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Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat studies election results on the way to his Primary Day victory for state Senate. PHOTO: Mike Fitelson.
by Mike Fitelson
Daniel P. Bader
Juliana Schatz
Northern Manhattan Democrats who bothered to go to the ballot box on Primary Day Tue., Sept. 14 chose to send familiar faces to represent them in Albany.
The most contested neighborhood race was between four candidates vying for the state Senate seat being vacated by Eric Schneiderman, which was won by current Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, who celebrated his victory at 809 Restaurant on Dyckman Street and Nagle Avenue. In the Nov. 2 general election, Espaillat will face the Green Party candidate Ann Roos.
In his victory speech, Espaillat talked about how he viewed the Senate district as “one community,” noting how the problems are similar from one neighborhood to another. “We will transform this city in ways it’s never seen before, in positive ways with our young people,” said Espaillat, who has spent 14 years in the Assembly.
Speaking in English and Spanish, Espaillat thanked his supporters and voters “for the privilege to win this primary.”
“At the end of the day I’m just a humble country boy from Santiago, Dominican Republic,” he added.
According to unofficial returns, Espaillat won the seat with 51 percent of the votes, beating out his main rival, community activist and teacher Mark Levine who garnered 39 percent. Also hoping to represent the district, which stretches from the Upper West Side through Northern Manhattan to Riverdale, were attorney Anna Lewis (8 percent) and former congressional aide Miosotis Muñoz (2 percent).
Overall there were about 21,445 votes cast, compared to the nearly 29,000 that were recorded in the 2002 primary, the last time the seat was contested.
Reports from polling stations around the neighborhood reported trouble, technical or administrative, with the new electronic voting machines. This is the first election where New Yorkers marked paper ballots that were then scanned by a machine to record the results. Similar stories were reported by news outlets throughout the city, however reports from the afternoon seemed to show that the process was smoothed out.
Mark Levine embraces his father after Tuesday's loss in the race for the 31st Senate seat. PHOTO: Daniel P. Bader
At Levine’s headquarters on Broadway and W. 215th Street, the candidate was joined by his wife Ivelisse Suárez and their two sons, Alahandro, 10, and Dani, 7.
“Change is very, very difficult and we came closer than anyone in the world ever expected. I’m sorry to say we didn’t quite get there,” Levine told a room full of about 50 supporters. “But I want to say that I am proud of you and all we’ve accomplished.”
Levine’s campaign relied heavily on social media networks to connect with supporters while Espaillat benefitted from endorsements from established elected officials and unions.
Guillermo Linares celebrated his win in the race for the 72nd
Assembly District on Tuesday night at Arka Lounge on Broadway and W.
193rd Street. PHOTO: Juliana Schatz
In the race to replace Espaillat in the 72nd Assembly District, voters also picked an experienced hand: former City Council member and city commissioner Guillermo Linares, who took 49 percent of the vote.
“I feel really, really great. I feel excited. This is really a great victory for my community,” Linares said during a party at Arka Lounge on Broadway and W. 193rd Street. “I am extremely excited. I see this as a mandate for me to continue working, and building for everyone in this community. The new comers, the old timers, everybody is a part of this agenda that I now bring to Albany.”
Also running for the 72nd Assembly District were Community Board 12 member Julissa Gomez (24 percent), former Assembly and City Council staffer Gabriela Rosa (12 percent), former East Harlem Assembly Member Nelson Denis (10 percent) and Miguel Estrella (5 percent).
The roughly 5,500 votes cast in the race were about 2,900 fewer than the district’s last primary in 2008.
Voters also returned Assembly Member Herman “Denny” Farrell to Albany for his 19th two-year term, giving him 74 percent of the vote over 27-year-old Washington Heights resident Ariel Ferreira.
Schneiderman won the five-way free-for-all to be the Democratic Party’s candidate for New York’s attorney general with 34 percent of the vote over Long Island District Attorney Kathleen Rice who had received 31 percent of the vote by press time with 90 percent of election districts reporting. Schneiderman will face Staten Island District Attorney Dan Donovan, the Republican Party’s candidate, on Nov. 2.
Senator Bill Perkins, who represents a sliver of southern Northern Manhattan trounced challenger Basil Smikle, a first time candidate but long time political consultant, with 76 percent of the vote.
Congressman Charles Rangel, who has held his office since 1971 when he defeated Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., overcame the fallout from being investigated for several ethics violations to once again represent Harlem and Northern Manhattan. He won with 51 percent of the vote, while five candidates split the remainder, led by Harlem Assembly Member Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., with 23 percent.
Rangel, 80, will face Republican Rev. Michel Faulkner, the founder of New Horizon Church in Harlem and a former New York Jet football player, in the General Election.
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