Rep. Nydia Velazquez had no trouble defeating three Democratic rivals including City Councilman Erik Dilan — securing her party’s nomination and a near-guaranteed eleventh House term.
Early returns show Velazquez winning easily with 61 percent of votes in the district, which stretches from Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Bushwick along the waterfront to DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Street Waterfront District, Red Hook, and Sunset Park, as well as parts of Queens and Manhattan.
Dilan, her closest rival, managed to pull in only 26 percent of votes, according to NY1.
Political newcomer and Manhattan economist Dan O’Connor received 10 percent of votes, while professor and Sunset Park district leader George Martinez snagged 3 percent of ballots.
Though she easily bested Dilan on election night, the pair ran a contentious race.
The Bushwick Councilman bashed Velazquez for opposing a law that protects loft-dwelling Brooklynites, while the Congresswoman — who boasted big endorsements from President Obama, Gov. Cuomo, and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D–Park Slope) — accused her foe of being a lackey to influential Assemblyman and Democratic party boss Vito Lopez.
