Linda Lee Makes History As Winner In District 23 Primary Race

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — Linda Lee is "humbled" by the updated final round of ranked-choice voting, which shows her leading the race for the District 23 City Council Democratic primary.

On Saturday, Lee tweeted that she was waiting for the rest of the results and keeping her eye on the November general election, but the vote count showed her holding a nearly 700-vote lead over her closest rival, Jaslin Kaur, in the final round of ranked-choice voting.

Kaur conceded on Saturday, congratulating Lee on her "win," which was further cemented late on Tuesday when the race's updated results were published. The latest results include a preliminary count of absentee ballots. The in-person ranked-choice vote tallies had been released Friday.

Lee's presumptive primary victory would put her in line for becoming the first woman and first Asian American to hold the city council seat in District 23, following a race that was rife with allegations of sexism.

In the weeks leading up to the election, both Lee and Kaur said that they faced sexism from several of their male opponents while running for council in northeastern Queens. Lee reported that a candidate directed a misogynistic message about mothers at her, and Kaur said in a statement that two of her male opponents "waged a full-on misogynistic campaign of intimidation against me, my neighbors, and my supporters."

Both of the women alluded to these incidents in their statements made after Friday's ranked-choice election results were published.

Lee said that her lead in the race "shows that my work serving Eastern Queens is just beginning" — highlighting what she's done to serve the district, which was overlooked by one of her male opponents, who chocked her platform up to "vote for me I'm a mommy."

Kaur explicitly noted the "enormous opposition" that her campaign faced, including the acts of intimidation from other candidates, as well as "fear-mongering attack ads" that described her as "too dangerous" to elect based on her progressive politics.

Lee and Kaur are two among eight Democratic candidates who ran to replace District 23's incumbent Council Member Barry Grodenchik, who was eligible to run for a second term, but chose to retire.

However, the race to represent District 23 also includes a competitive Republican primary.

Unofficial ranked-choice voting counts show James Reilly with an insurmountable 66 percent lead ahead of Alex Amoroso as of election night.

These races, like all in the June primaries, won't be officially certified by the Board of Elections until at least July 12.

Based on the counts right now, Lee will likely face Reilly in November's general election. The winner will take office in January.