Park Slope Election Guide: What To Know About The Neighborhood's Races

BROOKLYN, NY — November is months away, but it's already election season in Park Slope— and in historically Democratic New York City, the summer's primary elections tend to be more consequential than the general election.

A slew of local races are on the ballot in Tuesday's primary election — from statewide contests for governor and lieutenant governor, all the way down to neighborhood-level offices like State Assembly, state committee and more.

The primary for Congress and State Senate will be held separately in August due to ongoing battles over redistricting maps.

Patch will bring you live coverage on Tuesday once the results start rolling in. (If you haven't voted yet, find your poll site or view a sample ballot here.)

In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Park Slope's Democratic primaries, which don't include a State Assembly primary but (in some parts of the neighborhood) do include a primary for State Committee.

State Assembly

Most voters in Park Slope, who live in either Assembly District 44 or 52, will not see any Assembly races on their ballots, as incumbents in both these districts are running unopposed.

Robert Carroll, first elected in 2016 after longtime incumbent James Brennan left office, isn't facing any primary election challengers in his bid for another term representing Assembly District 44, which encompasses most of southern Park Slope into Windsor Terrace and Kensington. In November, though, he'll face Brenda Horton, a little known Republican challenger.

Northern Park Slope, meanwhile, falls under the 52nd District, represented by Jo Anne Simon — a longtime incumbent who only recently announced her bid for Congress in Park Slope's newly-mapped District 10. No other Democrats are running for the Assembly seat, though, meaning Simon's name will appear on the November ballot against Republican Brett Wynkoop, a member of a right-wing extremist group, Buzzfeed reported.

State Committee

In the 52nd District, Democratic voters will also be tasked with picking two candidates for state committee — an internal party position that nominates candidates and handles other party matters (the seat isn't up for election in District 44).

By law, the state committee is made up of one male and female from each of New York's Assembly districts, meaning Park Slope voters will cast a ballot for one candidate of each gender.

There are three people in the race for State Committeewoman in District 52:

• Cheryl Cook, CEO of Avodah, a social justice non-profit
• Sabrina Gates, former nurse and current non-profit program manager
• Lydia Green, progressive campaign worker and local leader

There are also three people in the race for State Committeeman in District 52:

• Seamus Campbell, CUNY website coordinator and union leader
• Rubain Dorancy, former DOE employee and current leadership consultant (couldn't find campaign website)
• Aaron Ouyang, business intelligence manager and neighborhood organizer

Delegate (and alternates) to Judicial Convention

Voters across Park Slope will also be tasked with picking 10 candidates as delegates to the Judicial Convention, who choose the party's nominee for state Supreme Court judge (a name that voters will see on the general election ballot in November).

Voters will also cast ballots for 10 alternates, in case a Judicial Convention delegate can't make the convention.

Delegates and alternates are nominated in two groups. For more information about individual delegates, you can find their names on your sample ballot here.

Civil Court

In the more-obscure Brooklyn Civil Court judge race, Patrick Hayes Torres, a private attorney and Sunset Park BID board member, is running against Philip Grant, a Brooklyn civil court principal law clerk who formerly worked as a state attorney general prosecutor in the borough.

Grant was not rated as qualified by the New York City Bar Association (Torres was), but he was endorsed by the Brooklyn Democratic Party (Torres was not). Torres' wife, Carmen Pacheco, is running to become a Civil Court judge in Manhattan.

Civil Court judges serve 10-year terms, ruling on cases involving disputes of $50,000 or less.

For more info on the Civil Court race, check out this guide from The City. The outlet also wrote a guide for statewide races, like governor and lieutenant governor, here.

Follow Park Slope Patch on Election Night Tuesday for live coverage as the results roll in.