Mark Levine held a strong lead over Justin Brannan in the first round of counting in Tuesday’s Democratic primary for city comptroller, following an at times heated campaign that centered on the candidates’ commitments to fight back against President Trump’s agenda.
With 89% of the votes counted at 10 p.m. Tuesday night, Levine, Manhattan’s current borough president and a former City Council member, led the race with 48% of the vote. Brannan had 36%.
With New York’s ranked-choice voting, the primary will go to a second round of counting if Levine doesn’t crack 50%. Two other contenders, Ismael Perez and Kevin Parker, had 18% of the vote between them.
Levine campaigned on a more moderate message in the primary, unlike Brannan, a progressive Democrat who was endorsed by the Working Families Party.
Still, the two candidates largely agreed on most issues during the campaign, including on the need to use the comptroller’s office, which is responsible for auditing city agencies and overseeing the city’s public pension funds, as a perch for counteracting Trump’s efforts to cut federal funding for New York.
Levine received more institutional support than Brannan. That included Levine being endorsed by uptown Manhattan Congressman Adriano Espaillat, a powerbroker of New York politics.
Brannan, a City Council member representing parts of southern Brooklyn, did not immediately concede the race or offer remarks about Levine’s win. As he is term-limited, Brannan will leave the Council at the beginning of next year.
With the Democratic nomination clinched, Levine is expected to breeze to victory in November’s general election, as there’s no Republican candidate in the race seen as competitive.
Brannan and Levine announced campaigns for comptroller after incumbent Brad Lander announced he wouldn’t seek reelection and instead run for mayor.
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