Harlem Election Results: Dickens, Gibbs Ahead In Re-Election Bids

HARLEM, NY — With the vast majority of votes counted in Harlem's Democratic primary elections, a picture is emerging of the likely winners in the neighborhood's hard-fought races for State Assembly, state committee and more.

Incumbents appeared likely to prevail in all three of Harlem's Assembly districts, with Eddie Gibbs, Inez Dickens and Al Taylor leading in the 68th, 70th and 71st districts, respectively, shortly before midnight Tuesday. (Only Taylor's victory had been officially called by NY1 as of midnight Wednesday, with the other results still preliminary.)

Some margins were tighter than others — Gibbs, who only took office in January, had 37 percent of the vote in a four-way race as of 11:30 p.m., while Dickens, a five-year incumbent, was trouncing progressive challenger Delsenia Glover by nearly 30 percentage points.

Below, find the preliminary vote totals for each major Harlem primary race as of Tuesday night. (Totals are based on preliminary Board of Elections data.)

70th Assembly District (Central Harlem)

Results as of 10:52 p.m. (94.62% of scanners reporting):

• Inez E. Dickens: 59.59% (6,159 votes)
• Delsenia Glover: 30.26% (3,127 votes)
• Shawanna E. Vaughn: 9.87% (1,020 votes)

68th District (East Harlem)

Results as of 11:55 p.m. (96.81% of scanners reporting):

• John Ruiz Miranda: 25.25% (1,913 votes)
• Edward Gibbs: 36.90% (2,795 votes)
• Wilfredo Lopez: 18.26% (1,383 votes)
• Tamika Mapp: 19.25% (1,458 votes)

71st District (West/North Harlem, Hamilton Heights)

Results as of 10:52 p.m. (94.95% of scanners reporting):

• Alfred E. Taylor: 70.63% (6,523 votes)
• Luis M. Tejada: 28.92% (2,671 votes)

State committee races

As of 10:53 p.m., Nicholas Reyes and Tamika Mapp were leading their respective state committee races in the 68th Assembly District; Maria Ordonez and Londel Davis Jr. were ahead in the 70th; and Nobles Crawford and Maria Luna were leading in the 71st District.

Here's some background on each race.

70th Assembly District (Central Harlem)

In the 70th District, which also includes parts of East and West Harlem, five-year incumbent Inez Dickens is being challenged by two fellow Democrats: Delsenia Glover and Shawanna Vaughn.

Glover, a tenant advocate and former Deputy Public Advocate, said in her Patch profile that her top priorities included passing good cause eviction legislation, extending a housing voucher program and creating a new Mitchell-Lama program for middle-income New Yorkers.

See here for statewide results from the governor and lieutenant governor's races.

Vaughn, a nonprofit director and activist who has spoken about having been born in prison, said she would focus on stopping gun violence through entrepreneurship programs and improved mental health services.

Both Glover and Vaughn criticized Dickens for her record on housing, with Glover noting the incumbent's strong opposition to the state's 2019 tenant protection laws. Dickens strongly defended her record in March, telling Patch that she opposed those laws out of fears that they would punish small landlords.

68th District (East Harlem)

In the 68th District, incumbent Edward Gibbs is being challenged by three fellow Democrats: Wilfredo Lopez, Tamika Mapp and John Ruiz Miranda.

Gibbs, a longtime political operative, took office in January after winning a special election to succeed Robert Rodriguez — making history as the first state lawmaker to have previously served prison time.

Mapp, Gibbs and Lopez all told Patch that their top issues included housing affordability and public safety (Ruiz Miranda could not be reached for comment).

Mapp, a businesswoman and state committee member, and Lopez, an attorney and former City Council staffer, both criticized Gibbs for his initial co-sponsorship of the NYCHA rescue trust — a recently-passed law that supporters say will unlock millions in repairs, but critics suggested did not give tenants enough say in the future of their buildings. (Gibbs eventually voted against the bill.)

Gibbs, meanwhile, has touted the more than 150 bills he has either introduced or cosponsored so far, including legislation that would aid college students with disabilities and protect biodiversity in New York State.

71st District (West/North Harlem, Hamilton Heights)

This uptown district also includes a slice of Washington Heights and Inwood, and has been represented since 2017 by Al Taylor. Taylor is being challenged in the Democratic primary by Luis Tejada.

Neither Taylor nor Tejada filled out Patch's candidate questionnaire.

On his campaign website, Taylor says his priorities include reforming rent laws by strengthening tenant protections; tackling gun violence by banning bump stocks and limiting firearms on school property; and improving public schools by decreasing class sizes.

Tejada, an electrical engineer and teacher, describes himself as a "champion of tenant's rights," saying he wants to "stop landlord abuse" and "take back" the neighborhood from developers.

He has run for a number of local offices in past years, including City Council last year, coming in sixth place in District 7. He also previously challenged Taylor in 2018, winning 34 percent of the vote.