N.Y. House Race May Not Be Settled As Niou Weighs Run Against Goldman

(The Washington Post) – On Tuesday, former federal prosecutor Daniel Goldman was projected to be the winner of the Democratic nomination in New York’s newly redrawn 10th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press, defeating a crowded primary field that at one point included more than a dozen candidates, including a sitting congressman.

In any other year, the winner of the Democratic primary could safely be presumed the eventual winner of the general election in New York’s overwhelmingly Democratic 10th District. But this year’s race could remain competitive through the fall.

New York Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou, who is projected to come in second in the Democratic primary – trailing Goldman by only about 1,300 votes – is weighing a general election run under the Working Families Party ballot line.

Niou has not conceded in the Democratic primary, and the race has not yet been certified. With 95% of the vote counted, Goldman has 25.8% of the vote to Niou’s 23.7%, with 1,306 votes separating the two. As of late Tuesday, 13,000 absentee ballots remained to be counted.

“I’m currently speaking with WFP and my community about how we can best represent the needs of this district,” Niou said in a statement to The Washington Post. “Because what we can do together is too important to give up this fight, we must count every vote. I’m so grateful for the outpouring of support and all of the people who showed up and turned out. Our people need and deserve a voice.”

In addition to Goldman and Niou, the field of Democratic primary candidates included Rep. Mondaire Jones, D-N.Y., who moved to the newly redrawn district to run after Rep. Sean Maloney, D-N.Y., the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, switched to running in Jones’s old district; New York City Council member Carlina Rivera; New York state assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, and former congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman. At one point, former New York mayor Bill de Blasio also was running; he withdrew from the race in July.

Niou’s supporters have pointed out that Niou, Jones and Rivera – who are projected to come in second, third and fourth, respectively – split the progressive vote in the Democratic primary, giving the more moderate Goldman a path to victory.

A chaotic redistricting process in New York created the diverse new district, which covers much of Lower Manhattan – including Chinatown, Wall Street and the Lower East Side – and parts of Brooklyn. In her campaign, Niou, who is Taiwanese American, frequently emphasized that the new district included two Chinatowns, one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn. She received endorsements from several progressive groups and state lawmakers, as well as from the Working Families Party.

The New York Times endorsed Goldman, who was the lead majority counsel in the first impeachment trial against President Donald Trump. One of his ads features a clip of him testifying before the House Judiciary Committee before declaring: “Dan Goldman proved the case against Trump.”

He has said protecting democracy would be among his top priorities if elected.

“Voters know what’s at stake,” Goldman tweeted Sunday. “We need to protect our democracy and our fundamental rights. Everything is on the line, and we need members of Congress who have been on the front lines standing up to authoritarianism on the radical right.”