Manual recounts have determined the winners of two Albany Common Council races that had been too close to call.
When the Democratic primary voting ended in the race for the 6th Ward council seat, Deirdre Brodie and Justin Perkins tallied 379 votes each.
Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner Alison McLean Lane says Wednesday's recount broke that tie. "The one prevailing candidate for common council member Ward Six was Deirdre Brodie," she said.
Brodie secured 384 votes to Perkins’ 381. Danny Boudreau finished with 271.
Meanwhile, in the 3rd Ward primary, just two votes separated the candidates after the primary, with Arthur Lumpkin leading James Davis, 321 to 319. The two ran to replace Joyce Love, who decided not to seek a third term.
The recount, 329 to 326, confirmed Lumpkin’s victory.
After winning in the 6th Ward, Brodie, a government solutions manager at a software company, tells WAMC she's ready to hit the ground running.
"We have four neighborhood associations. the BID, the Washington Park Conservancy. we have county partners and we're gonna have a fresh slate on the common council, a new mayor and a new city auditor. That is an incredible opportunity. I'm just so grateful to be part of, have a chance to be part of that over the next couple of years, especially with the governors historic $400 million coming down to our humble little city. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for me personally, and I think an opportunity of a generation for our city generally," said Brodie.
Perkins, a climate policy advocate, gets a possible second chance in November's general election: a spot on the Working Families Party line, if he decides to pursue it.
"I will make a decision before July 7, when that decision must be made," Perkins said.
The 6th Ward encompasses the Park South, Hudson/Park, Center Square, and Washington Park neighborhoods.
In the last two election cycles, the 6th ward contest has attracted multiple candidates and citywide interest. Gabriella Romero vacated the seat last year upon being elected to serve as 109th district Assembly member. Richard Conti, who currently holds the seat by appointment, opted not to run for another full team in the ward he represented from 1997 to 2021.
In the 3rd Ward race, Davis narrowed the margin in Wednesday’s recount, according to Commissioner McLean Lane.
"However, it was not enough to achieve to be the prevailing candidate. The prevailing candidate is Mr. Arthur Lumpkin for common council in Ward 3, and it was a robust count. Everybody paid a lot of attention," McLean Lane said.
Neither candidate could be reached for comment. Lumpkin, fresh off his single-vote victory, will face Working Families Party candidate Lukee Forbes in the November election.
The 3rd ward runs from Ontario to North Pearl Street, bordered mostly by Central and Washington avenues on its southwestern side and First Street from northwest to southeast. Its southeastern side is bordered by State Street on the southern end and Livingston Avenue at the northern end.
