
By Gus Saltonstall
Polls closed Election Day at 9 p.m. on Tuesday in New York City.
Democrat Micah Lasher was declared the winner of New York’s 12th Congressional District, which includes the Upper West Side and Upper East Side, over Republican Caroline Shinkle around 10:05 p.m., according to the New York Times.
- Lasher: 77 percent (180,180 votes) – Winner
- Shinkle: 19.5 percent (46,660 votes)
- Karen Ortiz (I): 1.2 percent (2,375 votes)
- Wilneida Negron (I): 1 percent (1,946 votes)
The Times declared Lasher as the winner with around 50 percent of the votes counted.
“I have been involved and have seen generations of elected leaders represent this neighborhood,” Lasher told the Rag on Tuesday. “The notion that, at the end of his extraordinary time in office, I’m now going to represent this most amazing community is overwhelming and a privilege of a lifetime. That is a phrase that gets thrown around in politics and is really apt in this circumstance for me.”
For those who live in the northern portion of the Upper West Side or in Morningside Heights, Democrat Darializa Avila Chevalier was also declared the winner against Republican Manuel Williams in Congressional District 13 by a margin of 89 percent to 9 percent, voting results from The New York Times shows.
The headliner race across the state of New York is for governor, where incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul was immediately declared the winner by the New York Times against Republican Bruce Blakeman.
Here are the results as of 10:05 p.m., according The New York Times.
- Hochul: 66 percent (2,488,368 votes) — Winner
- Blakeman: 24 percent (1,270,038 votes)
Elsewhere on the Upper West Side, Democrat Erik Bottcher defeated Republican Charlotte Friedman by a margin of 87 percent to 12 percent as of 9:07 p.m., according to the New York Times. Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal is running unopposed in the 67th District, as is Eli Northrup in Assembly District 69, who will take office for the first time.
“It takes so much work. It is very, very hard to bring yourself from a civilian to running for office. It’s a huge challenge. So many people go into it,” Northrup told West Side Rag outside of a polling site on Tuesday. “People who believe in you and help you and volunteer. Your family. Your friends. People who make sacrifices. For me, it was running a losing race at first. I want to remind myself this is an enormous accomplishment and responsibility to represent this community. Maybe it will sink in tonight.”
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Congrats Governor Hochul on your landslide victory!
Now we once again get to ponder the age old question of why despite the massive support Hochul has from NY and UWS voters, the WSR comments are 80% Republicans… Truly a mystery.