The results are rolling in for the 2021 Democratic primary election -- the first in the city using ranked-choice voting -- and although we won't know the official results for weeks as votes continue to be tallied, a few things are clear.
Eric Adams, the current Brooklyn Borough President, has so far pulled in the most first-choice votes for mayor with 31.6%. He is followed by Maya Wiley with 22.2% and Kathryn Garcia 19.5%.
And for Brooklyn Borough President, Councilmember Antonio Reynoso currently sits in the lead with 22.2% of the vote, followed by Councilmember Robert Cornegy with 19.2% and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon with 17.6%.
These early results include vote counts of first-choice candidates from in-person and early voting, but not absentee and affidavit ballots.
For the early voting period, the New York City Board of Elections (BOE) reported unofficially that 191,197 voters cast a ballot. Brooklyn led the way among the boroughs, accounting for 65,516 of the ballots. And on Election Day, in-person voter turnout was reportedly low across the city.
Under the ranked-choice voting election method, officials counted only first-choice votes right away. If a candidate won more than 50% of the first-choice votes in the first round, they would be declared the winner.
Meanwhile, the last-place candidate gets eliminated and votes for them are redistributed to the voter's second ranked candidate. The process continues in elimination rounds until there are just two candidates left. The candidate with the most votes wins.
BOE plans to reveal the first round of ranked-choice results on June 29, with updated results once a week after that, as it counts absentee ballots. The July 6 report is expected to include some absentee ballots. However, they expect to release a more complete report by July 12.
Here are the early BOE results for the first-round leaders in the City Council districts covered by BK Reader
City Council District 34
Williamsburg, Bushwick
Jennifer Gutierrez 79.74%
Scott Murphy 8.41%
Council District 35
Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights, Bedford Stuyvesant
Crystal Hudson 38.49%
Michael Hollingsworth 34.45%
City Council District 36
Bedford Stuyvesant, Northern Crown Heights
Chi Ossé 37.23%
Henry Butler 22.86%
Tahirah Moore 22.85%
Council District 37
Cypress Hills, Bushwick, City Line, Ocean Hill, Brownsville, East New York
Sandy Nurse 51.58%
Darma Diaz 24.04%
City Council District 40
Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, Kensington, Midwood, Prospect Park, and Prospect Lefferts Gardens
Rita Joseph 25.23%
Josue Pierre 20.31%
Kenya Handy-Hilliard 19.19%
City Council District 41
Bedford-Stuyvesant, Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East Flatbush, Crown Heights
Darlene Mealy 57.30%
Alicka Ampry-Samuel 42.10%
City Council District 42
East New York, New Lots, Remsen Village, Spring Creek, Starrett City
Charles Barron 47.38%
Nikki Lucas 36.77%
City Council District 45
Flatbush, East Flatbush, Midwood, Marine Park, Flatlands, Kensington
Farah Louis 75.57%
Anthony Beckford 19.67%