James Gennaro (Twitter)
Feb. 19, 2021 By Allie Griffin
Former Council Member James Gennaro has officially taken his District 24 seat back— at least until the end of the year.
Gennaro was sworn in yesterday after the NYC Board of Elections certified the Feb. 2 special election results earlier the same day. He takes back the seat that he occupied from 2001 to 2013, when he was forced to step down due to term limits.
The district covers the central Queens neighborhoods of Kew Gardens Hills, Briarwood, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica, Pomonok and Hillcrest, among others.
The special election — prompted by the departure of Council Member Rory Lancman — was the city’s first test run of ranked choice voting, in which voters ranked candidates from one through five in order of preference.
Gennaro secured about 60 percent of the voters’ first-choice picks or 4,078 votes, according to the certified results. A candidate must win more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes to be declared winner.
Moumita Ahmed, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders, came in second place in the eight-person race. She earned just 15 percent of the vote — 1,041 votes — well behind Gennaro.
Gennaro will finish Lancman’s term that is set to end on Dec. 31, 2021. Lancman resigned from the City Council on Nov. 4 to take a position within Governor Andrew Cuomo’s administration.
A June primary and November general election will determine who will hold the seat for a full term.
My election was certified today by the NYC BOE! City Clerk Michael McSweeney administered the Oath of Office to me with my wife and children by my side. Please call my office at 718 217 4969 if I can be of assistance. God Bless you all. pic.twitter.com/zgkl40vmb1
— James F. Gennaro (@JimGennaro) February 18, 2021
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One Comment
Townsend harris hs admissions. The admissions has been changed a lottery.we should be awarding these seats to those with the highest grade.the mayor talks about privilege. I know many students who are students asian first generation with parents who don’t speak English and at poverty line. Are they privileged? They got in through hard work despite obstacles.we must award hard work.what is next lottery for college medical school?