UES-UWS Congressional Results: Jerry Nadler Defeats Maloney, Patel

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Jerry Nadler easily defeated his colleague Carolyn Maloney and challenger Suraj Patel to win the hard-fought primary race covering Manhattan's Upper West Side, Upper East Side, and Midtown, according to projections by NY1 and the Associated Press.

The TV network called the 12th Congressional District race for Nadler shortly before 9:30 p.m., signaling an end to Maloney's 30-year career in Washington and promising to further extend Nadler's equally lengthy tenure.

“We won with votes from the East Side to the West Side, from Gramercy and Riverside," Nadler said in a victory speech."I’m humbled that so many New Yorkers found themselves moved by our shared belief in principled progressivism."

12th Congressional District results

Results as of 10:13 p.m. (91.39% of scanners reporting):

• Carolyn B. Maloney: 24.08% (18,632 votes)
• Ashmi Sheth: 1.02% (787 votes)
• Jerrold L. Nadler: 55.69% (43,090 votes)
• Suraj Patel: 19.07% (14,756 votes)

The AP called Nadler's victory at 9:38 p.m. In his speech, Nadler said Maloney and Patel had both conceded to him.

He added that the district did not belong to him, but rather to its voters.

"And you know what? I think the voters made themselves clear tonight," Nadler said.

Maloney, in a concession speech shortly before 11 p.m., said she had called Nadler to congratulate him, calling him a "distinguished member of Congress."

"I am really sad that we no longer have a woman representing Manhattan in Congress," she added — alluding to Dan Goldman's potential victory in Lower Manhattan's 10th District. "We cannot and we must not give up — the fight continues."

Thousands of votes had yet to be counted Tuesday evening, though the preliminary count included absentee votes.

Background

The primary was an unexpected result of the chaotic redistricting process, which ended with a court-ordered redrawing that merged both sides of Manhattan into a single district for the first time in recent memory.

That forced Nadler and Maloney — veteran lawmakers who both chair powerful congressional committees — into a primary against each other. They were joined by Patel, an attorney who had previously challenged Maloney twice in her old East Side-based district, and was gunning for a third campaign against her.

Initially a collegial affair, the race has turned hostile in recent weeks, with Maloney amplifying a claim that Nadler is "senile" and Patel knocking the incumbents — who are both in their mid-seventies — for being out of touch.

Policy-wise, Patch's interviews with all three candidates revealed some substantial differences on issues like real estate development and the future of Midtown.

Maloney, in office since 1993, was initially seen as a possible favorite in the race, since the new 12th District includes much of her former territory in Midtown and the East Side.

But Nadler, an Upper West Sider who took office in 1992, appeared to gain momentum down the stretch, especially after winning an endorsement from the New York Times editorial board — which noted Maloney's prior skepticism toward vaccines and her votes for the Patriot Act and the Iraq War. (Nadler voted against both.)

Other flashpoints included the revelation that Maloney had loaned her campaign nearly $1 million of her own money, and an "endorsement" of Maloney by former President Donald Trump.

Besides the 12th Congressional District race, other elections happening across Manhattan on Tuesday included the crowded 10th Congressional District race in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, and a number of State Senate primaries — including on the Upper West Side and in Harlem.

This was the second primary election that Manhattanites have voted in this summer — a result of New York's chaotic redistricting process, in which a judge delayed primaries for State Senate and Congress after ordering that district maps be redrawn.

In the previous primary, on June 28, the Upper East Side nominated Alex Bores to succeed retiring Assemblymember Dan Quart, and Hell's Kitchen picked Tony Simone to replace 50-year incumbent Dick Gottfried. Other Manhattan incumbents including Linda Rosenthal, Rebecca Seawright, Eddie Gibbs and Danny O'Donnell were all either renominated or ran unopposed.

Related coverage:

• UES-UWS Race For Congress: Patel, Nadler, Maloney Answer Our Questions
• Jerry Nadler Reminds People He's The Son Of A Chicken Farmer
• UWS Merged With UES In New Congressional Map, Setting Up Primary Clash
• Trump Makes Endorsement In UWS/UES Congress Race: Maloney Rejects
• UES, UWS Jews Not So Different After All, Mapmaker Decides