Justin Sanchez a 33-year-old progressive candidate operating on a slogan of “cleaning up the damn streets” gained the 2025 Democratic Main election in spherical 4 of the ranked selection voting tallies launched on Tuesday.
Credit score: Pals of Justin Sanchez
Justin Sanchez defeated Antirson Ortiz within the fourth spherical of ranked selection voting Tuesday to change into Bronx District 17’s Democratic nominee for New York Metropolis Council. Sanchez will face off in opposition to Conservative candidate Marisol Duran for term-limited Rafael Salamanca Jr. ‘s seat representing South Bronx neighborhoods like Hunts Level, Longwood, and elements of Morrisania in November.
The 33-year-old progressive candidate took dwelling round 62% of the vote after all of the ranked selection tallies had been in, in comparison with Ortiz’s practically 38%. In every spherical, Sanchez took dwelling the vast majority of the ranked-choice votes from the candidates who had been eradicated, that means that if Sanchez wasn’t the primary selection on somebody’s poll, he was ranked second, third, or fourth if all their different candidates had been eradicated.
Sanchez advised the Bronx Instances he was with family and friends eagerly ready for the outcomes to return in on Tuesday.
“My immediate reaction was just super proud and super excited seeing all of the hard work that we did throughout the course of this campaign really come into fruition,” Sanchez stated. “But more humbled than anything to see all of the support that we got, not only in the first round but also in the subsequent rounds where we really saw that folks believed in us and what we were doing.”
Sanchez surged forward on June 24, capturing a robust early lead on main day as he aimed to differentiate himself from a number of different certified candidates.
Preliminary outcomes from the town’s Board of Elections confirmed Sanchez forward with 40.4% of first-choice votes within the ranked-choice election. Antirson Ortiz adopted with 25.1%, Freddy Perez Jr., who was endorsed by incumbent Salamanca Jr., secured 17.7%, and Elvis Santana trailed with 15.9%.
Justin Sanchez (R) celebrating at Zona de Cuba within the South Bronx after taking a commanding lead within the Democratic main for Metropolis Council District 17 on June 24, 2025. Credit score: Sadie Brown
However Tuesday’s ranked selection tallies confirmed what appeared inevitable on main day. Sanchez will symbolize the Democratic celebration within the basic election for District 17 in November.
Sanchez, a former chief of employees to State Senator Nathalia Fernandez, entered the race as a progressive-aligned candidate backed by main political forces. He locked in endorsements from the Bronx Democratic Celebration, U.S. Reps. Ritchie Torres and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson, and a broad coalition of unions and advocacy teams.
He additionally outpaced his rivals financially. As of June 13 marketing campaign finance filings, Sanchez outspent his nearest competitor by about $60,000—a bonus that helped gasoline his floor operation.
Working on a platform titled “17 for 17,” Sanchez prioritized quality-of-life enhancements, together with sanitation, drug remedy, and youth programming. His marketing campaign’s blunt slogan—“clean the damn streets”—minimize by means of political noise and related with voters.
He advised the Bronx Instances that his workforce got here up with a plan to pay attention greater than they talked, and in the long run it paid off. Knocking on over 100,000 doorways Sanchez stated that his marketing campaign didn’t begin out asking for votes, however as a substitute, asking what voters needed to see.
“They were worried about who’s gonna help them with their quality of life?” Sanchez stated. “Who’s gonna help them [with] cleaning the damn streets— exactly what we ran on. Who’s going to make sure to get trash cans on street corners. Getting folks that are dealing with substance use disorder off of our streets into the long-term care that they need, and improving our education system. Getting our kids the opportunities that they deserve.”
Justin Sanchez advised the Bronx that he ran a marketing campaign that was centered on the problems voters in District 17 wish to see change like getting trash off the streets, getting individuals who use medication assist and bettering faculties. He stated his marketing campaign developed this platform by getting out into the streets and assembly voters, knocking on hundreds of doorways and shaking palms. Picture: Pals of Justin Sanchez
If elected, Sanchez would change into solely the second overtly homosexual candidate to be elected to the town council from the Bronx and the third to serve on the council from the Bronx, and the primary from District 17. U.S. Consultant Ritchie Torres was the primary overtly homosexual candidate to be elected from the Bronx in 2014. Former Metropolis Council Member James Vacca, a democrat representing District 13, got here out publicly to an outpouring of assist on in 2016 on social media, whereas he was serving his time period.
The Bronx is thought for some excessive profile anti LQBTQ+ rhetoric from politicians. Former Bronx Metropolis Council Member Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. accused the town council of being “controlled by the homosexual community” in a Spanish-language interview on a present for cab drivers in 2019. Former Metropolis Council Member Fernando Cabrera in 2014 praised the nation of Uganda for its stance on homosexuality— a rustic with a number of the harshest punishments for same-sex relations on the earth.
Sanchez advised the Bronx Instances he was conscious that his id may need been seen negatively.
“We ran in a generally conservative district that these social issues could have played out in a very ugly and nasty way,” Sanchez stated. “But we made sure that we ran a campaign focused on the issues and not on identity politics and I think that really resonated through.”
He stated that voters within the district cared extra about his core message of “cleaning up the damn streets” as a result of he constructed his platform primarily based on what he was listening to from constituents.
“ Clearly with the mandate that you saw that we got from the voters, I don’t think that [being gay] was a real top of mind issue,” Sanchez stated.
