After her resounding victory in the preliminary New York Primary Elections results, Brooklyn Assemblywoman Diana Richardson has expressed profound gratitude to her supporters.
“Because of you and your support, we won a resoundingly large percentage of the early and Election Day vote, over 70 percent,” Richardson, the daughter of Aruban and St. Martin immigrants, told supporters in an email message.
“While absentee ballots won’t be counted until July 1, it is clear that the voters in Assembly District 43 have overwhelmingly thrown their support behind my campaign to continue the important work we are doing together,” added Richardson, who was challenged in the Primary for the 43rd Assembly District, in the heart of the Caribbean community in Brooklyn, by African American Jesse Hamilton, a former New York State Senator.
In Tuesday’s New York Primary Elections, Richardson defeated Jesse Hamilton, her lone challenger, by 43.0 percentage points.
With all 87 precincts reporting, Richardson received 8,885 votes, or 71.6 percent, to Hamilton’s 3,516 votes, or 28.4 percent.
Hamilton was defeated a year ago by New York State Sen. Zellnor Myrie, whose grandmother hailed from Jamaica, in the 20th Senatorial District in Brooklyn.
“The results of this Primary show that when the people elect a true blue Democrat, who is out there every day helping working people, who isn’t afraid to stand up to the real estate developers, big money interests and machine politics, they want to see that work continue,” Richardson said.
“The voters of the 43rd Assembly District know that I will never stop fighting for them, because they know my heart is in this community,” she added. “They have seen the results in Albany (New York State capital): protections for renters, criminal justice reform, police accountability, support for children, families, small business owners, healthcare and public education.
“As we work to ensure that every ballot is counted, I am honored and humbled to receive such strong support from across the 43rd Assembly District, and I can’t wait to go back to Albany to keep fighting for my constituents,” Richardson continued.
She said she had co-sponsored a long list of bills to increase police accountability and end police brutality.
“When it comes to protecting our community from COVID-19, I was one of the first electeds (elected officials) to push for increased local COVID-19 testing capacity, and launched food distribution Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday every week,” she said.
“From day one, I’ve been committed to bringing transparency and democracy to elected office, something our politics desperately needs right now,” Richardson added. “As a ‘true blue’ Democrat, with a ‘true blue’
record, I can’t wait to get back to Albany to keep working for our district.”
