Richardson Reelected In NYC's 43rd Assembly District

Updated 11 p.m.

BROOKLYN, NY — Assembly Member Diana Richardson has won a third full term representing Brooklyn's 43rd Assembly District, according to NY1.

Richardson earned nearly 31,000, or more than 88 percent of, votes as of 11:49 p.m. on Tuesday, according to NY1, where all precincts had reported their results. Her opponent, Menachem Raitport, had nearly 12 percent of the vote.

The results do not include absentee ballots, which the BOE will begin counting next week.

The general election race comes after Richardson defeated ousted State Senator Jesse Hamilton in the Democratic primary in June. Richardson's near 14,500 votes beat out Hamilton's almost 5,000.

Richardson was first elected to represent the 43rd District in a special election in 2015, when the former assembly member resigned to join Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration.

Her challenger, Raitport, was among the candidates that also tried to fill the seat.

Raitport, known as "Mendy," is a Crown Heights father of eight and local butcher, according to a profile for the 2015 election. This year marks the third time Raitport has run in the strongly-Democratic 43rd District. He also ran for the 20th Senate district in 2014.

Should Richardson win, it would be her third full term in office. She ran unopposed in 2016 and 2018.

Neither candidate responded to requests from Patch to fill out a candidate profile questionnaire.

Richardson most recently made headlines when she defended corporal punishment of her child in a 15-minute tirade on Facebook Live, which she also used in the primaries to spread her message.

The video was in response to the media outlet City & State's placement of Richardson on a list of politicians who have “crashed, burned and flamed out,” specifically pointing to a 2017 criminal case when Richardson was accused of beating her 12-year-old son with a broomstick in their analysis.

“They had the nerve to put Diana Richardson on the crash, burn elected official list,” Richardson said, referring to herself in the third person.

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.

Velazquez's race was one of two congressional races in Brooklyn Patch is following closely. Check out results for the 9th Congressional District, where Rep. Yvette Clarke is seeking a fourth term, here.

The 9th Congressional District includes Crown Heights, Flatbush, Midwood, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Sheepshead Bay and more.