NYC-CC04: Maloney (D), Aronson (D), Storch (D) locked in tight District 4 City Council race

One of the tightest races in New York City’s Democratic primaries is unfolding in Manhattan’s District 4, where Virginia Maloney, Vanessa Aronson, and Rachel Storch are locked in a razor-thin, three-way battle for a City Council seat—with no candidate anywhere near the 50 percent threshold required to win outright.

On Tuesday night, the NYC Board of Elections released preliminary results showing only first-choice votes. In some City Council races, those tallies were enough to declare a winner. In others, they pointed to a likely frontrunner. But in District 4, no candidate holds a clear lead. Virginia Maloney currently leads with 26.79%, followed closely by Vanessa Aronson with 25.45%, and Rachel Storch with 22.81%—with just 363 votes separating the top two—leaving the outcome wide open.

Under the city’s ranked-choice voting system, voters can rank up to five candidates in order of preference. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. Ballots cast for that candidate are then redistributed to the remaining candidates based on the next-ranked preference.

This process repeats in rounds until one candidate crosses the 50% threshold and is declared the winner. In District 4, no candidate appears close to the 50% mark, meaning the race will likely be decided in the later rounds.



https://www.amny.com/politics/maloney-aronson-storch-tight-district-4-city-council-race/