Phara Souffrant Forrest Wins In NY's 57th Assembly District

Updated 2 p.m., Wednesday

BROOKLYN, NY — Democratic nominee Phara Souffrant Forrest has beat out incumbent Assembly Member Walter Mosley for the second time and will officially represent Brooklyn's 57th Assembly District, according to results from NY1.

Forrest brought in more than 31,000, or about 74 percent of, the votes in Tuesday's general election, according to the news outlet. Her win was officially called Wednesday afternoon.

The win is the second time Forrest has beaten Mosley — who appeared on the Working Families Party Line in the general election after losing in the Democratic primary. He held about 26 percent of the vote Tuesday.

The results do not include absentee ballots, which the BOE will begin counting next week.

The unusual move from Mosley to run under WFP comes despite the Working Family Party itself officially endorsing Forrest after Mosley conceded the primary.

Forrest is among many candidates backed by the Democratic Socialists of America who ousted incumbents this year. She urged support for the DSA when thanking the district for her win late Tuesday.

"Thank you to the people of the 57th Assembly District for trusting me to be your next Assemblymember," she Tweeted. "When I go to Albany in January, I’ll need a movement behind me to fight for the future we all deserve. Join that movement by joining DSA."

The 57th district includes Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill and parts of Bed-Stuy.

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.

This article originally appeared on the Bed-Stuy Patch