By Sadef Kully and Tom Momberg
(adding comment from Dosamantes)
Candidates campaigned Thursday despite the wet weather as voters came out to vote for six contenders in the Democratic primary for the City Council seat vacated by Mark Weprin.
Poll workers indicated the early turnout was light, but it seemed to pick up later in the day.
The race was viewed as the most competitive in more than a decade for the spot that had been occupied by two members of the Weprin family for 14 years.
Voters struggled with their umbrellas as they battled the rain during their walk into Martin Van Buren HS polling station on Hillside Avenue.
Campaign workers for Bob Friedrich, president of Glen Oaks Village co-op, stood nearby screening potential voters. Volunteers for rivals Satnam Singh Parhar and Celia Dosamantes swooped in and stuck their signs in the dirt surrounding the street trees.
Steven Lewis from Bell Park Manor co-op said: “I voted for Friedrich because he cares about co-ops.”
Over at PS 188 in Hollis Hills, Barry Grodenchik, a former state assemblyman who has been endorsed by the Queens Democratic Party, cast his ballot around 11 a.m. Mark Weprin had voted for his successor at the same site earlier in the morning
“I feel good and we have been out since 5:30 a.m. and we have left it all in the field and today the voters have their say,” Grodenchik said.
Earlier in the morning, Rebecca Lynch, a former deputy commission of Community Affairs in the de Blasio administration, voted at PS 186 in Glen Oaks.
“I think this Council district will see a very low voter turnout, but we are here campaigning and we’re hopeful,” she said as she arrived at the polls. “I think there is a lot the state could do to make voting easier, especially in the primaries. It’s one day, it’s a work day and it’s between Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah.”
She added, “It’s not easy for a lot of people.”
The special election was scheduled for Sept. 10 after Weprin resigned his seat June 15 to take a position on Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s staff as a liaison between the governor, the state Assembly and the City Council.
“It’s really quiet, but part of that is the rain,” PS 186 poll site manager Deborah Dolecal said Thursday morning. “It’s a small election, but I think it will really pick up this afternoon.”
Before noon Ali Najmi, an attorney and activist, voted at PS 186 and was optimistic about the turnout.
“I think most people are really going to be coming out to vote this evening. I know we are going to win the election,” Najmi said. “I’ve been out talking to everyone in the district, and people are concerned about jobs, transportation and crumbling infrastructure such as that on Jamaica Avenue. I’m the guy to address these things.”
Celia Dosamantes, a former deputy chief of staff for state Assemblyman Philip Ramos, voted at PS 115 in Glen Oaks as supporters of Parhar stood outside holding umbrellas.
Dosamantes, who was focused on campaigning until the end, said she hoped for a better voter turnout later in the day.
Friedrich went to the polls after 3 p.m. at PS 186 as rain-drenched parents picked up their children on the second day of school.
“There are six candidates and I am really happy about that because it’s the first time we have a race without a dynasty candidate,” he said. “It means it truly is a level playing field and competition makes people work harder.”
Friedrich added, “There is no incumbent. That’s my kind of race and I am really excited.”
Parhar, a contractor and community leader, cast his vote at the Parker Jewish Institute, which is part of the Long Island Jewish Hospital complex.
“We are going to polling stations and working calmly” despite the rain, Parhar said, “We are working in full spirit to win.”
A spot check of polling sites in the district around noon found that 25 votes had been cast at Parker Jewish Center and 149 voters showed up at PS 115. The poll site manager at PS 115 said turnout was “way more than I had expected.”
Elsewhere in the district, 51 votes had been recorded at Martin van Buren, 125 votes at PS 188 and 128 votes at PS 186.
The winner of the primary will face Republican Joe Concannon in the general election Nov. 3.
The 23rd Council District is a highly diverse area of Queens covering Glen Oaks, Queens Village, Bellerose, Hollis Hills, Floral Park, Bayside Hills and other small neighborhoods.
Weprin had held the seat since 2010. His brother David was elected councilman for the 23rd District in 2001 and ran successfully for Mark’s Assembly seat, which he took over in 2010.
