#Councilman Ritchie Torres takes early lead in 15th Congressional District primary

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New York City Council Member Ritchie Torres
AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

Councilman Ritchie Torres broke out to an early lead Tuesday night in the hotly contested battle for an open Bronx congressional seat, as the openly gay city lawmaker appeared to turn away a challenge from one of New York’s most high-profile conservative politicians.

Torres led the crowded field to replace retiring Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) with 30 percent of the votes cast during early voting and Primary Day, according to returns from 61 percent of precincts.

Assemblyman Michael Blake (D-The Bronx) was in second place with 18 percent of the vote, after scoring a slew of high-profile endorsements from black leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC).

Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., a conservative firebrand and minister best known for making homophobic statements, trailed in third place with just 15 percent of the vote.

Former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverto had notched just 4 percent.

However, it will remain unclear who actually won the contest for at least another week as most New Yorkers opted for absentee ballots to avoid lines at the polls and possible exposure to COVID-19.

Under state law, the city’s Board of Elections will not begin to tally the absentee ballots for another week. Citywide, it appeared that roughly two-thirds of the vote was cast by mail.

Serrano had represented New York’s 14th Congressional District — which covers the south and central Bronx and includes some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods — since 1990. Last year, he revealed he was suffering from Parkinson’s Disease and announced he would retire, ending his three-decade-long tenure in Washington D.C.

One city lawmaker, Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-The Bronx) was already eyeing the seat when Serrano announced his departure. Diaz Sr., who is also the father of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., jumped in too.

That kicked off a fierce primary race to represent one of the most heavily Democratic districts in Congress that featured one of the city’s most prominent LGBT lawmakers and one of its most vocal social conservatives.

Liberal activists mounted a campaign against Diaz Sr., worried he could slip through the factious field and into Congress.

“We have a known homophobe who is running for Congress who doesn’t represent the values of New York voters. He has a history of anti-LGBT rhetoric and votes,” said Alphonso David, a former top aide and legal counsel to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as well as the president of one of the nation’s largest LGBT groups, the Human Rights Campaign.