Farah N Louis has won the election to be the city’s newest Councilwoman and will fill the seat vacated by now Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, after winning the special election on May 14.
Louis recieved 42 percent of the votes, She earned 3861 votes out of a total 9,235 ballots cast with more than 99 percent of scanners counted by Wednesday morning.
The councilwoman-elect will take up the seat in City Hall to represent the 45th district, which includes parts or all of Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands, Midwood, and Canarsie.
Farah worked as Williams’s deputy chief of staff for six years when he was a councilman as did former staffer Monique Chandler-Waterman, who came in second with 2,790 votes, just north of 30 percent.
The two front runners soared ahead of the other candidates, with Jovia Radix — daughter of New York Supreme Court judge Sylvia Hinds-Radix — coming in third at a mere nine percent of the vote and 849 ballots cast.
In a unexpected move Williams passed over Louis by endorsing Monique Chandler-Waterman, despite the latter having worked for him as Deputy chief of of staff
But the incoming legislator had the backing of multiple local political heavyweights and organizations that have clashed with the public advocate in the past.
They include Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte (D-Flatbush), the police union the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, , Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein (D-Flatlands), and the late former Councilman Lew Fidler,and strong support from Councilman Chaim Deutsch and Councilman Kalman Yeger who campaigned hard for her in the Jewish community
Farah Louis who spend ten days in Israel with the Unity in Action team led by Mark Meyer Appel Founder of The Bridge proclaimed that her visit to the Wailing Wall and other religious sites in Israel sealed her decision to run for the Council seat in the 45th Council District
Mark Meyer Appel a early supporter of her candidacy was beaming with tears of joy as news of her win reached the campaign.Farah is a true leader and I am sure her call for unity and her strong commitment to justice will make all very proud to have her as our leader
Louis also received the endorsement of powerful Brooklyn Democratic Party boss Frank Seddio, who had previously thrown his support behind Williams’s Public Advocate campaign
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At her victory celebration Farah louis expressed thanks to all the diverse groups in her district who joined together in the getting out the message of unity and expressed her special thanks to the Jewish community who came out strongly by endorsing her candidacy
Jumaane Williams sent his congratulations to Louis on her victory on social media.
“Congratulations to @FarahNLouis Councilmember of the 45th District,” he wrote on Twitter.
Louis campaigned on stemming the displacement of locals by a new wave of developers and has advocated for what she calls “contextual zoning” that would mandate new buildings suit the neighborhood’s existing character and building sizes.
She also wants to reform the federally-mandated formula of the Area Median Income for determining so-called “affordable housing” to better reflect local communities.
The newcomer will serve out the remainder of the current term of the office and will soon have to revive her campaign to run again during the upcoming June primaries, followed by the general election in November for a two-year term ending in 2021.
Louis thanked her team and her voters for helping her to victory.
“This campaign has shown me the beauty, resiliency & power of this district,” she said on Twitter. “Every person who contributed, volunteered, voted & every person who offered a word of encouragement played an integral part in tonight’s outcome. It is my deepest honor to represent
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