Engel takes a left ‘hook’
AOC super-lib poised for knockout
The left wing of New York’s Democratic Party was poised to score a major win Tuesday night, as a Bronx activist and former school principal held a big lead over longtime Rep. Eliot Engel.
Insurgent Jamaal Bowman all but declared victory over Engel (D-Bronx/Westchester) in a fiery speech as tallies showed him with a commanding 60.5 percent of the ballots cast.
“You know what Donald Trump is afraid of more than anything — a black man in power!” Bowman, 44, thundered.
“Tonight we don’t celebrate me. We celebrate a movement. I can’t wait to go to Congress and cause problems.”
While Bowman, a favorite of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, held a nearly 8,000-plus vote lead with 82 percent of precincts reporting, there was still a chance the outcome could be swayed by tens of thousands of absentee ballots.
By state law, election officials cannot open and tally those ballots until next week.
In the Big Apple alone, more than 700,000 people filed applications for mail-in ballots.
That uncertainty extended to almost every high-profile contest in New York City — except AOC’s.
She cruised toward an easy win nearly 73 percent of the vote over Michelle Caruso-Cabrera with 77 percent of precincts reporting.
“When I won in 2018, many dismissed our victory as a ‘fluke,’ ” AOC tweeted. “Our win was treated as an aberration, or bc my opponent ‘didn’t try.’ ”
Longtime Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) was nowhere as lucky in a rematch of her 2018 race, leading once-again challenger Suraj Patel by just 632 votes in the early count.
“We are confident in our path to victory after a very strong performance,” Patel said in a statement.
“We have a mandate for change and the final tally will reflect that.”
Primary night also saw a changing of the guard in Bronx politics as Councilman Ritchie Torres took a 12-point lead in the race to run for José Serrano’s seat with 74 percent of precincts reporting.
The openly gay lawmaker appeared to have bested one of the city’s most controversial conservative pols, fellow Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr. (D-The Bronx), who drew notoriety for a slew of homophobic statements.
Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, a longtime congresswoman appeared poised to turn away a second fierce Democratic primary challenges.
Yvette Clarke held a 41-point lead with 80 percent of precincts reporting.
At first blush, it’s a stunning reversal from 2018, when Clarke edged out the same rival, young community activist Adem Bunkeddeko, by fewer than 2,000 votes.
As with all the races, though, the mail-in ballots could change seemingly obvious results.
Former Vice President Joe Biden — already the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee — waltzed off with 67 percent of the vote, despite a determined effort by Bernie Sanders’ supporters to provide the Vermont senator with a strong showing.