Upper East Side City Council Results: Keith Powers Wins 2nd Term

Last updated 10:54 p.m.

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Keith Powers has won re-election to the City Council, securing another term representing the Upper East Side and Midtown, according to projections.

With nearly 90 percent of votes recorded shortly before 11 p.m., Powers was way ahead with about 74 percent of the vote. With Republican David Casavis trailing with around 26 percent, the New York Times called the race in Powers's favor.

Powers, a 37-year-old incumbent Democrat, was seeking a second term representing a chunk of the Upper East Side, as well as much of Midtown East, Stuyvesant Town, and Peter Cooper Village.

His opponent, Casavis, ran on the Republican and Independent/Libertarian party lines. He is a Republican district leader and adjunct professor at SUNY and CUNY.

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In neighboring District 5, Democrat Julie Menin was way ahead Tuesday in her race against Republican Mark Foley. Ben Kallos, who has represented that Upper East Side district since 2013, was prevented by term limits from running again.

In the Council, Powers chairs the body's criminal justice committee, putting him at the center of the fraught debate over conditions at Rikers Island. Since his election in 2017, Powers has also pushed through legislation that eliminated bail payment fees, and in 2019 helped secure a deal with the city to maintain affordable housing at the Kips Bay Waterside Plaza complex for another 75 years.

Being re-elected could bring Powers closer to fulfilling another ambition: being elected City Council speaker. In recent months, Powers has been widely reported as one of several members seeking the powerful position, which will be voted on by the new Council in January.