After a week of uncertainty, George Sarantopoulos has eked out a narrow victory in the Republican primary in Council District 47, per unofficial ranked-choice voting totals.
The race has remained too close to call since the night of the June 24 election, when Sarantopoulos and fellow Republican Richie Barsamian remained neck-and-neck even as a victor was announced in the district’s Democratic primary.
Unofficial election night results showed Sarantopoulos ahead of Barsamian by just 32 votes with 97.4% of scanners reporting.
But unofficial ranked-choice voting results released on June 26 showed that Sarantopolous had pulled further ahead once all votes were counted.
With 100% of the vote tallied, Sarantopoulos earned 50.2% of the vote, or 1,102 votes in total. Barsamian won 48.1%, or 1,056 votes. Write-ins comprised the other 1.7% of the tally.
“I am honored to have the people’s support heading into November. Thank you to every voter, supporter, and campaign staffer on both sides for working to make our community better,” Sarantopoulos said in a statement. “I want to personally commend Richie Barsamian for running a strong campaign. He cares deeply about our neighborhoods, and we both believe New York City should be a city of opportunity, not handouts.”
Sarantopoulos, a longtime Bay Ridge resident and businessman, had declared victory on June 25, though the race was still largely considered too close to call at that point.
Barsamian did not immediately return a request for comment.
The race, one of few Republican primary contests in Brooklyn, remained contentious until the last moment. Barsamian, the chair of the Kings County Republican Party, had been endorsed by Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, Council Member Inna Vernikov, and local Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny.
But late on June 23, Vernikov — a Republican who won her own primary in District 48 — retracted her endorsement of Barsamian and threw her support behind Sarantopoulos.
In a video, she accused Barsamian of “trying to flip this seat in District 48 back to the Democrats.”
Sarantopoulos will face off against Democrat Kayla Santosuosso in the general election come November.
“With Zohran Mamdani winning the Democratic mayoral primary, it is time for all common sense New Yorkers to come together,” he said in a statement. “This November we fight to protect our quality of life. That means affordability, strong schools, safe streets, and a working subway.”
