New York City Council 2025 general election races to watch

In the face of a topsy-turvy and atypically competitive mayoral race in November, voters would be forgiven for forgetting that dozens of other races are taking place across New York City. But just a small handful of those are truly competitive.

The next mayor, whoever he is, will face a New York City Council with a slowly growing Republican minority and a new City Council speaker. Three competitive City Council races in next month’s general election will help determine the shape of the council.

Still, the race at the top of the ticket will weigh heavily on how these closer races play out. Momentum behind Democratic nominee and front-runner Zohran Mamdani could boost turnout among Democrats, though Republicans, of course, hope the inverse is true. Here are the races we’re watching, with data from the CUNY Graduate Center’s Redistricting & You.

District 13 Northeast section of the Bronx, including Morris Park, Pelham Parkway, Throggs Neck and City Island

TLDR: Two years ago, Kristy Marmorato became the first Republican to rep the Bronx in decades. Now, Democrats want the seat back.

Incumbent: Kristy Marmorato (Republican)

Challenger: Shirley Aldebol (Democrat)

District demographics: 45% Hispanic, 31% white, 12% Black, 8% Asian, 4% other

Voter enrollment: 58% Democrat, 23% unaffiliated, 16% Republican, 3% other

What’s the deal? It’s been nearly two years since New York City Council Member Kristy Marmorato became the first Republican to represent the Bronx in two decades, narrowly defeating Democratic incumbent Marjorie Velázquez by a few hundred votes. Positioning herself as a moderate Republican, Marmorato, an X-ray technician, tapped into local dissatisfaction with the status quo and concerns about public safety and encroaching development.

Now, Democrats hope to flip the northeast Bronx district. At the helm of that effort is Shirley Aldebol, a Bronx native with deep union ties, who scored a decisive victory against a slew of candidates in the Democratic primary this summer. Similar to Marmorato in 2023, Aldebol is a first-time candidate. But while the council member has ties to the Bronx Republican Party through her brother, party Chair Mike Rendino, and is married to Gino Marmorato, the Republican commissioner for the city Board of Elections, Aldebol came into the race with preexisting relationships to labor unions. She has worked with influential buildings workers union 32BJ SEIU since 2004 in various capacities, including formerly as an executive vice president. 32BJ SEIU, along with an array of other unions, have endorsed her, as did the Bronx Democratic Party in the Democratic primary.

Marmorato is the only Republican representing the Bronx, though the district has a sizable Democratic enrollment advantage. President Donald Trump is unpopular, with Kamala Harris winning with 56% of the district in the 2024 presidential election and Joe Biden winning with 64% in 2020. Looking strictly at those two results, the district has grown redder in the past five years, but some experts believe that the Trump administration’s polarizing actions have played out poorly with voters, potentially spurring backlash that could extend to Marmorato. It’s possible too that Aldebol could get a boost from Democrats turning out to vote for Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani.

With greater name recognition and the power of incumbency, Marmorato has a big advantage over Aldebol. The incumbent has more money on hand with about $143,000 remaining, though Aldebol had done a solid job with fundraising. She has raised just shy of $310,000, including public matching funds, and has about $52,000 on hand, as of Sept. 29.

One of the things that helped Marmorato defeat Velázquez in 2023 was her staunch opposition to the Bruckner rezoning, a partially affordable housing project to Throggs Neck. As a council member, she’s honored her commitment to oppose controversial housing and development projects, but failed to actually put a stop to them. Despite her objections, Marmorato was overridden by her City Council colleagues on two recent examples: a project to build housing for the formerly incarcerated known as the Just Home project and Bally’s Corporation’s casino proposal.

District 30 Portions of Central Queens, including Maspeth, Middle Village and parts of Ridgewood

TLDR: Bob Holden fans rejoice! Whichever candidate you choose, your next council member is all but certain to carry on his conservative, party-bending legacy.

Incumbent: Open seat. Bob Holden is term-limited.

Candidates: Phil Wong (Democrat), Alicia Vaichunas (Republican, Conservative)

District demographics: 45% white, 30% Hispanic, 20% Asian, 2% Black

Voter enrollment: 49% Democrat, 29% unaffiliated, 19% Republican, 3% other

What’s the deal? New York City Council Member Bob Holden defies political labels. The multiparty politician and Maspeth native ran (and inevitably won) on the Democratic, Republican and Conservative Party lines in his past couple of elections. Holden’s brand remains popular in his moderate district, which makes the lineup running to succeed him unsurprising, if still unique.

Both Republican nominee Alicia Vaichunas and Democratic nominee Phil Wong are currently staffers in Holden’s office; Wong is his budget director and Vaichunas is his deputy chief of staff. Holden encouraged both to run – and in doing so, edged out non-Holden acolytes in June’s Democratic primary. The two candidates say they have a good working relationship, and both have pledged to hire the loser if they win. Vaichunas even handed out literature for Wong during the Democratic primary.

All those warm, cuddly feelings in this competitive matchup might distract from the fact that any voters looking for a distinct choice between the two candidates’ politics won’t find it in this race. Wong was a registered Republican until midway through Bill de Blasio’s mayoralty, and Vaichunas is a lifelong member of the GOP. The two say there aren’t major ideological differences between them.

Wong, a community activist who has argued against affirmative action and the city’s noncitizen voting law, calls himself a “conservative Democrat supporting some of the Republican agenda.” He endorsed Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa for mayor, as did Holden and Vaichunas.

Vaichunas, a former PTA president and small-business owner, is known as a bulldog who goes to bat for Holden’s constituents. Though she already does it as a right hand to Holden, she says she’ll continue to fight for seniors, veterans and children with individualized education plans if elected.

Despite Democrats’ voter registration advantage in the district, Holden received almost as many votes on the Republican and Conservative Party lines as he did on the Democratic Party line in his previous election, during which he ran unopposed. Wong may struggle to convince those Democrats who aren’t as conservative as him – in progressive strongholds like Ridgewood – that he’s worth their vote, or else hope most Democratic mayoral voters will vote blindly down the line. Vaichunas, meanwhile, will benefit from whatever bump Sliwa gets.

District 47 Southern Brooklyn, including Bay Ridge, Coney Island and Sea Gate

TLDR: Republicans are on a hot streak in southern Brooklyn, but their hopes of flipping this Bay Ridge seat are lukewarm.

Incumbent: Open seat. Justin Brannan is term-limited.

Candidates: Kayla Santosuosso (Democratic, Working Families), George Sarantopoulos (Republican, Conservative)

District demographics: 49% white, 20% Asian, 19% Hispanic, 9% Black

Voter enrollment: 52% Democrat, 27% unaffiliated, 19% Republican, 3% other

What’s the deal? Bay Ridge hasn’t been represented in the City Council by a Republican for more than 20 years. But City Council District 47, which in 2023 expanded to include Coney Island, is a seat that no Democrat can take for granted.

That’s been true for term-limited Democratic Council Member Justin Brannan, who won reelection on a razor’s edge in 2021, before winning by a wider margin in 2023.

Despite serving as Brannan’s chief counsel and leading the Democratic club he co-founded, Kayla Santosuosso – the Democratic nominee – brings a different profile to the race. An Ohio native who has lived in Bay Ridge since 2013, she and her husband ran a popular bar, giving her ties to the community that aren’t strictly political that might help if she appeals to moderates and unaffiliated voters. Santosuosso ran the campaign of Brannan’s 2017 Democratic primary opponent, Khader El-Yateem, and before that led the Arab American Association of New York. She speaks Arabic and the district’s growing Arab community could be an important part of her coalition, particularly if Mamdani helps boost turnout. (If her background isn’t a carbon copy of Brannan’s, voters might recognize traces of the incumbent in her punchiness: “I’ve spoken Arabic since college and would represent a large Arab community if I win,” she replied to an X user questioning why she recorded a video in Arabic. “As you cope, maybe try downloading Duolingo? It works for even the smoothest of brains.”)

But Brooklyn Republicans are feeling optimistic in Bay Ridge too. After a messy primary tainted by voter fraud, former Brooklyn Republican Party Chair Richie Barsamian conceded to business owner George Sarantopoulos. The party is projecting unity. With Sliwa, who keeps a campaign office in Bay Ridge, at the top of the ticket and a long-shot candidate for Brooklyn borough president, southern Brooklyn Republicans are hopeful Sarantopoulos benefits from a united slate. And while enthusiasm for Mamdani is expected to boost Democratic turnout, the GOP is hoping the opposite is also true and is attempting to tie Santosuosso to Mamdani’s left-wing politics. Republicans aren’t just dreaming about making the purple district a bit more red – they’ve won and flipped overlapping state legislative districts. But if enthusiasm for Mamdani holds, this fight will be an uphill battle.