In looking at the final results from primary day several thoughts can come from the voting. Yes the Bronx Democratic County organization had a Clean Sweep of the contested races that were contained entirely in the Bronx. In the one Manhattan/Bronx council race everyone was the winner since current City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is term-limited out of office, and gone.
Mayor Bill de Blasio while he won only received three out of every four votes against a field of nobody's. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. was most impressive by getting the results expected by blasting both his opponents combined by almost the percentage that the mayor received. However Diaz Jr. may have been the only good thing for the County organization with the exception of no primaries in the 11th, 15th, and 16th council districts.
Incumbents won their races where primaries occurred. Incumbent 17th Councilman Rafael Salamanca did the best with 73 percent of the vote in his one on one race with Helen Hines who received 27 percent of the vote. In the 12th Council district incumbent Councilman Andy King won with 69 percent of the vote over two opponents. However the third incumbent 14th district Councilman Fernando Cabrera was only able to pick up 55 percent of the vote with his second place finisher Randy Abreau picking up 35 percent of the vote, with 10 percent going to 86th A.D. based Felix Perdomo.
The county organization seemed to have problems in the two open council districts. While Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. received 86 percent of the vote, in the 18th council district his father Ruben Diaz Sr. won a five person race with only 42 percent of the vote. Second was Amanda Faris 21 percent, third Elvin Garcia 15 percent, fourth Michael Beltzer 14 percent, and fifth William Moore at 9 percent.
The hottest race this primary was in the 13th council district, which I said back in January right after Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj announced he was running would be. In this race it was much closer than expected (even by me), as Assemblyman Gjonaj won with 39 percent of the vote (which I had projected he would get), coming in second was Marjorie Velazquez with 34 percent, third John Doyle with 19 percent, fourth Victor Ortiz with 5 percent, and fifth Egidio Sementilli with 3 percent.
In the 13th council race several things happened including the return to the primary ballot of one candidate (of two) who were knocked off, which sparked charges of fraud on the challenger of that candidate after some testimony by said challenger. It also made the record books with the amount of money spent by one candidate, of which the total figure has not yet been recorded by the Campaign Finance Board.
On to the general election, and in every council district except the 13 the Democratic candidate will cruise to a victory. Since the number two and three finishers from the Democratic primary have minor party lines it is not known yet what their presence on the November ballot will do to the Democratic candidate. This is also the one Bronx council district which has the largest concentration of Republican/Conservative voters also. It should make for an interesting November election, at least in the 13th council district.
The county organization seemed to have problems in the two open council districts. While Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. received 86 percent of the vote, in the 18th council district his father Ruben Diaz Sr. won a five person race with only 42 percent of the vote. Second was Amanda Faris 21 percent, third Elvin Garcia 15 percent, fourth Michael Beltzer 14 percent, and fifth William Moore at 9 percent.
The hottest race this primary was in the 13th council district, which I said back in January right after Assemblyman Mark Gjonaj announced he was running would be. In this race it was much closer than expected (even by me), as Assemblyman Gjonaj won with 39 percent of the vote (which I had projected he would get), coming in second was Marjorie Velazquez with 34 percent, third John Doyle with 19 percent, fourth Victor Ortiz with 5 percent, and fifth Egidio Sementilli with 3 percent.
In the 13th council race several things happened including the return to the primary ballot of one candidate (of two) who were knocked off, which sparked charges of fraud on the challenger of that candidate after some testimony by said challenger. It also made the record books with the amount of money spent by one candidate, of which the total figure has not yet been recorded by the Campaign Finance Board.
On to the general election, and in every council district except the 13 the Democratic candidate will cruise to a victory. Since the number two and three finishers from the Democratic primary have minor party lines it is not known yet what their presence on the November ballot will do to the Democratic candidate. This is also the one Bronx council district which has the largest concentration of Republican/Conservative voters also. It should make for an interesting November election, at least in the 13th council district.
