Lee Defeats Niou in Dem Primary Race for NYS Senate

In a battle that pitched two progressive against one another, Grace Lee won a Democratic primary that will likely send her from the State Assembly to the State Senate. She earned 59 percent of the vote against challenger Yuh-Line Niou, who pulled 39 percent.

The preliminary results in the light-turnout election, which still must be certified by the Board of Elections, gave Lee a more than 7,000 vote advantage, or 17,756 votes against Niou’s 10,595.

Lee who started her career on Wall Street and started a skin care company before entering politics is considered a virtual lock to succeed State Senator Brian Kavanagh, who is retiring after a 20-year career in local politics including the last decade in the NYS Senate. Lee will befacing Republican candidate Jason Murillo—also known as “DJ Loudmouth”—in a November general election contest.

The 27th Assembly district is heavily democratic; 65 percent of the voters are registered Democrats, compared to only 10.1 percent who are registered Republicans and 20.8 percent who are registered independents.

The race may have come down to the candidate’s respective ground games and name recognition. Niou is a former Assembly Member who opted to run for Congress in New York’s crowded District 10 four years ago, in a race won by Dan Goldman. Although she had defeated Lee when they first clashed head to head in an Assembly race, she has not held elected office in the four years since. Lee succeeded Niou in the Assembly four years ago.

Lander, who just trounced Goldman in the Democratic primary, had endorsed Niou. She also had the endorsement of the Working Families Party and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders but it was not enough to tip the field. Lee had the backing of the current office holder Brian Kavanagh as well as most establishment Dems including Gov. Kathy Hochul, City Council Speaker Julie Menin, Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal, and New York Attorney General Letitia James. Lee also had advantage of being a current elected official with the ability to call press conferences to tout developments such as new 9-11 health funding or getting rent concessions for people in Battery City Park. She also launched a pilot program with the Henry Street Settlement to distribute Ring video doorbells to seniors living in public housing on the Lower East Side and was co-chair of the Asian Pacific American Task Force in the Assembly.

Both had come out against building a jail in Chinatown and have joined calls to tax the rich.

Niou and Lee are both progressives and ran on similar policy positions for this primary, both prioritizing affordability but citing different strategies. Niou promised to push to expand universal healthcare; champion New York For All, which would prohibit state and local authorities from collaborating with ICE; advocate for a $30 minimum wage by 2030; and fortify affordable housing, such as via the creation of a Social Housing Development Authority, which would create more publicly-owned rental units. Niou also ran as the candidate for the Working Families Party. Notable endorsements came from Brad Lander, Bernie Sanders, and Cynthia Nixon.

At Niou’s campaign’s watch party in the financial district, volunteer Pete Sikora said one thing that has distinguished Niou has been her boldness. She was “genuinely politically brave” when she stood up to former governor Andrew Cuomo in Albany, he said, whereas Lee didn’t have the same record of challenging powerful establishment figures. Sikora expected a close race.

But as votes came in and the wide margin favoring Lee emerged early on, the mood grew somber. There were consolatory hugs but not much talking among the staff or volunteers who showed up in support.

Jo Lew, lifelong Chinatown resident and video manager for Niou campaign, said the result was upsetting but not altogether surprising. She said Lee’s campaign had a lot of funds and institutional backing behind it, calling the contest a “titan-versus-the-little-guy” situation.

When the race was called, Niou thanked her team, which she said had knocked on 90,000 doors in the district, and offered words of encouragement: “Disappointment is not defeat,” said Niou who immigrated to the US from Taiwan as an infant and move to NYC to pursue her masters at Baruch College. She is also on the autistic spectrum and had she won would have been the first known neurodivergent NYS Senator. She said the election helped to build a movement, even if it didn’t have the desired immediate result. “The conversations don’t end tonight.” She also reminded everyone to tip their bartenders.

Lee has said that “her top priority” in the State Senate will be making New York City more affordable, which she wants to accomplish by cutting housing and childcare costs. She has also vowed to “stand up” to “powerful interests,” such as abusive landlords and “corporations that nickel-and-dime working families.”

Local State Assembly Members Keith Powers and Tony Simone—as well as City Council Member (and former Assembly Member) Harvey Epstein—showed up to support Lee at a primary night watch party, which was attended by Our Town Downtown and held at Bar Venice.

Not long after polls closed, Lee arrived and stepped up to a podium, where she was flanked by her husband and three children on one side and Kavanagh on the other.

In opening remarks, Kavanagh told the room of assembled volunteers and supporters that Lee’s primary win had transformed his impending retirement, turning it from “a bittersweet moment” into a simply “sweet” one.

“Grace Lee is somebody who knows how to dig in, who understands what her community needs—not just standing up to the powers that be, not just criticizing the status quo, but finding creative and effective ways to change the status quo,” Kavanagh said.

“We never acted as though this seat belonged to us,” Lee said. “Public service is not a consolation prize. It is not a fall-back option. It is a privilege. When something is a privilege, you earn it, by working hard.”

“Together, we did that, by making 115,000 phone calls. We knocked over 30,000 doors,” she added. “We had thousands of conversations with neighbors about how to make New York more affordable, safer, and a place where working families can really thrive.”