Quantcast

Come out and vote: What you need to know ahead of the the 45th Council District and judicial races

Special election: Eight candidates vie for Williams’ former Council seat
Monique Chandler-Waterman

She’s back on the ballot!

Councilwoman Farah Louis will run for re-election for her seat in the Democratic primary on June 25.

Louis rose to victory just over a month ago in the May 14 special election to fill the seat, which was vacated by Jumaane Williams when he was elected to the citywide office of Public Advocate in another special election for that office in February.

The freshman legislator, who previously worked as then-Councilman Williams’ deputy chief of staff, faces the same seven opponents that she bested in last month’s race, including Anthony Alexis, Monique Chandler-Waterman, Victor Jordan, Jovia Radix, Xamayla Rose, Adina Sash and L. Rickie Tulloch.

The pol outpaced her challengers when she won with approximately 42 percent of the votes, and her most serious challenger this time around is likely to be her fellow former staffer Chandler-Waterman, who was endorsed by Williams and came in second with some 30 percent of the vote in May.

The two frontrunners soared ahead of the other candidates, with Jovia Radix — daughter of New York Supreme Court judge Sylvia Hinds-Radix — coming in third with 9 percent of the vote.

Since the district is overwhelmingly Democratic, the winner of the primary will likely take the seat after a general election in November for a two-year term ending in 2021.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on June 25 for Brooklynites living in the 45th Council District.

Judicial elections

Kings Countians can also vote to elect three new judges across the borough, filling two vacancies in the Civil Court and one in the Surrogate’s Court on June 25.

The Civil Court is a citywide entity that has 38 judge seats in Brooklyn that handle small monetary lawsuits for damages up to $25,000. These legal eagles can also be randomly assigned to another borough and serve temporarily on one of the five borough’s Family or Criminal courts.

Some judges are elected by voters from a certain district, while others are voted in on a borough-wide level.

The Surrogate’s Court has two judges, or Surrogates, in the borough and hears cases about the affairs of the deceased, such as wills, paying taxes owed by the deceased, as well as family trusts, adoptions, and guardianships.

Voters who live in Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, Flatbush, East Flatbush, Kensington, and Midwood can cast their ballot for one of four candidates to fill the judicial seat for the Civil Court’s Sixth Municipal District.

The candidates for that seat are Tehilah Berman, Caroline Cohen, Alice Nicholson, and Chinyelu Udoh.

The same court has a countywide position open, and voters from across Brooklyn can vote for candidates Edward King and Derefim Bernadette Neckles, who will be on the ballot for that seat.

Three candidates are running for the Surrogate’s Court, including incumbent Margarita Lopez Torres, Civil Court Judge Elena Baron and attorney Meredith Jones.

To find your polling site location, visit nyc.pollsitelocator.com.

Reach reporter Kevin Duggan at (718) 260–2511 or by e-mail at kduggan@cnglocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @kduggan16.