Siffert, Martinez win tight Assembly races after recounts

David Siffert and Patrick Martinez each declared victory Wednesday in extremely tight Democratic Assembly primaries decided after recounts. 

Siffert, a lawyer and progressive activist, defeated Manhattan Community Board 2 Chair Jeannine Kiely in the race to replace retiring Assembly Member Deborah Glick in lower Manhattan’s Assembly District 66, which includes Greenwich Village and Tribeca. Siffert won by just 15 votes out of more than 17,000 cast in the June 23 primary. 

Siffert should cruise to victory in November in the deep blue district to become New York’s first out nonbinary state legislator.

Glick, who was the first out gay state legislator when she first took office in 1991, endorsed Kiely as her successor. Kiely also had the backing of other prominent Democratic leaders including Rep. Jerry Nadler, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal and the United Federation of Teachers.

Another contender, pro-housing advocate Ryder Kessler, finished third in the six-way race and also earned major endorsements from the Working Families Party, City Comptroller Mark Levine and major unions including the Hotel and Gaming Trades Council.

Siffert, meanwhile, had fewer local endorsements, but was backed by the Village Independent Democrats, the Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club and two Democratic Socialist legislators, state Sen. Jabari Brisport and Assembly Member Emily Gallagher. A former tax attorney, Siffert was an early leader on the Invest in Our New York campaign pushing to raise taxes on the rich.

“This community has been my home for 20 years, and it’s my favorite place in the world,” Siffert said in a statement. “The best part of this campaign has been getting to know so many of my community members, and I’m consistently blown away by their passion, engagement, kindness, and values.”

While the progressive left won in Manhattan, the Queens Democratic establishment saw their pick win in the western Queens race to replace Assembly Member Steven Raga, who gave up his seat to make an ultimately unsuccessful bid for state Senate.

Martinez, a local district leader and member of Queens Community Board 2, defeated former New York City Police Department detective Shamsul Haque in a district including Woodside, Maspeth and Elmhurst. Martinez has worked in online advertising, but he descends from Queens Democratic royalty as the nephew of former Queens County Party boss Joe Crowley and son of former New York City Council Chief of Staff Ramon Martinez.

“Today, after a full and fair count of every ballot, I'm humbled and honored to have been elected to be the Democratic nominee for the 30th Assembly District,” he said in a statement. Martinez is also expected to win the general election.

Martinez ultimately won the race by just seven votes out of more than 6,000 ballots cast after a sometimes tense recount. “Martinez has won the election, and the margin of victory does not merit any further litigation,” Haque’s election attorney Ali Najmi said in a text message.  

Haque is an ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani and ran a progressive campaign focused on supporting Mamdani’s priorities in Albany. While Haque earned the endorsement of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the mayor declined to do the same, which would almost certainly have made the difference in such a close race.