POLITICS
Jabari Brisport Enjoys Big Night in Brooklyn
Gay insurgent way out front; incumbents cruise; district leader hopefuls make noise
BY MATT TRACY
On a night when new
queer candidates aiming
for Albany were
well-represented on
ballots across the New York City
metro area, out gay Brooklyn State
Senate hopeful Jabari Brisport
paved the way with an impressive
performance to put him one step
closer to becoming the fi rst out
LGBTQ Black person elected to the
State Legislature.
Brisport has earned roughly 50
percent of the vote in the race for
the 25th Senate District, giving
him an 11-point edge over Assemblymember
Tremaine Wright heading
into the absentee ballot count
next week.
Brisport, who was endorsed by
Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio
Cortez of the Bronx and Queens
and US Senator Bernie Sanders of
Vermont, is a public school math
teacher in Brooklyn who attracted
a robust base of small-dollar
grassroots donors and ran on an
unabashedly progressive platform
aimed at uplifting public schools,
implementing single-pay healthcare,
taking on gentrifi cation and
homelessness, and comprehensively
decriminalizing sex work, as
well as other issues, such as legalizing
marijuana. In recent weeks
he has been a vociferous supporter
of the movement to slash billions
from the NYPD.
While local queer political
groups curiously shunned his historic
candidacy in favor of Jason
Salmon — who didn’t even get seven
percent of the vote in the initial
tally — Brisport did land the support
of the LGBTQ Victory Fund
in addition to out lesbian former
gubernatorial candidate Cynthia
Nixon.
Among other queer candidates
competing in state races on
June 23 included out transgender
Westchester County Assembly
candidate Kristen Browde, who
would be the fi rst out trans lawmaker
in New York State history.
She is less than three points — or
130 votes — behind top vote-getter
Out gay State Senate hopeful Jabari Brisport is 11 points ahead as he awaits the results of absentee
ballots that will not be counted until next week.
Chris Burdick in the 93rd District
heading into the fi nal count of absentee
ballots.
Some new queer candidates in
races for the New York State Legislature
struggled to make noise
at all. Out queer Assembly hopeful
Genesis E. Aquino only garnered
nine percent and is in fourth place
in her bid to unseat incumbent Felix
W. Ortiz, who has 37.87 percent
of the vote in the 51st Assembly
District.
Pending the results of absentee
ballots, none of the queer incumbents
who faced challengers appear
to be in danger of being unseated
in their re-election bids. Out
gay State Senator Brad Hoylman
has amassed a 27-point advantage
over his opponent, Elizabeth G.
Glass, and out gay Rochester-area
Assemblymember Harry B. Bronson
is leading his challenger, Alex
R. Yudelson, by 19.63 points.
Out gay Assemblymember Daniel
O’Donnell and out lesbian Assemblymember
Deborah Glick,
both of Manhattan, did not face
any primary challengers.
A vibrant slate of LGBTQ district
leader candidates were also
on ballots across the city on election
night. In Brooklyn, out queer
district leader candidate Samy
Nemir-Olivares, running in the
53rd Assembly District, has a 25.5
percent lead over his opponent,
Tommy Torres. Out queer district
leader candidate Jesse Pierce has
approximately a fi ve-point lead
over Rachel E. Stein in the 52nd
Assembly District.
In Queens, out transgender
district leader candidate Emilia
Decaudin, running in the 37th
Assembly District, Part A has a
six-point lead over her opponent,
Corrine K. Haynes-Wood.
Also in Queens, out gay district
leader candidate Zachariah Boyer
is trailing his opponent, Felix J.
Devito, by less than 300 votes in
Assembly District 36 Part B, but
Boyer encouraged his supporters
in a tweet on June 24 to “keep your
chin up” since “thousands” of mailin
ballots have yet to be counted.
Out trans district leader candidate
Melissa Sklarz, who unsuccessfully
challenged Queens Assemblymember
Brian Barnwell in
the last election cycle, is just 76
votes behind Melissa E. Blair in
District 30, Part B.
In the Bronx, Justin Westbrook-
Lowery, an out gay Black candidate
for district leader in Assembly District
87, is leading his opponent,
Garfi eld Holland, by 572 votes.
Beyond races for State Senate,
State Assembly, and district leader,
LGBTQ candidates also fared
well in congressional races. Out
gay City Councilmember Ritchie
Torres appears to have knocked
off his homophobic opponent, Ruben
Diaz, Sr., en route to a likely
spot on Capitol Hill, while out gay
congressional candidate Mondaire
Jones also ended the night with a
big lead in the 17th Congressional
District in Westchester County and
Rockland County.
MATT TRACY
PHOTO COURTESY OF KRISTEN BROWDE
Kristen Browde, an out trans candidate for Assembly
in Westchester, is within striking distance
of her opponent with numerous mail-in ballots
still uncounted.
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