continue to organize alongside my neighbors for a better city.”
Other candidates for the 38th district included Rodrigo Camarena, Jacqui Painter, Victor Swinton, César Zuñiga.
City Council District 39 (Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens, Columbia Street Waterfront District, Gowanus, Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Borough Park, and Kensington)
Shahana Hanif won the race for the 39th council district having received 57 percent of the votes (15,936 votes) following six rounds of RCV counting including absentee ballots. Brandon West finished in second with 43 percent of the vote (12,008 votes).
Hanif, a former organizer with outgoing Councilmember Brad Lander, will be among the first south Asian council members to serve, and the first woman to serve the 39th district.
City Council District 40 (Flatbush, Kensington and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens)
Rita Joseph won the race for the 4oth council district in central Brooklyn, beating out a large and competitive field with 59.6 percent of the vote (10,060 votes) after 10 rounds of ranked-choice voting tabulations including absentee ballots.
“It’s all very unofficial, but it looks like we are WINNING!” Joseph said on Twitter on July 2. “Central Brooklyn, we’re about to get the bold, progressive change that we deserve!”
Other candidates included Cecilia Cortez, Maxi Eugene, Kenya Handy-Hillard, Harriet Hines, Victor Jordan, Blake Morris, Vivia Morgan, Edwin Raymond, John Williams, and second-place finisher Josue Pierre.
City Council District 41 (Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush, and Crown Heights)
In District 41, where incumbent Alicka Ampry-Samuel and her three-term predecessor Darlene Mealy were fighting for the seat, dark horse Mealy secured more than 57 percent of the vote against Ampry-Samuel on Election Night. There was no need for RCV.
Mealy previously represented the district from 2006 to 2017, at which point Ampry-Samuel was elected. As she fought to regain her old seat, Mealy prioritized issues like economic development, education, and public safety, with an emphasis on protecting women.
Per the most recent BOE data, Mealy has 8,843 votes over Ampry-Samuel’s 6,501.
City Council District 42 (East New York, New Lots, Remsen Village, Spring Creek, and Starrett City)
Charles Barron will take back his old seat in the 42nd District, having received 53.7 percent of the votes (7,692votes) following just three rounds of RCV counting. Nikki Lucas finished in second with 46.3 percent of the vote (6,856 votes).
Barron represented the East New York district for eight years before he was term-limited out, at which time he ran for the neighborhoods assembly seat and his wife, who previously held the assembly seat took over the council seat. Barron’s victory over a candidate favored by Democratic power brokers like Rep. Jeffries represents a continuation of one of the longest-running political dynasties in Brooklyn.
Other candidates include Wilfredo Florentino and Gena Watson.
City Council District 45 (Flatbush, Midwood, Flatlands, East Flatbush and parts of Marine Park)
In District 45, incumbent Farah Louis handily beat back two challengers, Anthony Beckford and Cyril Joseph, winning more than 75 percent of the vote on Election Night, eliminating the need for ranked-choice voting. Other candidates included Anthony Beckford, and Cyril Joseph.
Louis was first elected in 2019 to replace Jumaane Williams, who’d left his seat upon being elected Public Advocate.
City Council District 46 (Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Mill Basin and Canarsie)
Mercedes Narcisse won the race for the 46th district, having received 63.7 percent of the votes (8,926 votes) following seven rounds of RCV counting. Shirley Paul finished in second with 36.3 percent of the vote (5,091 votes).
Other candidates included Gardy Brazela, Donald Cranston, Zuri Jackson-Woods, Judy Newton, Tiffany Pryor, and Dimple Willabus.
City Council District 47 (Coney Island, Sea Gate, Gravesend, and Bensonhurst)
Ari Kagan won the race for the 47th district, having received 55.8 percent of the votes (4,018 votes) following just three rounds of RCV counting including absentee ballots. Steven Patzer finished in second with 44.2 percent of the vote (3,188 votes). Kagan was the preferred choice of outgoing Councilmember Mark Treyger, who Kagan worked for.
Other candidates include Alec Brook-Krasny, and Joseph Packer.
City Council District 48 (Brighton Beach, Manhattan Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, and Midwood)
Steven Saperstein won the race for the 48th district, having received 57 percent percent of the votes (4,534 votes) following five rounds of RCV counting including absentee ballots. Mariya Markh finished in second with 43 percent of the vote (3,414 votes).
Other candidates include Amber Adler, Binyomen Zev Bendet, and Heshy Tischler.
