You are reading

Julie Won and Amit Bagga Lead Pack in 15-Person Race for the District 26 Council Seat

Julie Won and Amit Bagga (respective campaigns)

June 23, 2021 By Allie Griffin

Julie Won and Amit Bagga are neck and neck in the city’s most crowded council race in western Queens, early election results show.

Won and Bagga have broken out from the rest of the 15-candidate field in the District 26 race and are less than one percentage point apart.

Won, a tech consultant and Queens Community Board 2 member, is leading with 18.47 percent of in-person votes. Bagga, former deputy director of the city’s 2020 census campaign, follows behind with 17.65 percent of in-person votes, according to unofficial Election Night results.

Brent O’Leary is in third with 9.97 percent of in-person votes and the remaining candidates each earned lower single-digit percentages, with 96.77 percent of scanners reported.

The candidates are vying to represent the Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside neighborhoods and take the seat occupied by term-limited Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer.

The percentages are only based on voters’ first-choice picks and do not include absentee and affidavit ballots.

Neither Won or Bagga earned more than 50 percent of the first-choice votes, so the city’s new ranked-choice voting system will be used to determine the winner.

The candidate with the least amount of first-choice votes — Sultan Al Maruf in this case — will be eliminated and people who chose him for their top choice will have their second choice counted. This process will continue until one candidate receives a majority of votes or more than 50 percent.

The election could go either way — to Won or Bagga — depending on who voters ranked as their second, third, fourth and fifth picks.

District residents will likely not know the official winner of D-26 race for weeks.

The Board of Elections (BOE) will release the results of the ranked choice tabulation in one week — on Tuesday, June 29 — based on in-person votes. The board will continue to update the results each week as absentee ballots come in until it certifies the results.

The BOE, however, is not expected to certify the results of the primary elections until the week of July 12 or later to allow time for absentee ballots to come in.

The winner of the primary election will move on to compete in the November general election against Republican Marvin Jeffcoat.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Union and Quinn Sullivan agree to contract extension after breakout season

The Philadelphia Union and midfielder Quinn Sullivan have come to an agreement on a new contract, keeping Quinn at the club through 2027 with an option for 2028. The homegrown player just finished what was his best season in a Union kit, scoring five goals and contributing to 11 assists in 34 appearances. Sullivan became an important part of Jim Curtin’s side this season as well, starting in 25 of those 34 matches. 

When looking at last season compared to this one, Quinn Sullivan had one of the biggest breakout campaigns on the entire squad. The 20-year-old went from appearing in 22 matches (7 starts) to appearing in 34 matches (25 starts). He brought his goal tally from two to five, and his assist tally from one to eleven.

Op-ed: Time for a rain ready New York

Oct. 23, 2024 By James Gennaro

New York is clearly on the frontlines when it comes to facing the escalating impacts of climate change. Nearly one year ago, Brooklyn and Queens were devastated with another record-breaking rainstorm that poured nearly nine inches of rain at JFK Airport, shut down subway lines and flooded basement apartments. A “new normal,” some say.

Long Islander criminally charged for manslaughter in fatal road rage crash on Long Island Expressway: DA

A Queens grand jury indicted a Long Island man for manslaughter and other related crimes in a fatal road rage collision on the Long Island Expressway in Queensboro Hill in mid-August.

Shaqeem Douglas, 26, of Maple Street in Freeport, was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Tuesday for allegedly causing a chain-reaction collision that killed 41-year-old Pradeppa Desai, of Elder Avenue in Flushing, who was a passenger in a Lyft SUV that the defendant cut off. Douglas’ girlfriend, Ariana Seratan, is also being charged in connection with the crash for falsifying business records.