Keith Powers Wins Dem Party Backing in East Side Assembly Race

City Council Member Keith Powers, whose term ends at the close of the year, will be the official Democratic party nominee in the special election to be held for the NYS Assembly seat in the 74th district in downtown Manhattan.

There is no primary ahead of the special election. Powers beat out three other candidates in the contest, decided by votes of Democratic club members who reside in the district, held by the New York County Democratic Committee at Sirovich Hall in the East Village.

“After one round of voting by the 168 county committee members present, Councilman Keith Powers achieved 61 percent of the vote,” said Democratic party chairman Kyle Ishmael. “We congratulate State Assembly Democratic nominee Keith Powers and thank each county committee member, district leader, member of the public who engaged in this process, and especially the nominated candidates—honorable public servants from their community who included: Sarah Batchu, district leader Marquis Jenkins, and Kevin O’Keefe.”

By nailing down the nomination in the heavily Democratic district, Powers is the overwhelming favorite to win the special election, expected to be held sometime in February.

“I am deeply honored to be the Democratic nominee for the district that I’ve called my home throughout my life,” said Powers, who had run for borough president in the Democratic primary but lost to the eventual winner, NYS Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal. “A very big thank-you to all my neighbors, friends, and supporters that showed up to make this happen.”

The special election will be to fill out the remainder of the term of Harvey Epstein, who resigned to run (and win) a race for City Council. In the poll held on Dec. 10, Powers was nominated by Epstein and Charles Sturken, a local committee man. District leader Jenkins, a housing activist on the Lower East Side, was in second place with 15 percent of the ballots cast, followed by Sarah Batchu, a former de Blasio staffer and a nonprofit activist, with 14 percent of the vote, and Kevin O’Keefe, a Community Board 6 member and head of the St. Vartan’s Park Conservancy, who tallied 9.4 percent of the vote.

The winner of the special election will fill out the remainder of the two-year term that runs through the end of 2026. Epstein ran unopposed when he ran for re-election to his Assembly seat in November 2024. Because the City Council seat was open following the resignation of Carlina Rivera in August, Epstein was officially sworn in on Dec. 4. The 74th Assembly District includes the Lower East Side above Chinatown, the East Village and Loisida, Midtown East including Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village, Union Square, Kips Bay, Murray Hill, and the eastern portion of Greenwich Village, as well as portions of Times Square and the Union Square neighborhood.

The winner of the special election will have to stand for election again next year. There is a primary that could attract new and old rivals in June. Several candidates had indicated they were not going to stand in the special election race but will wait to enter a primary next June which would be decided by a vote of the people, rather than the local democratic clubs. The general election is scheduled for Nov. 3.