U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez Holds Strong Lead In NY's 7th District
Updated 9:32 p.m.
BROOKLYN, NY — Polls have closed across New York City and results rolling in for Brooklyn's 7th Congressional District show a strong lead for incumbent U.S. Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
Velazquez held nearly 85 percent of the vote as of 9:32 p.m. with all districts reporting their results, according to the New York Board of Elections. Velazquez, who is in her 14th term serving the district, faced two challengers, Republican Brian Kelly and Libertarian candidate Gilbert Midonnet.
The results do not include absentee ballots, which the BOE will begin counting next week.
The general election race comes after Velazquez defeated Paperboy Prince, a rap star with a devotion to former presidential candidate Andrew Yang, in the Democratic primary. Velazquez's 7,000 votes beat out Paperboy Prince's 1,492.
Serving first in the 12th Congressional District, which was then redistricted in 2012, Velazquez was the first Puerto Rican woman elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992.
She pointed to the coronavirus pandemic as the top priority should she win a 15th term.
"This is truly an inflection point for our City and for the nation, as we are grappling with a once-in-a-century global pandemic and its devastating health and economic toll on hardworking families," Velazquez said in a candidate profile submitted to Patch.
"I am running because the urgency of the issues that I have spent my career fighting for—affordable housing, access to health care, worker's protections and rights— has been further laid bare in this crisis."
The 7th District includes Sunset Park, Red Hook, Gowanus, Bushwick and parts of Fort Greene, Williamsburg, Park Slope, Queens and Chinatown in Manhattan.
Velazquez's challengers did not respond to requests from Patch to fill out their candidate profile questionnaire and have no campaign websites that Patch could find.
Kelly has also run for City Council, the state senate and state assembly in past elections, according to the nonprofit Ballotpedia.
Before Election Day, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers had already cast their votes as the coronavirus crisis prompted an unprecedented level of mail-in and early voting.
Brooklyn saw the most early voters of any borough, with more than 373,000 people in the borough casting their ballots before Tuesday despite hours-long lines at overloaded poll sites. Mail-in ballots also went out to a large number of Brooklynites, albeit with some problems due to a printing error.
Some long lines and other polling site issues continued into Election Day, though most voters reported smooth sailing at the polls.
Velazquez's race was one of two congressional races in Brooklyn Patch is following closely. Check out results for the 9th Congressional District, where Rep. Yvette Clarke is seeking a fourth term, here.
The 9th Congressional District includes Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay and more.
This story will be updated as results come in, refresh the page.
This article originally appeared on the Park Slope Patch
