Julie Won Named Winner In LIC's District 26 Council Race

LONG ISLAND CITY, QUEENS — Julie Won will become the next City Council Member representing Long Island City, according to NY1 and The New York Times.

With about one-third of precincts reporting, Won has 80.5 percent of the vote, cementing her win against Marvin Jeffcoat, the sole candidate who ran as a Republican in the district, according to NY1.

Based on these predictions, Won will succeed City Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer as LIC's new City Council member at the beginning of 2022 for two years instead of four — because of a city mandate to allow for redistricting after the census — and be among the first of two Korean Americans on the Council, alongside Bayside's Linda Lee.

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Going into the general election Won was a heavy favorite, but her primary campaign was not uncontested; the District 26 Democratic primary was one of the most crowded citywide. While Won largely led the pack in terms of the local money race and endorsements from Queens officials, she came up against now-Deputy Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, Amit Bagga.

Bagga led the pack in terms of donations from political groups and labor unions, many of which also came out in support of his candidacy — notably including the Working Families Party; the progressive party's Regional Advisory Council endorsed Bagga despite the Queens chapter's recommendation to endorse Won.

Some believed that Bagga was the likely frontrunner in the race, given his funding from outside groups and high-profile endorsements, but Won benefited from ranked choice voting: when two other candidates were cut during the 14th and 15th round of voting Won secured more second-place votes than Bagga, propelling her to an eventual 13-point lead, Patch reported.

Won, whose cited her time on Community Board 2 and her personal experienced during the pandemic as catalysts for her campaign, is running on a progressive platform. She's been an outspoken advocate for high speed internet, housing, and healthcare for all, as well as transportation alternatives.

The race for City Council isn't the only one that neighbors in Long Island City voted on this Election Day: locals also weighed in on the race to replace Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Queens Borough President race, and five ballot measures.

Find out more about these races, and all the ones that Patch is following, here.