NYC Council Primary Races: Vernikov and Zhuang Victorious, Other Races Unclear

By Matis Glenn

New York City held primary elections Tuesday for City Council seats, with races in three districts with high populations of Orthodox Jews up for grabs. The Republican primary of District 48, and the Democrat primary of newly redrawn district 43 saw clear victories election night, while the Republican primaries of Districts 43 and 44 will be decided by absentee ballots.

City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov successfully repelled a challenge from Igor Kazatsker for the Republican nomination in District 48, which includes portions of Miwood, Homecrest, and Brighton Beach. She received 71% of the vote, while Kazatsker picked up 28%. Vernikov will face Amber Adler, the Democratic nominee, in the general election.

“I want to thank every single person who came out to vote, who came out to vote early, who came out to vote today,” Vernikov said Tuesday night at her victory party. “This is our victory, a victory for our district, we did it! We beat them. I’m going to continue fighting for you, I’m going to continue fighting for our values, I thank every single voter, every single supporter, every single constituent…you guys all deserve this victory, thank you all.”

In the 44th District, which includes Boro Park and Midwood, Heshy Tischler challenged incumbent Councilman Kalman Yeger on the Republican line.

After ballots were counted Tuesday night, Yeger leads Tischler by just 20 votes. Up to 126 absentee ballots are still uncounted, which may ultimately determine the winner of the race.

Absentees must have been postmarked by Primary Day and received in the mail up to a week later.

Yeger will make the general election anyway on his own Democratic Party line as well as the Conservative Party line, but if he defeats Tischler in the Republican primary, he will be unopposed in the general election. If Tischler wins the GOP primary, he will square off against Yeger in the general election.

“I want to thank all of my supporters who came out to vote for me,” Tischler said in a Tuesday night address. “Right now, there’s a difference of a handful of votes between me and Yeger. There are a significant number of absentee ballots and affidavits that have not been counted. I will be the winner of the republican primary after it’s all said and done. Thank you for your support and I will be around for always to take care of you.”

District 43, which now includes Bensonhurst, Boro Park above 60th Street, and parts of Dyker Heights and Sunset Park, was redrawn to grant an opportunity for Asian Americans to elect a councilmember in an area where they are the majority. As it was redrawn, the seat was vacant.

On the Democrat side, Susan Zhuang celebrated a victory, with 58% of the vote, followed by Wai-Yee Chan at 30.9%, and Stanley Ng at 9%. Zhuang is the first Asian American Democrat to win the nomination for City Council in South Brooklyn.

“Thank you so much, to the Jewish community who support me, and all of the other people who support me,” Zhuang told Hamodia after she declared victory. “Anything against the Jewish community is against me, against our community. I want to make sure that everyone works together; the Jewish community, the Asian community, and other communities…we care about the same issues; public safety, a quality education…”

When asked how she plans on winning in a district that’s becoming more Republican-leaning, Zhuang said “It’s not about the party, it’s about caring about everyone. I care about everyone in the community, no matter if they’re Democrat, Republican, or independent. I care about people; people matter.”

Assemblyman William Colton, who Zhuang worked for as his Chief of Staff, attended Zhuang’s campaign headquarters Tuesday night. “Susan Zhuang won a great victory, but the real winners are all of us, because all of us stood together,” Colton told Hamodia. “The entire political establishment was against her, but the people were for her. She spoke truth to power; she said the truth that others might not have said, and the result was the people overwhelmingly chose her to be the winner of this race.”

On the GOP ticket in the 43rd District, Ying Tan leads Vito LaBella by only 28 votes, with up to 70 absentee ballots still to be counted.

Republican Ari Kagan won the nomination for the redrawn District 47, with 75% of the vote, defeating Anna Belfiore-Delfaus and Avery N. Pereira, who received 12% and 11% respectively.

Democrat Justin Brannan, who previously was the Councilman for District 43 before it was redrawn, will run against Kagan for the District 47 seat. Kagan, who changed parties from Democrat to Republican in December, represented the old District 47 before the change was made. The new District lines include parts of Coney Island, Gravesend, Bay Ridge, and Seagate.