PRIMARY RESULTS | Two big upsets possible in City Council races; Katz, Clark cruise to wins in DA contests

Two major upsets are looming in City Council primaries held on Tuesday night.

Yusuf Salaam, a member of the Exonerated Five, is on the verge of winning the Democratic nomination for the 9th Council District seat covering Harlem. He currently has more than 50% of the early vote and primary day tally, and a more than 2,700 vote lead on Assembly Member Inez Dickens, who’s running in second. 

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn’s 42nd Council District, long-time political veteran and City Council Member Charles Barron finds himself in danger of losing his party’s nomination for re-election. Community civic activist Chris Banks currently has more than 50% of the vote with 99% off scanners reported, good for a 437 vote lead on the incumbent Barron.

Turnout was extremely light in the off-year election for party nominations to City Council seats up for grabs in the November general election. Only about a third of the districts had contests in this primary cycle. Unopposed incumbents or party nominees automatically advanced to the November contest.

Democratic voters in the Bronx and Queens also chose their party’s nominee for district attorney, with the respective incumbents — Darcel Clark and Melinda Katz — facing challenges. Both Clark and Katz was easily renominated by Democrats Tuesday. 

Whilst the district attorney contests were standard votes, the City Council elections used ranked-choice voting, with voters picking their candidates in the preferred order of choice. If no one candidate earns a majority of votes in the first round, the Board of Elections will turn to the votes of lesser, eliminated choices until a candidate has secured a majority. 

It’s clear, based on the preliminary results, that a number of races will wind up being decided by ranked-choice voting — including the Republican nomination for the 13th District in the Bronx, where Kristy Marmorato and George Havranek are separated by less than 100 votes; and the Democratic nomination for the 19th District in Queens, where another political veteran, Tony Avella, is facing a serious threat from former prosecutor Christopher Bae.

Our affiliates in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx — QNS.com, BrooklynPaper.com and BxTimes.com — are tracking all local races as the results come in. Below are the preliminary results (votes cast during early voting and on Tuesday) for the Manhattan City Council races, key Council races from around the city, and the district attorney’s races.

Projected winners are indicated with a √ sign next to the name. Visit amNY.com in the morning for additional updates.

District Attorney

Bronx (92.38% scanners reported)

Queens (95.47% scanners reported)

Key City Council Races

1st District (Manhattan) (93.02% scanners reported, 1st choice)

2nd District (Manhattan) (95.15% scanners reported)

9th District (Manhattan) (95.28% scanners reported, 1st choice)

10th District (Manhattan) (95.83% scanners reported)

13th District (Bronx, Democratic) (93.4% scanners reported, 1st choice)

13th District (Bronx, Republican) (93.4% scanners reported, 1st choice)

19th District (Queens) (98.68% scanners reported, 1st choice)

23rd District (Queens) (96.7% scanners reported, 1st choice)

26th District (Queens) (98.97% scanners reported)

29th District (Queens) (94.29% districts reported, 1st choice)

41st District (Brooklyn) (95.1% scanners reported, 1st choice)

42nd District (Brooklyn) (99% districts reported, 1st choice)

43rd District (Brooklyn) (91.58% districts reported, 1st choice)

Read more: 79-Year-Old Woman Assaulted in Bronx; NYPD Investigates Incident