Council Member Shahana Hanif at a latest marketing campaign rally.
File picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Council Member Shahana Hanif declared victory Tuesday night time at a jubilant watch get together in Park Slope, thanking supporters at a well-liked watering gap as outcomes rolled in exhibiting her with a decisive lead within the Democratic main for District 39.
In an announcement to press shortly after polls closed, Hanif stated her win was about “people power beating corporate power.”
“It’s about our ascendant progressive movement continuing to grow. It’s about communities coming together across race, class, faith, age, and language‚ refusing to be divided. It’s about building the Brooklyn we believe in,” she stated. “I am grateful to every voter who cast their ballot, every volunteer who knocked on a door, and the incredible District 39 community for electing me to represent them in the City Council. It’s truly the honor of my life to get to fight for the neighborhoods that raised me.”
The race — one of the carefully watched in Brooklyn — pitted Hanif, a first-term incumbent and staunch progressive, towards Maya Kornberg, a political scientist and Park Slope resident backed by reasonable Democrats, and Nickie Kane, a grassroots organizer.
District 39 spans a few of Brooklyn’s most civically lively neighborhoods, together with Kensington, Borough Park, Windsor Terrace, Park Slope, Gowanus, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill and the Columbia Waterfront.
Hanif, who made historical past in 2021 as the primary Muslim girl elected to the Metropolis Council, Hanif celebrated her win with marketing campaign volunteers and constituents at The Commissioner on Fifth Avenue.
She campaigned on her legislative observe document and dedication to reasonably priced housing, employees’ rights, and immigrant protections. Throughout her first time period, she helped safe $20 million for native faculties, parks, and infrastructure, and handed 14 payments addressing reproductive healthcare, environmental justice and labor rights.
Her marketing campaign drew assist from main progressive forces, together with U.S. Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Yvette Clarke, Comptroller Brad Lander (her predecessor), and highly effective unions such because the New York State Nurses Affiliation and the NYC Central Labor Council.
Kornberg, a senior analysis fellow at NYU’s Brennan Heart for Justice, ran on a platform of affordability, local weather resiliency and public security. Her marketing campaign picked up steam within the closing weeks, fueled by endorsements from former Borough President Marty Markowitz, former U.S. Rep. Max Rose, and the Unbiased Neighborhood Democrats.
Unofficial election night time outcomes from town’s Board of Elections confirmed Hanif with a commanding lead simply earlier than 10 p.m., securing practically 70% of the vote with greater than 28,000 ballots solid in her favor and 88% of scanners counted. Kornberg adopted with 26% (10,683 votes), whereas Kane garnered simply over 3% (1,380 votes).
Simply over 200 write-in votes had been recorded as of that point, with absentee and affidavit ballots nonetheless to be counted.
“Congratulations to Maya Kornberg on running a spirited campaign. I look forward to working collaboratively with her and her supporters as I continue to serve District 39,” Hanif stated.
However the work isn’t achieved, she added.
“Families are being priced out of Brooklyn. We need to bring rents down, win universal public childcare, and keep our neighborhoods livable for all of us. I’m laser-focused on winning these fights together in my next four years in the City Council.”
Examine again for extra election night time protection and outcomes.
