Adams stressed unity in her first speech as City Council’s new leader, saying the legislative body—the most diverse in the city’s history—would prioritize addressing the pandemic, including the recent shortage of tests and booster appointments, as well as public safety, healthcare equity and affordable child care.
‘Women of color like myself have historically been marginalized from politics and public discourse. When local politicians don’t share any aspect of my identity with me, it can feel like girls like me aren’t meant to be a part of public life.’
While turnout was not particularly high across the city, GOP wins signal that moderate and conservative voters were pushed to the polls in key districts, perhaps propelled by a rejection of more progressive proposals that have become mainstream, like diverting money from the police department.
While the majority of primary winners are Democrats who will not have challengers in the fall, Republican and third-party candidates are running in a handful of races, including the Staten Island borough president’s election and Council contests in Districts 15,19, 23, 24, 32 and 50.
Of the three primaries in which current Manhattan Council members faced challengers, the 9th Council District race is the only one in which the incumbent appears to have been defeated.
Some 11 candidates are vying for the Democratic nomination for Brooklyn’s 40th Council District, comprising parts of Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Park, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
The list includes influential incumbents like Land Use Chair Rafael Salamanca and Manhattan Councilmember Carlina Rivera, as well as a few prominent figures trying to claim their first public office and a couple of relative unknowns, who have raised a ton of cash in a short amount of time.
The competition is especially hot, if civil, in Brooklyn’s 39th City Council District, one of the most politically-active areas in the city, with some of the highest voter turnout rates, and the home district of Mayor Bill de Blasio, who represented the district before being elected Public Advocate then mayor.
The 33rd District stretches along Brooklyn’s East River waterfront, from Greenpoint to Boerum Hill. It straddles an eclectic group of neighborhoods, including Brooklyn Heights, the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and parts of Downtown Brooklyn, Williamsburg, and Gowanus.
With Councilmember Carlos Menchaca facing term limits this year, there is a competitive Democratic primary unfolding to replace him in Brooklyn’s 38th District, centered in Red Hook and Sunset Park, and also includes parts of Greenwood Heights, Windsor Terrace, Dyker Heights, and Boro Park.
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