By Dan Murphy
Congressman Eliot Engel scored a big re-election victory Tuesday in a federal primary for his seat in the 16th District, which includes most of southern and mid-Westchester and parts of the Bronx. Unofficial results have Engel with 72 percent of the vote – far ahead of the other three Democrats that challenged him.
As of Wednesday, Jonathan Lewis had 19 percent of the vote, Derickson Lawrence had 5 percent, and Joyce Briscoe had 4 percent.
Because the district is overwhelmingly Democratic, Engel will serving his 16th term in the House of Representatives once re-elected in November. He thanked the voters on election night for their restoring their faith in him and, as he likes to say, “renewing my contract for another two years.”
For Lewis, who spent more than $500,000 in the Democratic primary, even if he faced Engel alone he would not have come close to victory. Lawrence and Briscoe both showed that it is difficult to dethrone a 30-year incumbent member of Congress.
Engel’s district now includes Yonkers, which makes up 20 percent of the entire district. It is now by far the most important part of any candidate’s campaign, and it is the first time in many years that Yonkers can say it now plays the most important role in electing the congressman from the 16th District.
Engel spent his time and resources in Yonkers; the other three candidates may have tried but didn’t respect the city, its people and local media. A word to the wise for anyone interested in running in this district in the future… Yonkers matters!
The impact of the progressive, indivisible voter did not play a role in Engel’s re-election; or those voters were just satisfied with Engel’s voting record.
One of Engel’s long-serving Democratic colleagues from New York City was defeated on the same night that Engel won handily. Congressman Joe Crowley, the third-ranking Democrat in the House leadership, and someone rumored to be the next Democratic speaker of the house if Nancy Pelosi were ever to step aside, lost his primary to an unknown opponent, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a 28-year-old Latina running her first campaign.
We give credit to Engel for riding the blue wave to re-election.
