For the first time in 40 years, a Republican candidate from the Bronx will hold a New York City Council seat. Republican Kristy Marmorato declared victory late last night in a race to represent the 13th City Council district, which covers several neighborhoods in the eastern part of the Bronx. With 97.5 percent of the scanners reported late last night, Marmorato secured almost 53 percent of the vote, while Velázquez received nearly 47 percent.
Marmorato ran against incumbent Democrat Marjorie Velázquez in a race where housing and crime were the top animating issues for voters. Marmorato, an X-ray technologist at a hospital in Connecticut, said a city proposition to place former Rikers inmates in a medical center in her district galvanized her run.
“The whole reason I got into this race is because they want to put a Rikers release program within steps of my house and schools,” Marmorato said, adding that Velázquez has voiced only tepid resistance to the plan. Velázquez has said she opposes the plan.
Velázquez also angered members of her district last year when she threw her support behind a 348-unit housing development that required the City Council’s approval to upzone the site.
“She lied to the community about the Bruckner upzoning,” Marmorato said of Velázquez. “She’s not supporting the community on the just home initiative and she’s looking to put a casino right smack in the middle of the community that’s going to be bigger than Yankee Stadium.”
“Our people came out. Our voices were heard. It was about trust. The councilwoman could not be trusted anymore. They definitely trusted me,” said Marmorato, who vigorously opposed the rezoning project.
Marmorato won thanks to voters like John Mercorella, a 63-year-old former union worker and registered Democrat who has lived in the district his whole life, but switched sides this year to vote for Marmorato. He said his major issues with the district right now are “rampant crime with no consequences” and inflation.
The 13th City Council district is composed of 61.3 percent registered Democrats, 14.6 percent registered Republicans, and 19.9 percent unaffiliated voters. In 2021, Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa won the district by one percentage point over now-mayor Eric Adams.
While Marmorato managed to flip the 13th district red, unofficial results Tuesday evening showed Republicans are expected to maintain just six of the 51 council seats, having lost a seat elsewhere.
Marmorato won the race despite a clear fundraising disadvantage. City Campaign Finance Board records show she raised at least $50,000. However, Velázquez was running on a haul of more than $130,000, with a sizable amount of support from unions.
“I’m going to be consistent, and I will be the hardest-working Council member that this district has ever seen,” Marmorato said in her campaign. “I’m not afraid of hard work.”
Velázquez has not yet conceded the race at the time of publication.