NYC primary ranked choice results show Avella poised for win in Queens and Marmorato probable winner in the Bronx

Tightly contested primary races for two New York City Council districts — one in Queens and another in the Bronx — came one step closer to being settled Wednesday when the city’s Board of Elections released its preliminary ranked choice voting results.

Those results eliminate the candidate with the weakest showing in each race, and in races with only three candidates, the results narrowed it down to a likely winner.

Both the Democratic primary for Queens Council District 19 and the Republican contest for Bronx Council District 13 featured only three contenders, which means the picture of who will win became much clearer on Wednesday.

In the Queens district, which is currently occupied by Republican incumbent Councilwoman Vickie Paladino, it appeared that Tony Avella, a former Council member and state senator, will edge out Christopher Bae in the Democratic primary.

Now that ranked choice votes have been tabulated, Avella holds 51.1% of the vote, compared to Bae’s 48.9%. The results pave the way for Avella to face off against Paladino in November’s general election.

“Our campaign to take back this seat has only just begun,” Avella said in a written statement put out Wednesday afternoon. “We have the momentum and coalition to win, which is what we will do in November.”

In the closely contested Bronx Republican primary for the 13th district, Kristy Marmorato won 51.5% of the vote once ranked choice was factored in, a margin that will presumably give her the win against her next closest competitor George Havranek, who clocked 48.5% of the vote.

Marmorato also edged Havranek when it came to votes received on the Conservative party ballot line, scoring 54.1% of those votes, compared to Havranek’s 31.5%.

The incumbent in that district is Dem Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez.

Wednesday’s results represent the first stage of tabulating ballots in the ranked choice process. The next step will account for absentee ballots that have yet to be counted, as well as disputed ballots that may or may not have to be corrected as a result. The results of that next step are expected to be released by the Board of Elections on Tuesday, July 11.

Under the ranked choice system, voters can rank candidates in order of preference. If no one secures more than 50% from the No. 1 ranks, the candidate with the least support is eliminated. The No. 2 picks on ballots cast for the eliminated candidate are then added to the mix until a single candidate nets a majority of votes.

In two other closely fought races, candidates did manage to break the 50% threshold, but only slightly.

In the race for Council District 9 in Harlem, Yusef Salaam, who’s best known for being wrongly accused in the 1989 Central Park Five rape case, won 50.14% of the vote before ranked choice was factored in. With ranked choice, he currently leads that race with 63.8% of the vote, putting him well ahead of his closest competitor, Assemblywoman Inez Dickens, who 36.2%, and handed him a near certain win.

“This is a victory for justice, dignity and decency for the Harlem community we love,” Salaam said in a statement Wednesday. “Many doubted us along the way, but this was a campaign based on change, and the voters overwhelmingly agreed with our vision for a better, stronger and more tolerant community.”

Since there’s no Republican running for the seat, Salaam will become the next Council member repping District 9.

The ranked choice results also reinforced another presumptive win that would signal a change in the Council’s make up.

With RCV tallied, Councilman Charles Barron still appears on track to lose his primary to Chris Banks, who clocked 50.8% of the vote after ranked choice.