(JTA) — New York City Council candidate Thomas Lopez-Pierre, who blamed “greedy Jewish landlords” for the “ethnic cleansing” of black and Latino residents from Harlem was soundly defeated in a Democratic primary vote.
The incumbent councilman, Mark Levine, won nearly 75 percent of the vote to about 25 percent for Lopez-Pierre in the balloting Tuesday. Levine, who is a chair of the City Council’s Jewish Caucus, received 8,839 votes to 3,001 for Lopez-Pierre in a Manhattan district that includes much of West Harlem, Morningside Heights, part of the Upper West Side and Washington Heights.
New Yorkers went to the polls for primary elections for mayor and other local offices.
Mayor Bill de Blasio defeated several challengers, receiving nearly 75 percent of the vote, in the Democratic primary. He will face Republican State Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis of Staten Island and independent candidate Bo Dietl, a private detective, in the general election in November.
Mike Tolkin, a Jewish candidate and at 32 the youngest in the field of five vying for the Democratic nod, received 4.7 percent of the vote to finish third.
