It’s officially unofficial, but at the end of the day and fully eight days after the Sept. 13 primary Mathylde Frontus edged out Ethan Lustig-Elgrably to become the Democratic nominee for the vacant 46th District state assembly seat.
“Today, after counting all Absentee and affidavit ballots, we are happy to announce that Mathylde Frontus has won the Democratic primary by 55 votes. We ran a campaign powered by the people of the 46th Assembly district and are extremely proud of our team and the voters who turned out! Thank you” said Frontus’ campaign manager Joe Herrera, who along with Frontus’ lead consultant, Greg Mayers, spent the better part of the week at the city’s board of elections counting all the ballots.
“We shocked a lot of people but we did it,” said a tired but jubilant Frontus, who holds a PhD in public policy from Columbia and has been living in Coney Island since she has been seven-years-old.
Frontus said both Coney Island Democratic District leaders Mark Treyger and Delia Schack – both who supported Lustig-Elgrably – reached out to congratulate her as did City Council Member Justin Brannan on the Bay Ridge side of the district, which also includes Dyker Heights and a small part of Brighton Beach.
Sources say that what tipped the election Frontus way, besides running a people powered campaign, was her winning the Bay Ridge side of the district, which had a larger turnout due to the Andrew Gounardes/Ross Barkan state senate Democratic primary. Frontus also won several election districts in the heart of Coney Island while losing the more Russian pockets of Luna Park, Trump Towers and Sea Gate.
But with the race now over, Frontus said its time to bring the Democratic Party together and that includes healing any old wounds between the Coney Island and Bay Ridge sides of the district.
“There is no animosity. I really wanted to lift up people during this campaign, and how can I do politics differently. I see it as an experiment. I want people working with me as I serve them. I want them feeling like they have access to me and have an impact,” Frontus said.
As for her upcoming race against Republican Steve Saperstein in the general election, Frontus said she’s heard good things about him and that he’s a hard-working person.
It will likely come down to do the people want to be represented by a Democrat or do the people want to be represented by a Republican, and the people will decide, as always,” she said.
The general election is set for Nov. 6.
