Democrats have selected a candidate to run for Assembly in the 46th Assembly District after an election that was a bit of a roller coaster. NY1's Zack Fink filed the following report.
At a nightime meeting in Bay Ridge, a Brooklyn County committee gathered at a local catering hall to select their nominee for the 46th Assembly District.
Three candidates were vying for the seat: Pamela Harris of Coney Island, who had already secured the Nomination of the Working Families Party; Cody McCone of Bay Ridge; and Kate Cucco, who served as Chief of Staff to Alec Brook-Krasny, the Assemblyman who resigned the seat two months ago. Critics say the timing of his resignation was designed to help Cucco win the seat, since it was too late to hold a Democratic primary, where voters could decide.
"Well, maybe. I'm not sure about it," Brook-Krasny said. "I just decided to leave on July 7. That's all. Whether it helped Kate or not? It probably did."
But if the fix was in, it wasn't quite good enough. Cucco was able to win only the first round of voting among the three candidates.
Because of an arcane system of voting, more than 2,400 weighted votes were needed to win. McCone opted to drop out and, according to Cucco, promised her his votes as part of an agreement. But a second round of voting produced a surprise result: Pamela Harris was declared the nominee.
Harris, a former corrections officer, says she was satisfied with the outcome.
"It went two rounds, which we expected. After the first round, I was given the additional votes from the first round," Harris said. "And winning this is just the beginning."
"Votes change. You've got to move the process along," Cucco said. "I think Ms. Harris will do a wonderful job as the Democratic candidate."
If Harris were to win, she would be the first African-American in the city to represent a majority white district.
There is also a Republican candidate in this race. Lucretia Regina-Potter will face off against Harris on Election Day, November 3.