Abreu Ahead in District 7 Race

In the very crowded 12-candidate race for City Council District 7, Shaun Abreu is leading after the initial first-choice votes were counted following Tuesday’s primary contest.

Abreu, who is the incumbent Council Member Mark Levine’s pick to succeed him, holds 27.4 percent of the vote before absentee ballots and ranked choice votes have been factored in, according to NY1. Ranked choice tabulation could begin as early as Tuesday, June 29, but final certified results may not be available until mid-July. As of press time Monday, Abreu was positioned to be the next representative for parts of the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights and Washington Heights.

Marti Allen-Cummings trailed Abreu by a little more than 3,000 votes, carrying 11.9 percent of the vote before ranked choice tabulation. Following Allen-Cummings was Maria Ordonez with 11.6 percent, Daniel Cohen with 11 percent, and Stacy Lynch with 10.1 percent.

It’s not over yet, but Abreu is confident he’ll be next District 7 Council Member.

“They said that the son of Dominican immigrants couldn’t win on the Upper West Side. But we will. Because we ran a campaign that welcomed everyone,” Abreu said in a tweet Wednesday morning. “We’re waiting for the remaining votes to be counted, but we aren’t waiting to celebrate.

Coalition Strategy

Despite his characterization, Abreu was seen as a favorite in the race. In fact, five of his opponents, including Allen-Cummings, Ordonez, Cohen, Lynch and Cory Ortega, formed a coalition of sorts, urging the voters to rank them all by preference on their ballots – leaving Abreu out. It was a strategy adopted by candidates in a few Manhattan Council races – though it doesn’t seem as though it’s been a fruitful strategy in the other races. If voters bought into this coalition, Abreu could be in for a surprise once the ranked choice votes are tabulated.

Cohen was optimistic that the coalition would pull through.

“So preliminary results are in. The RCV coalition has more than HALF the total vote reported,” Cohen said in a tweet Wednesday. “If our votes stay within the coalition and roll up to one candidate, 1 of the 5 will win. We won’t know for a while if that occurs, fingers crossed!”

Allen-Cummings, who used they/them pronouns, too was still confident about their chances once all of the votes are counted.

“We are currently holding in 2nd place,” Allen-Cummings said in a tweet Wednesday. “In the coming weeks Rank Choice Voting will be tabulated and we feel strongly our campaign will come out on top when all the votes are counted!”

They were adamant that people should wait until all of the votes are counted before predicting a victor.

Likewise, Ordonez seemed encourage by her standing in the race Wednesday morning.

“It’s not over yet! We are in 3rd place now with slim margins to get through, and it’s just Round 1!” Ordonez said in a tweet Wednesday. “This is only the beginning of our movement and we will keep pushing forward!”