The Republican primary for the 47th District City Council in South Brooklyn has reached a standstill, with State Assemblyman Zheng Yongjia’s former communications director and Republican candidate George Sarantopoulos leading incumbent Brooklyn GOP Chair Richie Barsamian by just 14 votes. The election results have not been officially confirmed yet. Due to the extremely narrow margin between the two candidates, Sarantopoulos filed a lawsuit in court on July 6 to clarify the ballot issues and election outcome.
According to the final results of the ranked-choice voting released by the New York City Board of Elections on July 8, Sarantopoulos received 1,124 votes (50.3%), while Barsamian garnered 1,110 votes (49.7%), with a difference of only 14 votes. In the initial round of counting, the difference was also 14 votes, with 1,118 and 1,104 votes for Sarantopoulos and Barsamian respectively. Additionally, 39 write-in ballots were not categorized in the first round, and in the second round, 12 of these votes went to each candidate, leaving 27 deemed invalid due to eligibility issues.
Sarantopoulos issued a statement on July 8 expressing concerns about the integrity of the election process, despite initially leading by 46 votes on election night before the margin narrowed. He stated, “We have received multiple reports of suspicious election strategies and have not received a clear explanation from the Board of Elections since the election. Such undue interference in the election does not belong to our party and we cannot let these tactics define our future leaders.”
He emphasized, “We are reviewing every absentee and affidavit ballot to ensure every voter’s rights are protected through legal processes.”
According to the complaint filed with the court on July 6, Sarantopoulos argued that unofficial statistics as of July 1 showed him leading Barsamian by 46 votes, with 1,102 votes to Barsamian’s 1,056 votes, along with 38 uncategorized write-in candidate votes. The lawsuit requests the court to rule on the legality of improperly counted or rejected ballots and all disputed absentee, affidavit, and special ballots.
He also pointed out that based on information and belief, some polling stations’ votes have not been included in the count, and there are suspicions of individuals voting twice or instances of fraudulent voting where envelopes were not signed by the rightful voter, which require further investigation.
On July 7, the Brooklyn Supreme Court issued an Order to Show Cause, scheduling a hearing on July 15 to focus on confirming the validity of all ballots, including those cast on Election Day, early voting, absentee, affidavit, and emergency ballots; ensuring accurate counting of electronic and paper ballots, directing the Board of Elections to correct any miscounting; preserving all original ballots and relevant documents; investigating any malfunction or tampering with voting machines; allowing both parties’ lawyers to manually recount all ballots.
If the outcome is confirmed, the Board of Elections will certify Sarantopoulos as the official nominee; if election fraud is found where the winner cannot be confirmed, a new primary will be required.
As of the deadline last night, Barsamian has not responded to requests from “Epoch Times” for comments on the election results and Sarantopoulos’ lawsuit.
The 47th District covers parts of Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Bath Beach, and Dyker Heights, with roughly 20% Asian population, nearly 50% White, and around 18% Hispanic. The final Republican candidate will face off against Democratic candidate Kayla Santosuosso in November, who served as Chief of Staff to the incumbent Council Member Justin Brannan and easily won the primary with an 80% vote share. Democrats estimate that due to the district leaning towards the blue camp, Santosuosso has a better chance of retaining the seat. However, there has been a “red shift” trend in South Brooklyn in recent years, coupled with Republican grassroots strength and division, making the election outcome uncertain.