City Council Primary Winners Emerge in Ranked Choice TallY
Close races in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx were decided in ranked choice voting, some spanning into eight rounds.
Originally published by THE CITY on July 1, 2025 at 1:03pm EDT
A week after Primary Day, the city Board of Elections has released the ranked-choice results of the City Council June election. Here are the highlights:
In Lower Manhattan’s District 1, pro-development advocates failed to unseat incumbent Christopher Marte, who almost clinched his win in the first round of votes — on election night — with 49% and went on to gain 62% of the vote in Tuesday’s ranked choice tally.
In the district spanning East Harlem and The Bronx, Elsie Encarnacion has won 58% of the vote in the full ranked choice tally. The race in District 8 was the site of unusually intense special interest spending, with Encarnacion receiving support from a PAC affiliated with Airbnb to the tune of $100,000, and another candidate Wil Lopez backed by a special interest group that received $650,000 from one Wall Street mogul.
And multiple Queens races that were in a dead heat after the first round of voting now have their Democratic primary winners: Shanel Thomas-Henry in District 21, Tyrell Hankerson in District 28, and Phil Wong in District 30.
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In a year where outside special interest groups spent millions in an attempt to influence the outcomes of City Council races, most big spenders’ bets paid off: Many recipients of Airbnb’s dollars, like Bronx candidates Encarnacion, Justin Sanchez and Eric Dinowitz and Shekar Krishnan in Queens have won their respective races. Uber’s PAC spending paid off for candidates like Mercedes Narcisse in Brooklyn, and Carmen De La Rosa and Julie Menin of Manhattan.
Here’s a breakdown of who won the remaining contested races in each borough:
Brooklyn
From the preliminary first-choice vote tallies last week, many Brooklyn City Council winners had already been announced: Shahana Hanif in District 39, Alexa Avilés in District 38, Kayla Santosuosso in District 47 and Inna Vernikov in District 48.
In District 41, incumbent Darlene Mealy held onto her seat, ultimately gaining 65% of the vote after eight rounds of ranked choice tallying and fending off challenger Lawman Lynch, an activist and immigrant born in Jamaica.
Where Santosuosso won on the Democratic side, on the Republican side in Bay Ridge’s district, Brooklyn GOP chair and former NYPD officer Richie Barsamian challenged incumbent George Sarantopoulos, who had a one point lead on election night. Sarantopoulos narrowly clinched the seat on Tuesday with 50.1% of the vote.
The Bronx
As mentioned above, Encarnacion secured the South Bronx-East Harlem District 8 seat in a crowded race that saw six other candidates vying for the wide-open seat vacated by Councilmember Diana Ayala, who is term limited.
In District 13, in the northwest Bronx, Shirley Aldebol has won the Democratic primary with 56% of ranked choice tallying released Tuesday. Aldebol will be challenging current Councilmember Kristy Marmorato in November, a Republican who narrowly won the seat in 2023.
Last Tuesday, District 14 incumbent Pierina Sanchez won in the first round at 66.5% of first-choice votes against former councilmember and conservative pastor Fernando Cabrera and Bryan Hodge Vasquez.
Manhattan
In addition to Marte’s success in District 1, the two remaining races in the rest of the borough were decided Tuesday, as well.
On the east side in District 4, Virginia Maloney emerged as the winner against five challengers with 53% of the final vote tally. She is the daughter of longtime Manhattan Congressional representative Carolyn Maloney.
In District 2, first-choice vote frontrunner Harvey Epstein has won over nine other candidates with 57% of the vote. A member of the state Assembly, Epstein ran against Sarah Batchu, who previously worked under former Mayor de Blasio, Manhattan Community Board 3 chair Andrea Gordillo, and disgraced former Congressman and ex-mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who was eliminated in the second round of ranked choice voting.
Queens
In Southeast Queens District 28, an area currently represented by City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams, the frontrunner on Primary Day Tyrell “Ty” Hankerson has now won with 59% of the vote. Hankerson was looking to take over for his boss Adams, and beat out Japneet Singh for the Democratic nomination.
In an incredibly close race in District 21, which covers East Elmhurst and Corona, Shanel Thomas-Henry has emerged victorious with 53% of the ranked choice rally on Tuesday. Thomas-Henry, supported by the DC37 union of city workers, beat Working Families Party-backed challenger Erycka Montoya who narrowly lost with 47% of the vote.
District 30, which spans Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village and Ridgewood, saw Phil Wong and challenger Paul Pogozelksi neck-and-neck with Wong in a slight lead on Primary Day. Wong, who has the endorsement of current Councilmember Bob Holden, has won with 51.5% of the ranked choice tally.
Staten Island
Both Staten Island primaries were already decided last Tuesday: Incumbent Kamillah Hanks won on the North Shore, and Republican Frank Morano won in District 51 representing the Mid-island and South Shore.
