Democratic socialist Marcela Mitaynes won the District 51 state Assembly seat on July 16 after raking in more absentee votes than 26-year incumbent Félix Ortiz — making her the presumptive Assemblywoman elect of the majority-Democratic district.
Ortiz, who has held the office since 1994, conceded to Mitaynes in a Facebook post.
“The votes have been tallied and the people of the 51st district have elected Marcela Mitaynes to represent them in the New York State Assembly,” wrote Ortiz at 1:45 pm. “I congratulate her and wish her the best going forward.”
Mitaynes, a tenant organizer and Sunset Park community activist, came up 464 votes short of Ortiz on election night, garnering 1,927 compared to Ortiz’s 2,391.
However, Mitaynes established an early lead in the absentee ballot count, raking in nearly twice as many votes as Ortiz by July 15, only one day after the Board of Elections began processing absentee ballots for the race.
According to Mitaynes’ campaign, Mitaynes ended up defeating Ortiz by 24o votes, winning 3,550 votes compared to Ortiz’s 3,310. The race’s two other candidates, Katherine Walsh and Genesis Aquino, won 2,430 votes and 926 votes respectively.
Mitaynes may face third party opponents in the Nov. 3 primary, although none have announced their candidacy yet.
This story first appeared on brooklynpaper.com.
