You are reading

Special Election to Fill City Council Seat Vacated by Richards Set for February

Council Member Donovan Richards (Emil Cohen/ NYC Council Flickr)

Dec. 4, 2020 By Allie Griffin

The special election to fill the city council seat vacated by Donovan Richards is slated to take place at the end of February.

Mayor Bill de Blasio set the date for the special election for Tuesday, Feb. 23. Candidates will be vying to represent the 31st Council District — which covers Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere, Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and Springfield Gardens.

The council seat became empty when former Richards left the position to become Queens borough president this week. Richards, who was term-limited, won the November general election for borough president and assumed office on Wednesday.

Residents can vote either in-person or via absentee ballot in the special election. The special election will be one of the first to employ ranked-choice voting in New York City.

The winner will assume office immediately and will only fill the seat until Dec. 31, 2021, when Richards’ term would have ended.

The winner is also likely to compete to serve a full term that starts Jan. 1, 2022. This involves a primary in June 2021 followed by the general election in November 2021.

There are 10 people in the running for the 2021 election, according to the NYC Campaign Finance Board. Three candidates — Latoya Benjamin, Franck Joseph and Richard’s former Chief of Staff, Manuel Silva — have already raised thousands of dollars.

These candidates are also likely to appear on the ballot for the special election.

email the author: news@queenspost.com
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Armed robber hits 7-Eleven stores in three Queens neighborhoods in just over an hour Wednesday morning: NYPD

Police from two Queens NYPD precincts are looking for an armed robber who targeted 7-Eleven stores in three different neighborhoods in just over an hour during the early morning of Wednesday, Apr. 17.

Police from the 106th Precinct in Ozone Park reported that the first heist went down just before 2:25 a.m. at the 7-Eleven located at 112-11 Liberty Ave. in South Richmond Hill. The perpetrator allegedly pulled out a handgun and demanded money from the 23-year-old man behind the counter, who complied, handing over $400 in cash from the register, police said.

Jamaica Estates man beaten, robbed by bat-wielding thugs near Cunningham Park: NYPD

A 22-year-old Jamaica Estates man was beaten and robbed in broad daylight three blocks west of Cunningham Park on Saturday, and police from the 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows are looking for the suspects who attacked him with a baseball bat.

The incident occurred just after 7 p.m., as the victim was walking home in the vicinity of 189th Street and Aberdeen Avenue when he was set upon by the two assailants who struck him in the face and head with the baseball bat, police said. They forcibly removed his cell phone and fled in a black Pontiac Grand Am, heading northbound on 109th Street toward Union Turnpike.

F train rider punched at Jamaica Hills subway station by attacker who remains at large: NYPD

An F train rider was assaulted inside the 169th Street subway station on Hillside Avenue near Homelawn Street in Jamaica Hills last week, and a dreadlocked suspect remains at large, according to the NYPD.

Police from the NYPD 107th Precinct in Fresh Meadows and Transit District 20 are looking for the dreadlocked stranger who approached the 37-year-old man while he was waiting on the northbound platform just before 3:30 a.m. on Friday, Apr. 12, and began to argue with him.

Crunching the Queens crime numbers: grand larcenies down across borough, rapes halved in the north, robberies decrease in the south

Apr. 17, 2024 By Ethan Marshall

The number of grand larcenies across Queens was down during the 28-day period from March 18 to April 14, compared to the same period of time last year, according to the latest crime stats released by the NYPD Monday. At the same time, rapes and robberies decreased significantly in northern and southern Queens, respectively.