Counting up results from June’s primary appears to have been a straightforward affair based on the first set of results released on Wednesday by the New York City Board of Elections, which handed a bigger win to Yusef Salaam in a closely watched Council race in Harlem and helped project likely victors in primary contests in Queens and the Bronx.
City elections officials conducted ranked-choice tallies in just three races after last week’s primary election results showed most candidates — including all incumbents except one — received more than 50% of the votes on the first ballot.
When the board conducts a ranked-choice tally, the candidates with the fewest votes are eliminated. The board then looks at whom voters picked as their second choice, and the ballots are transferred to that candidate. The process continues in rounds until only two candidates remain, and the candidate with the most votes wins.
Former City Councilmember Tony Avella is on pace to win the Democratic nomination in the 19th City Council district in northeast Queens with 51.1% of the vote, according to the new unofficial results.
His closest challenger, Christopher Bae, trails by more than 2 points, or just 123 votes. That means Avella will likely take on Republican incumbent Vickie Paladino in the general election in November.
Elections officials still conducted a ranked tally in the race for Harlem’s 9th City Council district, even though newcomer Yusef Salaam declared victory over his opponents on primary night. Salaam, who is one of the exonerated Central Park Five, served nearly seven years in prison for a crime he did not commit. Councilmember Kristin Richardson Jordan had opted not to run for re-election in the district.
Salaam, whose candidacy got a boost from Keith Wright, a former assemblymember and the current Manhattan Democratic party chair, finished just over the 50% mark on primary night, even though he commanded a 25-point lead over his closest challenger, Assemblymember…
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