Jabari Brisport Makes History In 25th State Senate District Race

BROOKLYN, NY — It's official — newcomer Jabari Brisport will head to the state senate for Brooklyn's 25th District.

The history-making candidate ran unopposed on Election Day for the seat after declaring victory in the Democratic primary in June, one of several socialist challengers to do so.

Brisport beat out Assembly Member Tremaine Wright for the Democratic nominee. He will be the first openly queer person of color to join the New York Legislature.

"My first interaction with the NY State Senate was trying to get them to pass same sex marriage around 11 years ago, and when it didn’t pass I really felt like I wasn’t being seen as a person, I felt like I was a second class citizen.” Jabari said on Tuesday. “It’s important to me that people like me, other queer people of color, feel like they’re seen and feel like they’re represented in NY politics.”

Before Election Day, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers had already cast their votes as the coronavirus crisis prompted an unprecedented level of mail-in and early voting.

Brooklyn saw the most early voters of any borough, with more than 373,000 people in the borough casting their ballots before Tuesday despite hours-long lines at overloaded poll sites. Mail-in ballots also went out to a large number of Brooklynites, albeit with some problems due to a printing error.

Some long lines and other polling site issues continued into Election Day, though most voters reported smooth sailing at the polls.