Myrie Defeats Incumbent Jesse Hamilton in 20th Senatorial District Primary
In a stunning upset that was an outright rebuke of the incumbent’s decision to become a member of the Independent Democratic Conference (IDC), a group of eight breakaway Dems that has enabled Republicans to maintain control of the New York State Senate, challenger Zellnor Myrie defeated sitting state Sen. Jesse Hamilton in the 20th Senatorial District primary.
On Thursday, September 13, unofficial tallies had Myrie receiving 56 percent of the vote (22,601) while Hamilton received a bit over 45 percent (19,138) with 98.12 percent of the votes reported.
Of the eight members of the IDC, which was in existence from January, 2011 through April 16, 2018, six went down to defeat. The other IDC members to lose their primaries were state Sen. Jeff Klein (the leader of the IDC), state Sen. Tony Avella, state Sen. Jose Peralta, state Sen. Marisol Alcantara and state Sen. David Valesky; only state Sen. Diane Savino, who represents portions of Brooklyn and Staten Island, and state Sen. David Carlucci succeeded in turning back challenges.