Senator Sabini wins his primary race

With senate races that were initially too-close-to-call following the September 12 primaries, there appears to be a winner in the 13th Senate District - Senator John Sabini.
Sabini had declared himself an early winner with only a couple of hundred votes originally separating him and his opponent, Councilmember Hiram Monserrate. Although Monserrate released a statement earlier in the week saying the voting margin diminished a 66-vote difference, on Wednesday, September 20, he conceded the election.
Monserrate said he was proud of his &#8220grassroots campaign of inclusion and reform” and thanked voters for their support, adding that he is looking forward to continuing his work in the city council.
&#8220Throughout the year and the campaign, we worked hard to bring residents into the democratic process, registering thousands of new voters in our growing communities,” Monserrate said. &#8220The campaign was also successful in calling on all our leaders to address the area’s need for more resources to protect and improve our future.”
Sabini’s camp said the lead had actually increased to 249 votes when all the votes were counted on Wednesday, which was up from his original 208-vote lead.
Sabini campaign spokesperson Evan Stavisky, said that Sabini's camp was confident the initial counts would hold up.
&#8220The Sabini campaign was never worried,” Stavisky said. &#8220We were confident from the very beginning he was going to win this race because of the job he has done in office.”
Stavisky went on to say that Sabini is happy that the primary is over, and now it is important to unify the Democratic Party for the November elections.
In the 10th Senate District, Shirley Huntley remains ahead of incumbent Senator Ada Smith. Although just a couple of hundred votes also initially separated the two, Huntley, citing an article in Monday’s New York Times, said that at the last count she heard the margin had increased to a difference of 475.
&#8220I’m doing quite well,” Huntley said of her current standings. &#8220I knew I had somewhat of a good following. I’ll work very hard for these people in the 10th Senatorial District.”
In another race, although rumors within the political community were questioning who the winner was in the 22nd Assembly District, members of Ellen Young’s campaign said that she is the winner.
&#8220There's nothing left to count,” said Stavisky, a strategist for the Young campaign. &#8220The election is over and Ellen Young won.”