LGBTQ candidates ranging from incumbents to newcomers competed in a range of primary election contests across the city on June 23 — and many of them won, particularly in state-based races, according to unofficial results.
Notably, all of the LGBTQ incumbents seeking re-election in New York City won their primary races. Out gay Brooklyn State Senator Jabari Brisport easily won his primary in the 25th District, defeating challenger Marlon Rice by more than 50 points. In the Assembly’s 75th District, out incumbent Tony Simone also glided to victory over his primary race over challenger Emily YueXin Miller.
Meanwhile, in a pair of related races, out Queens Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas successfully mounted a primary challenge against State Senator Jessica Ramos in the 13th District, winning by more than 1,000 votes, while González-Rojas’ out former chief of staff, Brian Romero, who has a social work background, won the race to fill his old boss’ seat in District 34.
“We did it!!!” Romero wrote on X on election night. “Thank you to everyone who helped us win this. I’m ready to serve the people of the 34th AD with everything I’ve got!”
In Queens’ 38th Assembly District, out candidate David Orkin defeated incumbent Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. Orkin had a 58-40% lead over Rajkumar the morning after election day.
In Manhattan, Illapa Sairitupac, also an out social worker running in the 65th Assembly District, eked out a win in a very crowded field against five other candidates. Sairitupac previously ran for the same Assembly seat in 2022.
Out queer former state lawmaker Yuh-Line Niou struggled in her bid to return to office, losing to Grace Lee by more than 20 points in the 27th District.
Some races remained close the day after the election. David Siffert, a non-binary candidate running to replace out Assemblymember Deborah Glick in Manhattan’s 66th Assembly District, had 27.24% of the vote — less than 1% behind Jeannine Kiely, who had 27.61%. A gay candidate in that race, Ryder Kessler, trailed further behind with 22.68%.
In Congressional races, out incumbent Ritchie Torres of the Bronx had no difficulty winning his primary in the 15th District, defeating former Assemblymember Michael Blake by about 50 points. A third candidate, Jose Vega, registered just under 6% of the vote.
In the race for the 12th Congressional District, Assemblymember Micah Lasher beat a crowded field that included multiple out candidates, including Nina Schwalbe, who pulled in 7%, and Laura Dunn, who had about 1% of the vote. Another out candidate, Micah Bergdale, who participated alongside other candidates in the Stonewall Democratic Club of New York City’s May 1 forum, did not make it on the ballot.
In a written statement following her defeat, Schwalbe said her campaign “proved that voters in NY-12 are hungry for a candidate with real expertise and a real plan.” While Schwalbe finished in a distant fourth place, she finished ahead of George Conway, the former husband of Kellyanne Conway.
In the City Council’s District 3, recently-elected Councilmember Carl Wilson won his primary, as well. His former rival, Lindsey Boylman, remained on the ballot and still managed to draw nearly 6,000 votes, shy of Wilson’s 7,700+ votes, as of June 24.
