Ritchie Torres, an openly gay
councilman from the Bronx, has declared victory in the race to
replace outgoing U.S. Representative José
E. Serrano, who announced last year that he was fighting a
diagnosis of Parkinson's Disease and would not seek re-election.
While absentee ballots are still being
counted, Torres has described his lead as “mathematically
insurmountable.”
“UPDATE: The counting is all but
over,” Torres wrote. “On Primary Day, we were ahead by 4516
votes. As of yesterday evening, our lead had grown to 7803 (far
larger than the # of uncounted ballots). Even if our nearest rival
were to win every single one, we would remain ahead by a wide
margin.”
Going into the June 23rd
primary, Ruben Díaz, Sr., who has represented the 18th
Council District in the New York City Council since 2018, was leading
in the 12-person race.
Díaz, a 77-year-old Pentecostal
minister, is vocally opposed to LGBT rights. Last year, out Council
Speaker Corey Johnson called for Díaz's resignation after he claimed
that the Council was “controlled by the homosexual community.”
While Díaz has not conceded the race,
he has said that he plans on retiring from politics.
In 2016, Torres was a delegate for the
Bernie Sanders campaign.