Roosevelt Island and Upper East Side NY State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawrigh t declared victory last night in her re-election bid against Republican challenger Lou Puliafito.

According to a Seawright spokeperson, she declared victory to supporters at her campaign headquarters last night and sent out this thank you message

This was a long journey. We went from the deepest valley to the highest mountain top. The voters found us on the ballot and honored us with their support. We will continue to fight for the best interests of our community as we rise and unite to combat the impact of the pandemic in every way.

Ms Seawright ran on the Rise and Unite ballot line after she was denied the Democratic Party ballot line due to petitioning irregularities.

The NY State Board Of Elections reported these unofficial results for Seawright’s 76th Assembly District.

Seawright 16,151 votes (45.72%), Puliafito 13,163 votes (37.26%).

The NY State Board of Election results do not include absentee ballots which have not been counted yet.

The NYC Board of Elections reports 16,573 absentee ballots were returned by registered Democrats in the 76 AD and 2,159 absentee ballots returned by registered Republican in the 76 AD.The chart below shows absentee ballots requested and returned by registered voters in the 76 AD.

The Seawright spokesperson adds:

Putting aside the huge number democratic absentee ballots and the relatively few Republican ballots left to count, permit me to point out a bit of history that readers may find interesting.

Rebeccas victory in this race represents the first time an independent line candidate has defeated a major party candidate In this district serving the upper East side, Yorkville and Roosevelt Island. she faced many obstacles with the pandemic in the forefront of these. I believe its worth pointing out the historical significance of her achievement at this juncture when she has claimed victory.

Republican Lou Puriafito is not conceding.

Ms Seawright received 986 votes from Roosevelt Island residents on the Rise And Unite line (Column 4)

Mr Puliafito received 670 votes from Roosevelt Island residents,434 on the Republican Party line (Column 3) and 236 on the Liberal Party line (Column 5)