Reelected NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright Hosting Roosevelt Island Virtual Town Hall Tuesday November 17 With RIOC President, Coler Community Activist, Cornell Tech Rep & RIHS President - Register To Attend And Submit Questions

NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright is hosting a virtual Roosevelt Island Town Hall meeting on Facebook Tuesday, November 17 starting at 7 PM.

Registration is required and you can submit questions in advance here.

Ms Seawright announced in a press release today:

Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright clinched a historic victory today as the first candidate ever to win re-election to the State legislature on an independent party ballot line, representing the Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island. 

With all precincts reporting and all absentee ballots counted, Seawright carried nearly 60 percent of the votes in the 76th Assembly District, handily defeating a Republican Party- endorsed candidate who also ran with the backing of the Liberal Party.  

A lifelong Democrat, Seawright faced an uphill battle after the Republican candidate challenged her numerous nominating petitions and a technical glitch left the Democratic Party line vacant. The three-term Assembly Member promptly announced she would “continue to fight to give voters a choice.” During this past July, a total of 5,160 voters —nearly five times more than required—signed petitions supporting Seawright to run on the ballot on the newly-established “Rise and Unite" party line. Seawright was also elected by the voters in the June Democratic Primary as a Joe Biden delegate to the National Democratic Convention.

After nearly a week of tabulations, the New York City Board of Elections reported that 48,266 votes were cast in the Assembly District with 58.8 percent carrying Seawright to victory on the Rise and Unite Party line. Seawright garnered more than 61 percent of all absentee and affidavit votes cast.

“We won because the voters responded so positively to our year-round advocacy for constituents and our highly visible district office services. They made the campaign a historic one, without precedent,” said Seawright. “The voters overcame the challenges of the pandemic and all its terrible upheavals. I am deeply grateful they voted for me on a new party line, over long- established major party lines.”

President-Elect Joe Biden led the list of leading Democrats to endorse the three-term legislator. Other high-profile supporters included former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, Speaker Carl Heastie, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, all Upper East Side elected officials, several Democratic Clubs, and labor organizations representing nurses, teachers, hospital workers, security guards, doormen, and transit workers.

“Mere words cannot express my heartfelt appreciation for the incredible support that sustained me throughout our re-election campaign,” Assembly Member Seawright said, adding now the real work begins.

“We will continue to fight for our community and its best interests. Just as we successfully obtained an additional voting site at Marymount Manhattan College from the New York City Board of Elections during the early voting period to alleviate horribly long lines, we will always champion the needs of the people of the Upper East Side, Yorkville, and Roosevelt Island.”

More on the NY State 76 Assembly District election results between Ms Seawright and Lou Puriafito, the Republican challenger, at this prior post.