Brooklyn, NY – Farah Louis Wins 45th District City Council Seat

Brooklyn, NY – A hotly contested race to fill an empty City Council seat has been unofficially called by the New York City board of elections, with Farah Louis beating out seven other contenders to represent the 45th District.

The district, which includes Midwood, Marine Park, parts of Flatbush, East Flatbush, Canarsie and Flatlands, had been previously represented by Jumaane Williams.

His departure this winter after being elected public advocate left a vacancy that initially had more than ten hopefuls initially eyeing a City Council run, a number that eventually was whittled down to eight.

Louis, a former deputy chief of staff for Williams, was seen by many as the front runner in the race.

She won over 30 endorsements, including that of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Kings County democratic chairman Frank Sedido, the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, City Council members Chaim Deutsch, Assemblywoman Helene Weinstein, and numerous members of the Flatbush Jewish community, among others.

While many expected Williams to endorse Louis, a longtime employee, he ultimately threw his support behind another of his former staffers, Monique Chandler-Waterman.

Louis responded to the snub by going on the offensive, telling the media that Williams won the City Council seat through her efforts and that he was to blame for many of the district’s issues, reported Bklyner (http://bit.ly/30m1f0M).

According to unofficial results by the New York City Board of Elections, Louis’s 3,861 votes represented 41.81 percent of the ballots cast. She was tailed by Chandler-Waterman, whose 2,790 votes comprised just over 30 percent of the total vote.

The 45th District has a large Caribbean community and a relatively small percentage of Jewish voters, with the only Jewish candidate in the race, Adina Sash, also known as Flatbush Girl on social media, receiving just 419 votes.

Louis found herself in the hot seat shortly before the election when news surfaced of an anti-Semitic remark that she retweeted nearly ten years ago, reported The Jewish Press (http://bit.ly/30k1hq7).

Louis apologized for her actions and released a formal statement saying that she did not realize at the time how insensitive her retweet was and that she has devoted considerable effort to building bridges with the Jewish community.

“I am a good friend, a proud supporter of all communities, and when elected I want to work on their priorities, because their priorities are my priorities,” said Louis.

Louis’s term will only run through the end of the calendar year. A June primary will decide which candidates will be facing off in the November election to complete the rest of Williams’ term in the City Council which extends through December 2021.