In a minor upset, Wendy Long handily won the three-way race in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Long, a New York City attorney, defeated Congressmember Bob Turner and Nassau County comptroller George Maragos. She secured a majority of the vote with 51 percent, according to reports.
Turner finished with 36 percent, while Maragos received 13.5 percent.
Long’s support was mostly out of the five boroughs as Turner received 66 percent of the votes in the city, according to the Board of Election’s unofficial results.
“On the 6th of November, we will change the face of New York politics,” Long said.
The Republican, who has never held elected office, will now face Senator Kirsten Gillibrand in the general election on that date.
“This landslide victory tells me that the people of New York saw that I would create the sharpest contrast with Kirsten Gillibrand,” said Long.
Fewer than 140,000 voters cast their ballots statewide in an election notable for its low turnout. There are more than 2.5 million registered Republicans in New York.
Turner, who currently represents parts of Queens in the 9th Congressional District, congratulated Long on the victory and promised to work with the candidate.
“I pledge to work with Ms. Long to unite all Republicans and Conservatives in the effort to defeat Kirsten Gillibrand in November,” he said.
Gillibrand won the Senate seat in 2010, after being appointed to it a year earlier when Hillary Clinton left to become Secretary of State.
The general election will pit candidates on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Gillibrand was named by the National Journal as the nation’s most liberal senator, a fact trumpeted by the Long campaign. Long is a staunch conservative that opposes same-sex marriage and raising the debt ceiling.
Long faces an uphill battle against Gillibrand. The senator has nearly $10 million in campaign cash against Long’s $193,000. Recent polls have Gillibrand with a 30 point advantage over her Republican challenger.
