During the last election cycle, the national conversation was centered on Democratic victories in Kentucky, Ohio and Virginia. However, in deep-blue New York, downstate Republicans notched victories in Long Island, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx – yes, you read that correctly, in the Boogie-Down Bronx, in the same district represented by Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, by first-time candidate, Kristy Marmorato, a life-long Bronxite and healthcare professional, married with a young daughter, in the Morris Park section of the Bronx.
Marmorato, sworn in last month, is the first Bronx Republican sent to the City Council in over 40 years. Instead of seeing this as a positive sign of bipartisan representation, in a borough where most election decisions are made by Democratic committee members in closed-door meetings, high-brow liberal New York Magazine lamented Marmorato’s landslide victory over incumbent City Councilwoman Marjorie Velazquez in a district with a 62% Democratic advantage, written by columnist Errol Lewis, under the headline, “How a NYC Councilwoman Lost Her Job for Doing the Right Thing.” (New York Magazine, Nov. 11, 2023)
