Bronx City Council Election Results

As the Democratic primary election results for Bronx City Council members rolled in last night, it became clear that most incumbents have a strong hold on their seats for another four years.

Out of the eight Bronx City Council districts, only four incumbents had challengers in the primary election. Out of those four City Council elections, three incumbents kept a firm hold of their position, while another appears to be out.

In the 11th City Council district, incumbent Oliver Koppell was challenged by Tony Perez Cassino. Despite a heated primary campaign race, Koppell won the primary with 63.9% of the vote. Koppell had 5,348 votes and Cassino had 3,021 votes.

In the 12th City Council district, incumbent Larry Seabrook scraped by to win 55.28 % of the vote despite a series of controversial financial accusations. Seabrook defeated Andy King, Jerome Rice and Sebastian Ulanga in the primary. Seabrook had 4,871 votes, King had 2,830 votes, Rice had 778 votes and Ulanga had 333 votes.

In the 16th City Council district, incumbent Helen Foster defeated political newcomer Carlos Sierra with 60.54% of the vote. Foster had 2,654 votes and Sierra had 1,730 votes.

In the 14th City Council district, Fernando Cabrera has a good chance of replacing the incumbent, Maria Baez. Last night, poll counts listed Cabrera as having 1,937 votes, Baez as having 1,847 votes and Yudelka Tapia as having 1,250 votes.

The above numbers are still unofficial and not yet approved by the Board of Elections. Although the poll count is usually a good indicator of the winning candidate, in close races such as the 14th District City Council primary, official numbers are needed to declare the winner.

More information on the 14th district City Council race to come.

Primary Postcard: Norwood Polls Quiet After Apparent Morning Brawl

Koppell campaign workers stand outside of the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center polling site. Sandler (right) claims a Cassino supporter tried to strangle him this morning.

Around 3 p.m. this afternoon, the primary polling site at the Mosholu Montefiore Community Center was ominously devoid of Tony Cassino campaigners. Instead, Oliver Koppell campaign workers strolled around the area surrounding the community center passing out flyers and attempting to sway primary voters in their favor.

Despite Cassino's Norwood campaign office's location directly across the street from the community center, the only Cassino campaign literature in sight was plastered on the windows of his office.

However, earlier in the day, a Koppell campaign worker claimed that Cassino campaigners were not so quiet.

Andrew Sandler, a Koppell volunteer who has been campaigning outside of the community center all day, said, "A Cassino supporter pushed me and strangled me this morning when I was handing out flyers outside of Cassino's office." Although Sandler said that when he complained about the incident to Cassino, the City Council candidate apologized for his supporter's violent behavior, but Cassino also "said that I provoked him." The Cassino campaign could not be reached for a comment.

Besides the alleged brawl, Sandler said the poll station at the community center has been "quiet."

Poll workers agreed with Sandler, saying that turnout has been fairly low and they hope to get more voters after 5 p.m.

At another poll site in Norwood, the St. Brendan School on 207th Street, poll workers also said the turnout for today's primary election has been low. One worker pointed out that not one person has voted in the 94th District today.

Outside of the St. Brendan School, Jamin Sewell, who is counsel for Councilman Koppell, said he was "not surprised" about the number of voters. "I expected a low turnout," he said. "In some cases, people are unaware of the election."

Still, Sewell said, "I'm confident he (Koppell) is going to win, it just is a matter of by how much."

There were no Cassino campaigners outside of the St. Brendan School this afternoon.

11th Council District Debate

A Democratic Primary Debate Between the Candidates for City Council in the 11th District

Here's the flyer for the Council debate we're hosting tomorrow, Sept. 10.

Campaign Copy Editor Needed

Notice anything wrong with this picture? It is the cover of City Council incumbent Oliver Koppell's (oops, just gave away the answer) glossy new campaign pamphlet that hit District 11 households this week. Ding, ding, ding. You guessed correctly: it's Koppell, not Koppel.

We all make mistakes, including, believe it or not, this blog and the newspapers of the Bronx News Network, but Koppell must wish he took a look at this before he sent it out. It's an otherwise beautiful looking mailer trumpeting all of the two-term Riverdalian's accomplishments as a city lawmaker. Too bad this is the first thing everyone will see. (It's spelled correctly several other times in the four-page pamphlet.

He's probably not the only one dealing with spelling issues. I'm sure his opponent's campaign has its own trouble. Remember, it's Anthony Cassino, not Casino.

The September primary is less than a month away (September 15) and, in tough races (which Cassino-Koppell might end up being), mistakes can prove costly. We'll see.

Check back here for more campaign coverage as the competitive Bronx races heat up.

Koppell and Cassino Square Off in 11th District Debate

This week, BronxTalk featured a debate between Councilman Oliver Koppell and Anthony Perez Cassino, the democratic candidates for the 11th City Council District. Moderated by host Gary Axelbank, the candidates debated politics, development, city planning, and a number of other issues.

Here's a link to view the entire program. http://bronxnet.fliggo.com/video/XwQYTtC5

BronxTalk, the borough's flagship talk show, will celebrate its 15th anniversary on October 5. It is seen live Monday nights at 9:00pm on channel 67 in the Bronx and streamed live on the web at http://bronxnet.org/home/live/webstreamtrial.html. It is hosted by Gary Axelbank and produced by Jane Folloro.

Viewers can see replays of BronxTalk at 9:30am, 3:30pm, and 9:00pm daily and the programs are archived at http://bronxnet.fliggo.com/category/bronxtalk .

Next week BronxTalk will feature an interview with Bronx County Democratic Chairman Carl Heastie.