Tuesday’s primary elections were largely a victory for incumbents, who won over rivals in the races for mayor, public advocate, and district attorney, as well as every city Council contest in which one competed. But the deep-blue county’s Democratic Party machine suffered some losses, in the form of two civil-court seats that went to one insurgent and one independent candidate. Here’s our recap of the local primary election results.
38th Council District
Freshman Councilman Carlos Menchaca (D–Sunset Park) will likely get to keep his seat for another four years after defeating a quartet of Democratic-primary rivals, including his predecessor and the local Assemblyman.
Menchaca — who faced a stiff challenge from Assemblyman Felix Ortiz (D–Sunset Park), former Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez, and attorneys Chris Miao and Delvis Valdes — secured 4,102 votes, just less than half of all ballots cast. Ortiz placed second with 2,777 votes, according to the city’s Board of Elections data.
The incumbent took heat from his constituents and challengers for focusing too heavily on national politics rather than his own district, and for the way he handled superstorm Sandy’s aftermath. The influential Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association also threw its support and cash behind Ortiz in an attempt to oust Menchaca, claiming he did not support New York’s Finest enough.
But Menchaca secured some key endorsements, including that of the New York Times, and ultimately claimed victory. He will go on to face Green Party candidate Carmen Hulburt in November’s general election.
35th Council District
Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo (D–Crown Heights) also cinched victory on Tuesday, after a contentious campaign to retain her seat against second-time challenger Ede Fox, who lost the same race to Cumbo in 2013. The race drew the second-largest voter turnout in the city, with more than 17,500 votes.
The incumbent, who secured 10,116 votes to Fox’s 7,304, faced criticism for her late public opposition to the mayor’s controversial plan to turn the city-owned Bedford-Union Armory into luxury condos and apartments. Fox, who fiercely opposed the project, made it her campaign’s main platform, which earned her the support of several large unions and political clubs. But Cumbo enjoyed strong support from Mayor DeBlasio. She will go on to face Green Party candidate Jabari Brisport and Republican Christine Parker in November’s general election.
In 2013, Cumbo won the seat with 7,561 votes compared to Fox’s 5,340, according to city records.
43rd Council District
Bay Ridge native Justin Brannan, a former staffer to term-limited Councilman Vincent Gentile (D–Bay Ridge) and the DeBlasio administration, claimed victory over his four Democratic primary competitors, winning a little less than 40 percent of the votes, with 3,561. The runner-up, Rev. Khader El-Yateem, ran a fierce grass-roots campaign with little institutional support, which earned him 2,879 votes.
And long-time state Sen. Marty Golden (R–Bay Ridge) staffer John Quaglione won the Republican primary with 1,789 votes. Liam McCabe, a former staffer to Rep. Dan Donovan (R–Bay Ridge), came in second with 1,153 votes.
Brannan and Quaglione will now duke it out to win November’s general election, campaigning for the seat in a district many say is among the borough’s most conservative, despite it going for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election.
34th Council District
Incumbent Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D–Williamsburg) defeated his sole challenger, Bushwick district leader Tommy Torres, and will retain his seat after winning 6,452 votes compared to Torres’s 3527.
40th Council District
Incumbent Mathieu Eugene (D–Flatbush) staved off challenges from three rivals to keep his seat. He received 5,414 votes and challenger Brian Cunningham placed second with 3,991.
41st Council District
Brownsville native Alicka Ampry-Samuel cruised to victory over her eight competitors to succeed term-limited Councilwoman Darlene Mealy (D–Bedford-Stuyvesant) . The former chief-of-staff to Assemblywoman Latrice Walker (D–Brownsville) got 3,320 votes. Second place went to Henry Butler, the district manager of Community Board 3, with 2,318 votes.
42nd Council District
Incumbent Councilwoman Inez Barron (D–Canarsie) will keep her seat after beating challenger Mawuli Hormeku with 7,253 votes, compared to Hormeku’s 1,392.
44th Council District
Councilman David Greenfield (D–Midwood) announced his resignation from Council earlier this summer, but did so too late to allow for a Democratic primary, which allowed him to hand-pick ally Kalman Yeger as his Democratic successor. But Yeger still faces competition from Yoni Hikind — the son of Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D–Midwood) — who will run on the independent “Our Neighborhood” party line in November’s election.
45th Council District
Incumbent Councilman Jumaane Williams (D–Midwood) easily fended off rival Lou Cespedes, earning 8,588 votes compared to his competitor’s 904.
48th Council District
Incumbent Councilman Chaim Deutsch (D–Sheepshead Bay) cruised to victory over challenger Marat Filler, with 3,563 votes compared to Filler’s 829. Deutsch will go on to face Republican Steve Saperstein in November’s general election.
Civil Court
So-called insurgent candidate Sandra Roper and independent attorney Ellen Edwards won two seats on the civil-court bench, dealing a small blow to Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio, who pushed to fill the five seats up for re-election with incumbents.
Party-backed candidates Robin Sheares, Frederick Arriaga, David Pepper, Connie Melendez, and Patria Frias-Colon faced challenges from Edwards — who ran on her own — and the rival slate of insurgents headed by Gary Tilzer, which included Roper, Patrick Haynes, Isiris Isella Isaac, Thomas Kennedy, and John O’Hara.
In addition to Roper and Edwards, voters also selected Robin Sheares, Connie Melendez, and Patria Frias-Colon.
