New York 2022 Assembly primary election results

The governor and lieutenant governor primary races might have taken center stage on Tuesday night, but this year’s Democratic primaries included several dozen competitive Assembly races too, and it was another election year that tested just how far left-leaning candidates could go in the state’s lower legislative chamber.

As initial results started to come in, some of the progressive challengers appeared to be off to a rocky start, with several of the left-wing insurgents backed by the Working Families Party and the Democratic Socialists of America falling behind incumbents or more moderate opponents. As City & State reported earlier this month, progressive candidates were expected to have a tougher time achieving upset victories this year. After all,  the 2018 and 2020 elections demonstrated that incumbents shouldn’t underestimate progressives.The results reported on Tuesday night still don’t include all the absentee ballots that will be counted – but it seemed that few, if any, races were close enough that mailed-in votes could be decisive. 

Initial results showed several of the incumbent Assembly members in contested primaries with comfortable leads or even projected wins. Just before midnight, The Associated Press called races for Assembly Members Jeffrey Dinowitz and Michael Benedetto in the Bronx, Angelo Santabarbara in Schenectady, and Deborah Glick and Inez Dickens in Manhattan. 

But progressives had some reason for hope on Tuesday night. The early tallies had progressive challenger Sarahana Shrestha locked in a close race with Assembly Member Kevin Cahill, with Shrestha showing a slight lead just before midnight. Meanwhile, Westchester County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky, who had establishment and WFP backing, held a comfortable lead over incumbent Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti.

And in one of the chamber’s open races, WFP-endorsed candidate Juan Ardila held an early lead against several opponents, including Johanna Carmona, who is backed by the Queens district’s outgoing representative, Cathy Nolan.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams endorsed Dickens, Benedetto and Dilan, who had challengers backed by the Working Families Party and in some cases, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Other Adams-backed candidates fared well, including Assembly Members Nikki Lucas, who won her race by a large margin, and Eddie Gibbs, who maintained a comfortable lead on Tuesday night. But another of Adams’ endorsed candidates, Hercules Reid, was significantly behind Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman – who beat Reid in a special election last month – a few hours after the polls closed.

Elsewhere, incumbents weren’t faring so well, with Assembly Member José Rivera significantly behind George Alvarez, who was backed by Reps. Ritchie Torres and Adriano Espaillat in the Bronx. Assembly Member Ron Kim, facing a challenge from the right, maintained only a slight lead over Kenneth Chiu.

The projected winners are bolded below. Numbers come from the state Board of Elections, and may not add up to 100% because blank and voided ballots are reflected in the tally but are not included here.

District 24

Queens

Assembly Member David Weprin: 62.79%

Mizanur Choudhury: 15.87%

Albert Baldeo: 14.84%

With 75 of 75 election districts reporting

District 28

Queens

Assembly Member Andrew Hevesi: 65.17%

Ethan Felder: 29.36%

With 71 of 71 election districts reporting

District 32

Queens

Assembly Member Vivian Cook: 55.41%

Anthony Andrews Jr.: 41.83%

With 71 of 71 election districts reporting

Jamaica Assembly Member Vivian Cook held on against York College administrator and progressive Anthony Andrews Jr. – despite Andrews pulling some major endorsements over the incumbent, including District Council 37 and the Working Families Party. The race has been a heated one for the longtime lawmaker. She was a political mentor to Andrews, who had previously served on her ticket as a district leader. 

District 35

Queens

Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubry: 57.96%

Hiram Monserrate: 35.74%

With 74 of 74 election districts reporting

Hiram Monserrate failed to make a political comeback yet again on Tuesday night, as Assembly Member Jeffrion Aubry pulled off an easy victory against the ex-state senator. But it wasn’t all bad news for Monserrate, who was reelected to his district leader position in the 35th Assembly District. 

District 37

Queens

Juan Ardila: 42.08%

Brent O’Leary: 25.32%

Johanna Carmona: 19.04%

Jim Magee: 9.92%

With 82 of 82 election districts reporting

WFP-backed candidate Juan Ardila looks primed to replace retiring Assembly Member Cathy Nolan in Queens. A former staffer for then-New York City Council Member Brad Lander and former consultant at the city Department of Education, Ardila was bolstered by high-profile endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. Nolan’s preferred successor, Johanna Carmona, who was also supported by Queens County Democratic leader Rep. Gregory Meeks, was in a distant third place, trailing also O’Leary, an attorney who ran for City Council last year. 

District 40

Queens

Assembly Member Ron Kim: 50.54%

Kenneth Chiu: 44.42%

With 62 of 62 election districts reporting

As one of the chamber’s longer serving left-leaning members, Assembly Member Ron Kim’s name recognition has grown since becoming an enemy of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration, but that hasn’t stopped Kenneth Chiu, founder of the New York City Asian American Democratic Club, from giving Kim a run for his money. Initial results on Tuesday night showed Chiu, who ran against Assembly Member Nily Rozic in 2020, just 221 votes behind Kim. Chiu, who is Chinese, hoped to win support from the community over Kim, who is Korean. He also ran on a more conservative platform, focusing on violent crime and tightening the state’s recently amended bail law.

District 46

Brooklyn

Assembly Member Mathylde Frontus: 60.82%

Dionne Brown-Jordan: 31.79%

With 81 of 81 election districts reporting

District 54

Brooklyn

Assembly Member Erik Martin Dilan: 50.50%

Samy Nemir Olivares: 46.40%

With 57 of 57 election districts reporting

With several progressive insurgent candidates underperforming on Tuesday night, LGBTQ activist Samy Nemir Olivares was one of the few who appeared within striking distance of the incumbent. State Sen. Julia Salazar defeated the Assembly Member’s father, Martin Malavé Dilan, in 2018 with DSA’s support. Nemir Olivares, who was also endorsed by the DSA and the WFP, was hoping to do the same, but seems to have fallen short. With all election districts reporting in-person votes as of Wednesday morning, Dilan had a lead of 190 votes.

District 57

Brooklyn

Assembly Member Phara Souffrant Forrest: 63.90%

Olanike Alabi: 30.97%

With 71 of 71 election districts reporting

District 58

Brooklyn

Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman: 62.44%

Hercules Reid: 33.11%

With 64 of 64 election districts reporting

While candidates backed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams generally had a good night, Hercules Reid – a former staffer in Brooklyn Borough Hall and mayor’s office – again failed to beat Assembly Member Monique Chandler-Waterman in a rematch from last month’s special election.

District 60

Brooklyn

Assembly Member Nikki Lucas: 70.08%

Keron Alleyne: 26.45%

With 59 of 59 election districts reporting

Assembly Member Nikki Lucas was one of several Adams-backed incumbents to handily fend off challenges from progressive insurgents on Tuesday night. Opponent Keron Alleyne, endorsed by the WFP, DSA and Ocasio-Cortez, was unsuccessful in his attempted rematch with Lucas, who won the East New York seat back in February, following Charles Barron’s move to the City Council.

District 65

Manhattan

Grace Lee: 46.40%

Illapa Sairitupac: 33.12%

Denny Salas: 12.65%

Alana Sivin: 2.90%

With 70 of 70 election districts reporting

Assembly Member Yuh-Line Niou’s congressional run opened up her Lower Manhattan Assembly district for a competitive primary with several candidates who are immigrants or children of immigrants. Grace Lee – an entrepreneur backed by Reps. Jerry Nadler, Grace Meng and Hakeem Jeffries – declared victory with a lead of nearly 1300 votes. She had tried to unseat Niou just two years ago. In second place is social worker Illapa Sairitupac, who was backed by the DSA.

District 66

Manhattan

Assembly Member Deborah Glick: 67.04%

Ryder Kessler: 28.92%

With 77 of 77 election districts reporting

District 68

Manhattan

Assembly Member Eddie Gibbs: 32.97%

John Ruiz Miranda: 22.82%

Tamika Mapp: 17.12%

Wilfredo López: 16.36%

With 80 of 80 election districts reporting

In a January special election, Eddie Gibbs became the first state legislator to be elected after serving time in prison, and initial results from Tuesday show that he has a good shot at keeping that seat with a comfortable lead over his opponents. In second place is John Ruiz Miranda, a largely self-funded theater producer and district leader. Wilfredo López, a WFP-backed former staffer for former Council Member Ben Kallos, trails in fourth place.

District 70

Manhattan

Assembly Member Inez Dickens: 56.49%

Delsenia Glover: 28.43%

Shawanna Vaughn: 9.44%

With 75 of 75 election districts reporting

Toppling a political dynasty is no easy task in New York, as challengers Delsenia Glover and Shawanna Vaughn learned in their bid to unseat Assembly Member Inez Dickens. Glover, a housing activist who had support from the WFP and a respectable campaign war chest, fell short to Dickens, who ran with much more money and support from the likes of Mayor Eric Adams and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie.

District 73

Manhattan

Alex Bores: 26.51%

Adam Roberts: 22.59%

Russell Squire: 18.45%

Kellie Leeson: 18.43%

May Malik: 5.85%

With 70 of 70 election districts reporting

Democratic District Leader and labor-favorite Alex Bores leads in a tight race to replace retiring Assembly Member Dan Quart, and while there are many absentee ballots that haven’t been counted yet, Bores’ 447 vote lead on primary night was big enough that the candidate in second place, policy director Adam Roberts, conceded the race. Squire, a district leader who ran on a more conservative platform, and Kellie Leeson, who had WFP’s endorsement, both trailed.

District 75

Manhattan

Tony Simone: 34.10%

Layla Law-Gisiko: 24.70%

Harrison Douglas Marks: 16.93%

Christopher LeBron: 12.17%

Lowell Kern: 1.97%

With 69 of 69 election districts reporting

It looks like Dick Gottfried, the Assembly’s longest serving member, will leave yet another mark on his West Side district, as his preferred successor Tony Simone has a comfortable lead of nearly 1,000 votes and was fielding congratulatory messages just a few hours after polls closed.

District 78

Bronx

George Alvarez: 44.69%

Assembly Member José Rivera: 26.60%

Emmanuel Martinez: 22.97%

With 52 of 52 election districts reporting

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again,” is a lesson George Alvarez took to heart as a perennial candidate in a handful of Assembly and New York City Council races in the Bronx, but the information technology consultant appears set to finally benefit from that tenacity – and a new, powerful supporter in Rep. Adriano Espaillat. The results on Tuesday night, not counting absentee ballots, showed Alvarez with a significant lead over Assembly Member José Rivera. Rivera was first elected in 2000, but has clashed with the chamber's leadership.

District 81

Bronx

Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz: 60.84%

Jessica Altagracia Woolford: 36.67%

With 65 of 65 election districts reporting

District 82

Bronx

Assembly Member Michael Benedetto: 54.88%

Jonathan Soto: 35.22%

Algernon Quattlebaum: 7.54%

With 84 of 84 election districts reporting

Progressives put their hopes in Jonathan Soto, a former aide to Ocasio-Cortez, to unseat Assembly Member Michael Benedetto, but the longtime lawmaker easily fended off that challenge on Tuesday night. The Bronx Assembly race was yet another contest in which Ocasio-Cortez (who endorsed Soto) went head-to-head with Mayor Eric Adams (who endorsed Benedetto), and Adams’ pick came out on top.

District 84

Bronx

Assembly Member Amanda Septimo: 45.15%

Alberto Torres: 31.70%

Hector Feliciano: 13.37%

With 68 of 68 election districts reporting

District 92

Westchester County

MaryJane Shimsky: 53.10%

Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti: 43.56%

With 117 of 127 election districts reporting

Westchester County Legislator MaryJane Shimsky had an impressive lead of more than 800 votes late Tuesday night, and declared victory Wednesday afternoon over the long-serving Assembly Member Thomas Abinanti. Shimsky was backed by the Westchester County Democratic Committee and the Working Families Party, and may be one of the few WFP-backed candidates who sees success in a competitive race.

District 95

Westchester and Putnam counties

Dana Levenberg: 44.34%

Vanessa Agudelo: 34.26%

Colin Smith: 18.95%

With 98 of 109 election districts reporting

District 103

Dutchess and Ulster counties

Sarahana Shrestha: 51.01%

Assembly Member Kevin Cahill: 47.50%

With 59 of 59 election districts reporting

The DSA seems to be on its way to electing a socialist candidate in the Hudson Valley, with climate activist Sarahana Shrestha leading incumbent Assembly Member Kevin Cahill by roughly 500 votes a few hours after polls closed on Tuesday night. Though the DSA is celebrating that lead, the race had still not been officially called as of Wednesday afternoon.

District 111

Montgomery and Schenectady counties

Assembly Member Angelo Santabarbara: 64.31%

Justin Chaires: 32.92%

With 33 of 33 election districts reporting