News & Politics
Will Joann Ariola remain minority leader? The math isn’t on her side.
Buckle up, buttercups! We may have another tiny GOP battle on our hands.
Counting to five with Joann Ariola Gerardo Romo / NYC Council Media Unit
While the majority of the New York City Council is caught up in the speaker’s race, as is everyone else in New York politics, the chamber’s five-member incoming Minority Caucus is preparing for a likely leadership change of its own.
With Bronx City Council Member Kristy Marmorato’s loss and GOP nominee Alicia Vaichunas coming up surprisingly short in her bid to flip Council District 30 in Queens, Republican Council Member Joann Ariola may not have the votes to retain her post as minority leader come January.
Ariola emerged victorious in the race to lead the caucus after her predecessor, former Council Member Joe Borelli, left the council in January. It was a messy process. Days before Borelli resigned, a vote of the then-six-member caucus was called, which Ariola, Marmorato and Council Member Vickie Paladino did not attend, saying there wasn’t enough notice. The three who went – Borelli, David Carr and Inna Vernikov – voted for Carr. But Ariola, Marmorato and Paladino challenged the legitimacy of the vote, saying there was not a quorum, which the council’s legal counsel ultimately agreed with. The vote was rescheduled (after Borelli had left office), and Ariola won, with neither Vernikov nor Carr partaking in the vote.
Since then, Borelli’s Staten Island seat has been filled by Council Member Frank Morano, also a Republican – and Morano is likely to back Carr, also from Staten Island, should he choose to run for the post again. With Morano and without Marmorato or Vaichunas, it looks like Carr would have three votes to Ariola’s two. Carr did not respond to City & State’s inquiries about whether he’s still seeking the job. Vernikov and Morano also didn’t respond.
“At this point it’s just a math game,” Borelli, now a lobbyist, told City & State. “With only five people, I think everyone knows the whip count.”
Ariola remains optimistic, even in the face of that math. “There is a long road between now and the vote for minority leadership,” she said in a statement to City & State. “A lot can happen between now and then.”