#Rep. Carolyn Maloney declares victory in June primary, says results were certified

New York Rep. Carolyn Maloney on Tuesday was finally deemed the winner of her tightly-contested Democratic primary race that was plagued by problems with mail-in ballots, her campaign announced.

The state Board of Elections’ final tally came six weeks after the primary, which pitted the incumbent Maloney against challenger Suraj Patel.

“I’m thrilled the voters of NY-12 have decided to return me to Congress for another term, with a decisive winning margin that clearly reflects the will of the voters,” Maloney said in a Tuesday statement declaring victory.

On Monday, Maloney’s race for New York’s 12th congressional district, which covers parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, caught the attention of President Trump, who called for a redo over the balloting bungle.

“There’s never been a push like this before for mail-in ballots and if you look at the New York congressional race which is a disaster, Carolyn, it’s been a total disaster,” Trump said.

“They’re six weeks into it now, they have no clue what’s going on. I think I can say right here and now I think you have to rerun that race because it’s a mess.”

Patel had claimed more than 12,000 mail-in votes were disqualified over issues with ballots, including lack of postcards. He, along with other primary candidates, lodged their complaints in a lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court.

A judge in the case on Monday ordered election officials to count thousands of mail-in ballots throughout the state that were declared invalid for not having a post-mark or arriving at offices shortly after the June 23 primary.

But despite the ruling, Maloney prevailed.

Maloney earlier Monday praised the judge’s decision, but said in a statement “the number [of ballots] involved cannot possibly affect the outcome of my primary election, which I won by a significant margin.”

The incumbent lawmaker called for Patel to drop the towel.

“I call upon Mr. Patel to do as almost every other losing candidate has done: concede that the voters have spoken and stop validating Trump’s undermining our democratic processes,” Maloney said.