Tannousis has big lead in 64th A.D. primary

June 25, 2020 Jaime DeJesus

Photos courtesy of Michael Tannousis Facebook and Marko Kepi Facebook

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While absentee ballots have yet to be counted, Michael Tannousis ended election night with a commanding lead over his opponent Marko Kepi in the 64th Assembly District Republican primary.

As of 6:15 a.m. on Wednesday, according to the Board of Elections, Tannousis had 61 percent of the vote (3,063) while Kepi had 38.7 percent (1,942).

Tannousis and Kepi are trying to win the nomination for the seat held by Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis, who is running for Congress.

Although he didn’t declare himself the winner, Tannousis, a former Staten Island assistant district attorney, showed confidence.

“I am grateful to my fellow Republicans in the 64th Assembly District for entrusting me with the nomination of our party,” he told this paper. “I will continue to campaign for common-sense policies that promote job growth and keep our communities safe, and I believe that when every vote is counted that we will remain victorious.”

The Kings and Richmond County Committees of the Conservative Party congratulated Tannousis on a Republican primary victory.

“I want to congratulate Nicole Malliotakis and Michael Tannousis on their victories in the Republican primary,” said Kings County Chairwoman Frances Vella-Marrone. “The Conservative Party is proud to have them on our line and we now stand as a unified team ready to take on their liberal Democrat opponents. I am confident that together we will be victorious in November.”

Kepi, a U.S. Marine, was not ready to concede and wants every absentee ballot counted.

“I want to thank all of my supporters for all of the hard work and dedication and my opponent for a very tough race,” he said. “With over 2,600 votes yet to be counted, we believe the race is too close to call and that every vote must be counted. In the end, we believe we will be victorious because of the hard work our volunteers put in reaching out to the voters affected by the COVID-19 epidemic. This is an unprecedented situation and we look forward to victory in this race and a united party in November.”