Gounardes poised to challenge Golden in State Senate race

Beats Barkan by 15 percentage points

September 14, 2018 By Helen Klein, John Alexander, Jaime DeJesus, Paula Katinas & Meaghan McGoldrick Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Andrew Gounardes. Photo courtesy of the Gounardes campaign

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Claiming victory in the Sept. 13 Democratic state Senate primary, Democrat Andrew Gounardes is heading toward a showdown with incumbent Republican state Sen. Marty Golden on Nov. 6.

Gounardes, an attorney now serving as counsel to Borough President Eric Adams, handily defeated journalist Ross Barkan, who ran to his left, in the Democratic primary in the 22nd S.D., which encompasses Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Manhattan Beach, Gerritsen Beach, Marine Park and Sheepshead Bay.

Gounardes, who ran against Golden six years ago, declared victory in front of cheering supporters in the back room at Firefly, 7003 Third Ave.

“I am so proud to be our Democratic nominee for state Senate in the 22nd district,” he told the crowd. “Tomorrow we’re going to wake up and we have 52 days until our election. And don’t believe what anyone says. Over the next 52 days, we are going run a camp to transform southern Brooklyn, take this seat back and take the state Senate back.”

While the crowd briefly chanted “down with Marty,” Gounardes reminded them what the goal of the campaign was.

“What we’re fighting for in this campaign isn’t just bragging rights,” he said. “It’s not just another notch on a belt. What we are fighting for is to make real improvements in everyday people’s lives.”

Gounardes boasted such priorities as education, safe streets, mass transit, and for a society “in which people do not have to sell cupcakes to pay for their cancer treatments,” or hold down “two to three jobs to provide for their families. That’s why we’re going to win this November.”

Barkan conceded shortly before 10 p.m. Unofficial results have Gounardes with 57.9 percent of the vote (8,551) and Barkan with 42.1 percent (6,229).

He told supporters, “This wasn’t about a campaign. It wasn’t about a victory because that’s not who we are. We were here to bring a movement, to bring people together, to fight for issues we care about. We never compromised our values. We never compromised our vision. We stood up to an establishment that never wanted us to win. While the establishment won this round, that doesn’t mean we all disappear. It doesn’t mean we don’t stop working. It doesn’t mean we don’t stop fighting.”

Golden first won his state Senate seat in 2002.