Winners & Losers
This week’s biggest Winners & Losers
Who’s up and who’s down this week?
It’s late autumn, the time of year when some New Yorkers spread their wings and look beyond the city. Flaco, the escaped Central Park Zoo owl, is looking beyond his home in Central Park in order to find a mate. New York City Council Member Sandy Nurse is looking to North Carolina, where her father Guillermo was just elected mayor of the city of Oxford. With the state Legislature in hibernation, state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins is looking to shape statehouses across the country. The chair of the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, Stewart-Cousins helped Democrats retain majorities in both houses of the New Jersey state Legislature and the Virginia Senate – and even retake control of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Kristy Marmorato -
In a surprise victory, Republican Kristy Marmorato has turned the tide in the Bronx as the likely first GOP council member from the borough in decades. Looks like it helps to have friends (or family members) in high places! Marmorato has received side eye for her political ties: her brother Michael Rendino is the Bronx Republican Party chair, her husband Gino Marmorato is the Bronx GOP commissioner for the New York City Board of Elections, and she has also been tied to numerous Trump supporters. But criticism didn’t stop her from leading incumbent Velázquez by 6 points, declaring her win.
Justin Brannan -
Democrat Justin Brannan lives to fight another day in the City Council. Brannan secured a decisive victory over Republican Council Member Ari Kagan Tuesday night, putting one of the more toxic matchups this election season in the rearview. Democrats from across the city showed up to celebrate Brannan’s win in Bay Ridge after polls closed, even as one Brooklyn Democrat conspicuously offered her congratulations remotely.
Susan Zhuang -
The newest City Council district is officially poised to welcome its new elected official – a victory that has historic implications as the seat was created to represent the city’s first Asian American council district. That’s Democrat Susan Zhuang, the chief of staff to state Assembly Member Bill Colton, who won decisively in southern Brooklyn against Republican Ying Tan despite speculation that the race would be highly competitive.
William Collins -
Maybe the ex-nun turned Niagara Falls mayor publicly feuding with her handpicked charter commission wasn’t Niagara County’s most bizarre political incident? First Niagara County Legislator William Collins was charged with criminal mischief for allegedly slashing a contractor’s tire outside a Lockport bar. Then the contractor called Collins a “coward” and said the damage cost him $8,000 earmarked for his grandchildren’s Christmas gifts. Now Republican Collins trails Democrat Carla Speranza by 19 votes.
Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn -
In theory, it should have been a good night for the chair of the Brooklyn Democrats. After all, her candidates won. Well – not if you consider Democrat-turned-Republican Ari Kagan her candidate. Bichotte Hermelyn may not have endorsed Kagan, but that didn’t stop him from sharing an email blast she put out criticizing the actual Democrat in the race. Bichotte Hermelyn doubled down on her criticism, but denounced that campaign material as fake, even though it had her own words printed on the GOP flier. Not to mention that the candidate she booked it all the way to the Bronx for – rather than staying local to help Brannan – also lost.
Jay Jacobs -
The state Democratic Party chair must have been disheartened to see his home turf go red Tuesday night. While poor election day performance on Long Island might not be indicative of a state-wide issue for the party, Jay Jacobs has to wonder where Democrats in Nassau and Suffolk Counties go from here. With 2024 right around the corner and a packed field trying to unseat Rep. George Santos, he might need to figure that out soon.
NEXT STORY: State Sen. Pete Harckham on 2024 priorities