Albany Common Councilor Gabriella Romero of the 6th Ward declared victory in the Democratic primary for the New York state Assembly’s 109th District race Tuesday night.
Supporters cheered as Romero won the six-way Democratic primary with nearly 30 percent of the vote, according to unofficial returns.
“I am so humbled and so excited and just so full of pride and excitement for my district,” said Romero.
Romero ran against three other common councilors and two Albany County legislators.
Discussing the issues, the 31-year-old public defender said housing is a chief concern.
“We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, so making sure that we find creative solutions to the housing crisis we’re in is top priority to me,” said Romero.
The Democratically-dominated district includes the City of Albany, as well as the Towns of Guilderland and New Scotland. Incumbent Assemblywoman Pat Fahy is running for state Senate, hoping to replace retiring longtime Senator Neil Breslin, a fellow Democrat.
Romero’s campaign earned the support of the progressive Working Families Party. Nina Luo is Campaigns Director at New York WFP.
“I’ve been involved in a lot of campaigns and Gabriella and is one of the hardest-working candidates I’ve had the pleasure of organizing with and she stands really clearly for our progressive issues and is the clear progressive choice in this race,” said Luo.
Among the crowd supporting Romero Tuesday night was Ibrahim Pedrinan, President of the Albany County Central Federation of Labor and American Postal Workers Union Local 390.
“Now, we’ve also got other labor-friendly folks that are in this race, and that’s one of the reasons why this is such a tight race and what makes it so difficult, but Gabriella has really put labor at the forefront at what she’s trying to do, who she’s trying to learn from, and where she’s trying to go with her legislation,” said Pedrinan.
The second-place finisher in the race was Ginnie Farrell, a fellow Albany Common Councilor. Farrell had earned the support of incumbent Fahy, for whom she previously worked.
“I ran the campaign that I wanted to run. And that, at this stage, is the best thing that you can ask for,” said Farrell.
Third was Dustin Reidy, an Albany County legislator from Guilderland, who was also proud of this team’s effort.
“We ran a positive campaign and the general tenor of how we ran…I wouldn’t change that for anything,” said Reidy.
Also in the race were Albany Common Councilors Owusu Anane and Jack Flynn, and Albany County legislator Andrew Joyce.
Romero will now run against Republican Alicia Purdy in November.
