Six Queer Candidates Poised to Win Council Primaries
But LGBTQ competitors in citywide, boroughwide contests fall short
BY MATT TRACY
Queer candidates faltered
in citywide and
boroughwide competitions,
but six LGBTQ
City Council hopefuls across Manhattan,
Queens, and Brooklyn appear
to be in position to win their
Democratic primary races and expand
the LGBT Caucus in historic
fashion.
The City Council contests were
critical to boosting and diversifying
an LGBT caucus consisting entirely
of men — and the importance
of queer representation became
even greater after the fi ve-member
LGBT Caucus shrank to four when
Ritchie Torres left his Bronx Council
seat to succeed José E. Serrano
in the 15th Congressional District.
Following the New York City
Board of Elections’ latest unoffi cial
results — with ranked-choice and
absentee ballots factored in — the
LGBTQ candidates leading on election
night remained on top by July
6 and out lesbian candidate Kristin
Richardson Jordan of Manhattan’s
District 9 had a narrow lead
over incumbent Councilmember
Bill Perkins, though the results are
not yet certifi ed.
Jordan cleared the 50 percent
threshold and clung to a 100-vote
advantage over Perkins after all the
ranked-choice rounds, putting her
on the verge of history. Jordan and
out Brooklyn Council candidate
Crystal Hudson — who defeated
Michael Hollingsworth in District
35 by more than 2,400 votes —
would be the fi rst out LGBTQ Black
women elected to the City Council.
“H.A.R.L.E.M! We disrupted the
district with #RadicalLove and
broke the machine! Our community
has been sold out by the establishment
and we’re ready for
change & new leadership,” Jordan
wrote in a tweet after the latest results
were announced on July 6.
“We’re reviving Harlem’s Black radical
history and putting the service
back in public service.”
Hudson also chimed in on Twitter
shortly after 7 p.m. on July 6,
writing, “We won! Together, we
Council candidate Kristin Richardson Jordan jumped out to a 100-vote edge over incumbent Bill Perkins
in Harlem.
built the biggest, broadest, & most
diverse coalition to champion a vision
of equity, justice, and dignity
for all of our neighbors… From
NYCHA residents to new tenants
to long-time homeowners, we have
reached every corner of our district
& brought people together across
class, culture, faith & generations.
And together we are making history:
I will be the fi rst openly gay
Black woman elected in NYC.”
History was also made in
Queens, where out candidates Tiffany
Cabán of District 22 and Lynn
Schulman of District of District 29
remained in front and emerged as
clear winners in their Democratic
primary bids to become the fi rst
out LGBTQ women to represent
the borough in the City Council.
Cabán’s victory followed her narrow
defeat in the 2019 race for Queens
district attorney, while Schulman
overcame multiple losses in previous
City Council campaigns.
In a city with an overwhelming
Democratic advantage, most
of these races are not expected to
be competitive in the general election
competitions later this year.
TWITTER/KRISTIN4HARLEM
Should the primary results hold,
women are now on track to represent
a majority of the LGBT Caucus
following an election cycle that
saw signifi cant gains in gender diversity
across the City Council.
In Brooklyn, out queer candidate
Chi Ossé — just 23 years old
— easily won his primary race in
the 36th District to succeed Robert
Cornegy in the City Council. Ossé
is set to be the fi rst out LGBTQ
Black person elected to city offi ce
from Brooklyn and he follows in
the footsteps of Councilmember
Carlos Menchaca as the only out
LGBTQ councilmember to represent
the most populous borough in
New York City.
Erik Bottcher, running to replace
his former boss, out gay
Speaker Corey Johnson, secured
a landslide victory in District 3 on
election night and came away with
71.5 percent of the vote following
seven rounds of ranked-choice
voting. Bottcher will be the fourth
consecutive out LGBTQ person to
represent the district, following
Thomas Duane, Christine Quinn,
and Johnson.
POLITICS
Also in Manhattan, out gay
State Senator Brad Hoylman fell
short in his quest to become the
fi rst out gay borough president,
as Councilmember Mark Levine
hauled in nearly 100,000 votes to
win that primary race. Out gay
Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer
fi nished in a distant third place
in his own campaign for borough
president in Queens, where incumbent
Donovan Richards just barely
staved off a challenge from former
city lawmaker Elizabeth Crowley.
The spotlight in the citywide
races was placed squarely on the
Democratic primary for mayor,
which saw Brooklyn Borough
President Eric Adams declare victory
over former Sanitation commissioner
Kathryn Garcia in a
nail-biter. But in the hotly contested
race for comptroller, Brooklyn
Councilmember Brad Lander won
his race against out gay Council
Speaker Corey Johnson, who will
be leaving offi ce in January due to
term limits.
Several other LGBTQ candidates
ran unsuccessful campaigns
for City Council seats across the
city, including Josue Pierre, Jacqui
Painter, and Wilfredo Florentino of
Brooklyn; Marti Allen-Cummings,
Jeffrey Omura, Chris Sosa, Phelan
Dante Fitzpatrick, and Billy Freeland
of Manhattan; and Amit Bagga,
Aleda F. Gagarin, and Alfonso
Quiroz of Queens. As of the most
recent numbers, out Queens Civil
Court candidate Michael Goldman
is trailing in his bid to be the fi rst
out gay judge elected in Queens.
The City Council will continue to
lack transgender and non-binary
representation, though there were
historic campaigns mounted recently
by candidates such as Allen-
Cummings, Alejandra Caraballo of
Brooklyn, and Elisa Crespo of the
Bronx.
All the current out LGBTQ councilmembers
— with the exception
of Daniel Dromm of Queens — ran
for other seats, but only Torres
emerged victorious. Menchaca unsuccessfully
ran for mayor and the
others lost their Democratic primary
races this past month.
GayCityNews.com | JULY 15 - JULY 28, 2021 5
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