42.4 F
New York
Friday, March 29, 2024

NYC Primary Results: Jeffries, Velazquez, and Rangel Win; Turner Loses

Related Articles

-Advertisement-

Must read

Hakeem Jeffries sailed to a resounding win over widely despised Charles Barron in a heated race for Congress.As the results of Tuesday’s New York City primary races came in late Tuesday, Jewish constituents of the 8th Congressional District – a newly configured swath of Brooklyn and Queens encompassing both Jewish-populated areas such as Marine Park and Coney Island, as well as the African-American dominated neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant and East New York – breathed a sigh of relief when they learned that State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries had roundly defeated the notorious anti-Semite and anti-white City Councilman Charles Barron. The hotly contested race had brought out nearly every Jewish elected official and community leader, all of whom harshly condemned Barron and urged Jewish residents to come out to the polls in force and vote for Jeffries.

With 87 percent of districts reporting at press time, Jeffries was leading with an astounding 72.5 percent of the vote, while Barron only had a mere 27.5 percent — a much greater margin than many had expected.
“The political pundits said this was going to be a close race, but that was before the people had spoken,” Jeffries told supporters at a victory party. In sharp contrast, Barron remained true to his obstinate, contentious character. “I will not be giving a congratulatory statement to my opponent tonight,” he told supporters, “because of the campaign that he ran and the character assassinations that he performed on another black man.”

However, another popular figure within the Orthodox community – Congressman Bob Turner, who had scored a major upset last year when he became the first Republican in decades to be elected in a historically Democratic Brooklyn and Queens district – was declared the loser in his bid for a newly designed State Senate district. According to election results at press time, with just over half the votes counted, attorney Wendy Long held a 21-percentage point lead of 56 percent, beating out Turner, who had received 34 percent, and Nassau County Comptroller George Maragos at 11 percent. Long had 45,079 votes to 27,331 for Turner and 8,742 for Maragos, according to unofficial tallies reported by the Associated Press. Turner lost despite his heavy Orthodox support and an endorsement from former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Long now faces an uphill fight against incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand, who already has about $10 million in campaign cash. In her last race, Gillibrand was endorsed by Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind; it remains to be seen if he will switch his allegiance in the fall.

Twenty-year incumbent Representative Nydia Velázquez appears to be heading into an eleventh term in Congress, despite the seemingly strong competition she had from City Councilman Erik Dilan, who had attempted to portray her as a career politician who had grown ineffective in her position. Velázquez readily won the Democratic nomination in the 7th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. With 65 percent of the precincts reporting, Velazquez had 62 percent of the vote, while Dilan only had 22 percent.

The incumbent’s victory was a powerful rebuke to the Brooklyn Democratic chairman, Vito J. Lopez, who had placed his powerful political machine behind Mr. Dilan. “We won because of you,” Ms. Velázquez told cheering supporters in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, describing her victory as one for “progressive and democratic values.” As both candidates had courted the powerful bloc vote of Williamsburg’s Satmar Chassidic community, it appeared that those among Satmar who belong to the camp of Rabbi Aaron Teitelbaum – who had endorsed Velazquez – managed to gain the upper electoral hand over the followers of his brother Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum, who had backed Dilan. “The ‘Aroynem’ (followers of Rabbi Aaron) flexed their muscles like never before,” commented political analyst Yossi Gestetner.

Veteran Manhattan Congressman Charles Rangel, who has held his office in New York’s 13th Congressional District since 1971, fended off a feisty challenge from State Senator Adriano Espaillat, who was hoping to become the first Dominican member of Congress. With 66 percent of precincts reporting at press time, Rangel had a solid 51 percent of the vote, while Espaillat had only 32 percent. Rangel readily won the nomination for a 22nd term.

balance of natureDonate

Latest article

- Advertisement -