In a race that will apparently come down to absentee ballots and a likely recount, the Democratic incumbent in the 28th City Council District, Thomas White Jr., led young Lynn Nunes by just six votes with all 95 precincts in the southeastern Queens district reporting at the end of the night on Tuesday, September 15.
While four other candidates competed in the primary – former 28th District Councilmember Allan Jennings, Ruben Wills, Robert Hogan and Stephen Jones – the race was White’s or Nunes’ to win, with the two candidates splitting 64 percent of the collective vote.
In a primary that hinged on issues like improving area schools; addressing unemployment, predatory lending and the high rate of foreclosure; and creating after school alternatives for youth, a confident White told The Courier that he expected to win.
However, the Councilmember – who has served the district encompassing Jamaica, Rochdale Village and Richmond Hill for a total of 10 years – said he would not think about his priorities moving forward until “After I get some rest.”
While the tone in Lynn Nunes’ voice was not quite as enthusiastic as it was earlier in the evening when he led White by three votes with 95 percent of the precincts reporting, the candidate was confident in his ability to bounce back.
“This is 100 percent recount, 100 percent absentee ballot,” Nunes said, noting that “a couple hundred” absentee ballots need to be counted. “So this race is on. Six votes. Six votes is any man’s game.”
For their part, White and his staff were optimistic that the final results will be in their favor.
“We’re not surprised at the closeness but we knew in the end we would win,” said White’s campaign concigliere, Bill Greenspan. “We’re going to get all of the absentee ballots so they’re just going to add to our lead.”
