Manhattan District 7 City Council Results: Abreu Ahead So Far

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — Hours after the polls closed Tuesday evening in New York City's primary elections, Shaun Abreu held the lead in the District 7 City Council race according to early, incomplete results.

By midnight, Abreu led with 27.4 percent of the vote, trailed by Marti Allen-Cummings at 11.7 percent and Dan Cohen at 11.4 percent. About three-quarters of precincts had reported their in-person, first-choice votes.

Tuesday night's results include only the first-choice, in-person votes cast in District 7. Final results will not be known until mid-July, when absentee ballots have been counted and voters' second through fifth choices have been factored into the ranked-choice tabulation.

A dozen candidates were in the running in District 7, which covers West Harlem and Hamilton Heights, Morningside Heights, and parts of Washington Heights and the Upper West Side. Mark Levine, who has represented the district since 2014, is term-limited and running for Manhattan Borough President.

Whoever wins the Democratic primary will be unopposed in November's general election, where no other parties are fielding a candidate.

Major issues in the race have included gentrification and new development, the role of Columbia University, street cleanliness during the pandemic, as well as crime and public safety.

One of the most competitive in Manhattan, the race took a turn this month when five candidates formed a ranked-choice alliance, urging voters to treat them as a joint ticket to fill up their five ballot slots.

That coalition was an obvious effort to exclude Abreu, an apparent frontrunner who raised the most money and was endorsed by Levine. (Abreu helped run Levine's first campaign in 2013).

Abreu also came under attack from those five candidates for the support his campaign has received from outside groups. As of Tuesday, his campaign had gotten a $194,000 boost from five PACs, including $26,767 from a real-estate-aligned group and $40,915 from a pro-charter-schools PAC funded in part by Walmart heiress Alice Walton.

Abreu, meanwhile, countered that most of the outside support has come from pro-labor groups affiliated with unions that have endorsed him.

Related District 7 City Council coverage:

• Here's Where West Harlem Candidates Stand On Your Issues
• 5 Harlem Council Candidates Endorse Each Other In Unusual Move
• Harlem Council Candidates Attack Rival Over Outside Spending