Ritchie Torres Scores Victory for Progressives in New York Primary

(Bloomberg) -- Representative Carolyn Maloney and City Councilman Ritchie Torres were declared winners of their New York Democratic congressional primaries, after results were delayed for six weeks by snags and challenges tied to mail-in voting.

New York City Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez-Diaz on Wednesday confirmed the Tuesday night claim by Maloney, 74, that she defeated progressive lawyer Suraj Patel in the race to represent the 12th District, which covers Manhattan's upper east side as well as parts of Brooklyn and Queens.

The Associated Press declared Torres the winner in the Bronx-based 15th district, which has been represented by longtime congressman Jose Serrano, who announced that he is stepping down because he has Parkinson's disease.

“We won!” Torres in a statement in which he also gave thanks to “all the Bronx Democrats who put their trust in me and to all the residents, activists, advocates and union members all across the city who helped along the way. We still have the general election to win in November, but I'm ready to get to work.”

Fellow Progressive

The victory by Torres in the heavily Democratic district means he's now likely to join fellow progressive Mondaire Jones -- the June 23 primary winner in New York's 17th district -- in becoming the nation's first two openly gay Black congressmen.

Torres had framed his 12-way primary race as a contest between the party's progressive wing and its old guard, saying the nation's poorest congressional district needed a fighter like him in Washington. Torres, who grew up in public housing and was first elected to the New York City Council when he was 25, said his life has been about defeating the odds.

Maloney's victory marked the second time the 14-term congresswoman was able to fend off a challenge by Patel, who also ran in the 2018 Democratic primary.

Patel sought during the campaign to portray himself as the progressive-change candidate, an alternative to Maloney and what he called the status quo in Washington.

Maloney Campaign

Maloney dismissed the effort, taking particular exception to Patel's attempt to link her with President Donald Trump. “May I remind you I impeached Donald Trump,” she said during a debate held by cable channel NY1. “I led that effort. Stop trying to tie us together.”

Patel, whose resume includes stints in former President Barack Obama's campaign and administration, still hasn't conceded in the race. The focus on problems with mail-in ballots, which have been more widely used because of the coronavirus pandemic, were particularly intense in that race, with the latest official counts having Maloney up by just 3,700 votes.

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