By Ivan Pereira
After being denied the chance to fight his four-vote primary loss by a Queens Civil Court judge, Lynn Nunes formally conceded his race against City Councilman Thomas White (D-South Ozone Park) Tuesday afternoon.
In an e-mailed statement released around 3:30 p.m., the 24-year-old candidate congratulated the incumbent, who will be elected to his second consecutive term as the representative for the 28th Council District.
After the results were finalized, Nunes filed a motion against the Board of Elections seeking a recount, but the request was denied by Judge Jeremy S. Weinstein in Queens Civil Court Friday, according to Nunes. Although he said there were was a chance to appeal the decision, Nunes said the community did not need to be subjected to further delay in awaiting the outcome of the race.
“I urge all residents of the community who supported me to join me in not just congratulating him, but offering our councilman our support and effort to find ways to come together, to find common ground and to work in good faith,” he said in a statement.
White could not be reached for comment by press time Tuesday evening.
District 28 covers the neighborhoods of Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Jamaica and Rochdale Village.
Nunes, a small business owner from Richmond Hill, said he would continue to fight for the issues that affect the area, such as the foreclosure crisis and unemployment.
“We must work together to help restore our community’s character against over-development, improve schools by reducing class sizes and protect our seniors from cuts in funding,” he said in his statement.
White ran against five challengers in the primary: Nunes, former Councilman Allan Jennings, Stephen Jones, Robert Hogan and Ruben Wills. There are no Republican candidates in the race.
On Primary Day, the race was too close to call with White having 1,849 votes compared to Nunes’ 1,843 votes, according to preliminary results from the city Board of Elections. After absentee and paper ballots were counted, the councilman’s lead shrank to four votes from six, according to the Board.
Jennings, Jones, Hogan and Wills combined had 6,039 votes, or 36 percent of the total vote.
Reach reporter Ivan Pereira by e-mail at ipereira@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
