I WON! NO, I WON! race for speaker, cry 2 rivals

City Council members Adrienne Adams and Francisco Moya both claimed victory Tuesday in the race to become the next Council speaker — a bizarre twist in what’s proven to be the one of the most contentious battles for the job in recent memory.

Adams (photo right) launched the first salvo attempting to dominate the narrative in a press release declaring that she had secured enough votes among her peers to win the job.

“After much discussion and collaboration with my colleagues, I am honored to have received the necessary votes to become the next speaker of the New York City Council,” she said. “As speaker, I look forward to being a partner with every member to help advance the needs of our communities. As a member of the Council, I will always prioritize my colleagues, labor, and the people of New York and have an open door for every voice.”

About an hour later, Moya (photo left) responded with a claim that it was, in fact, he who had secured at least 26 of the 51 votes needed to become the next speaker.

“I am humbled to announce that our diverse coalition of Council members and leaders from across New York City has collected a majority of votes to elect the next speaker of the Council,” he said. “I look forward to leading this body into a brighter future for our great city.”

Neither of their statements make anything official, though. Adams has not officially “received” any votes and Moya hasn’t “collected” any — at least not yet. To determine who becomes the next speaker, Council members must still cast their votes publicly — and that will take place in January.

The jockeying shows that both, perhaps, feel confident enough to say publicly that they expect to win, but their statements could also indicate that one or both of them are trying to gain momentum by making a potential win appear to be a foregone conclusion.

According to three sources who’ve counted votes among Council members, Adams has commitments from at least 27 colleagues. Another source claimed that Moya has 26 votes secured. How solid any of those commitments actually are is anyone’s guess, though.

If Adams wins the job in January, her declaration Tuesday will likely be viewed as the first significant defeat for Mayor-elect Eric Adams — who has been pushing behindthe-scenes for Moya to become speaker. A victory for Moya, in turn, will likely be viewed as a win for the mayor-elect, but it will have come after he expended a significant amount of political capital to make it happen.

The dueling statements from the two Queens Democrats came a day after the Daily News first reported Monday that four other candidates for the job were throwing their support behind Adrienne Adams, the preferred choice of four powerful labor unions. Those unions — 32 BJ SEIU, DC 37, the New York State Nurses Association and the Communications Workers of America — coalesced behind her after surrogates for the mayor-elect and the Hotel Trades Council began making calls backing Moya for the job.

On Tuesday, Adrienne Adams made prominent mention of the four colleagues and former rivals now backing her — with all of them, in turn, making statements in support of her run.

“I ran an exhaustive campaign for speaker to stand up for the socalled ‘outer’ boroughs, empower my colleagues through consensus, and deliver for overlooked working families from Bay Ridge to Bellerose; from Port Richmond to Pelham Bay,” said Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan. “I’m proud of the race I ran, but moreover inspired by the future I know we can create if and when we are united as a body. That’s why today I am getting out of the way and putting my full support behind my friend and colleague Adrienne E. Adams to be the next speaker.”

Along with Brannan, Council members Diana Ayala and Keith Powers, as well as Councilwoman-elect Gale Brewer, have all now officially thrown their support behind Adrienne Adams. They will also presumably attempt to persuade their own supporters to now get behind her as well.

Adding to the confusion, the only other contender left in the speaker’s race, Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, isn’t dropping out just yet, according to her spokeswoman.

“She’s still in,” the spokeswoman, Alexis Richards, said.

The dual victory declarations happened just a day after Mayor-elect Adams continued his push for Moya.

According to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, the mayor-elect was calling on behalf of Moya on Monday evening and pitched his candidacy to union bosses later that night.

The mayor-elect met with the leaders of 32 BJ and DC 37 to hash over their respective picks for Council speaker — with both sides continuing to disagree on who should lead the legislative body.

According to three other sources with knowledge of that meeting, Adams met with Kyle Bragg, president of 32 BJ, and Henry Garrido, the head of DC 37, to discuss the future of the Council.

During the meeting, the mayor-elect expressed confidence tMoya had enough votes to push through, but according to the sources, Bragg advised him to, “count again,” suggesting the unions, along with Queens Democratic leader Rep. Gregory Meeks and Bronx Dem leader state Sen. Jamaal Bailey, would ultimately hold sway.