Epstein Wins Big, Racks Up Nearly 80% of Vote in CD2 Race

Harvey Epstein pulled nearly 80 percent of the vote against three challengers in City Council District 2, which takes in the East Village, parts of the Lower East Side, Midtown East, Union Square, Midtown South, Gramercy, and Kips Bay.

Epstein, who based his campaign on affordable housing, healthcare, support for immigrants, and on being a bulwark against President Donald Trump, had backing from the Working Families Party. The Republican/Conservative challenger, Jason Murillo, was pulling in 16.4 percent of the vote. Murillo said he was encouraged because he is the only Republican/Conservative candidate ever to receive matching funds in CD2, which is overwhelmingly Democratic. He says he plans to run for the soon-to-be-vacant Assembly seat.

”It’s a great day for New York,” Epstein said at his watch party on election night at Linen Hall in the East Village. “Congratulations to Zohran Mamdani, and thank you, CD2, for giving me nearly 80 percent of your votes.”

Epstein pulled in 78.3 percent of the votes in the CD2 race, which meant he was running about 10 points ahead of the vote tally racked up by his predecessor, Carlina Rivera, in her most recent re-election bid in 2023. Rivera was hounded in the primary that year by Allie Ryan, who among other things was angry about Rivera’s support for the East River Resiliency plan, which ended up chopping down hundred of trees along the East River and closing huge stretches of playgrounds and ballfields.

But that seems to have faded as an issue in the current race. Ryan, running as an independent, pulled only 3.2 percent of the vote in this year’s election.

The other challenger, Gail Schargel, running on the Clean Safe Street Party, pulled in only 2.1 percent of the vote.

It was a major advancement from the ranked-choice primary in which Epstein ended up with 56.8 percent of the vote, and the No. 2 challenger, community activist Sarah Batchu, ended up with 43.2 percent.

Once the general election result is certified by the Board of Elections—expected to happen in about a week—Epstein will be sworn in to take the vacant seat.

At that point, Governor Kathy Hochul would have to set a date for a primary and a new special election. But whoever wins in that contest will have to immediately start campaigning again for the 2026 Democratic primary, set for June 23, and next year’s general election, set for Nov. 6.