Yusef Salaam, one of five black and Latino men whose convictions were overturned in the 1989 rape and assault of a female jogger in Central Park, confirmed his victory in a highly contested Harlem city council race, according to The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Mr Salaam, 49, had a commanding lead on election day, with more than twice as many votes as his closest rival, Inez Dickens, a state MP. The New York City Board of Elections began counting votes by ranked choice on Wednesday, and the new table of ranked choices now shows Mr. Salaam with nearly 64 percent of the vote to Ms. Dickens’ 36 percent.
“This is a victory for justice, dignity and decency for the Harlem community we love,” Mr Salaam said in a statement. “It is a victory not to turn our backs on those in need, to say that we are the keepers of our brothers and sisters and to say that the only way for all of us to prosper is to believe in the promise which we all have.”
In addition to Ms Dickens, Mr Salaam defeated another sitting member of the Assembly, Al Taylor, who is serving his sixth year in the legislature. Mr Salaam is not expected to face a serious challenger in November, if any.
He succeeds Kristin Richardson Jordan, a Democratic Socialist who was one of the most left-wing members of the City Council. She dropped out of the primary in May, but her name remained on the ballot and she will serve out her term.
All three candidates were moderates who sought to distance themselves from Ms. Jordan’s far-left views on issues such as policing. Mr. Salaam saw the election as an opportunity for a generational change in Harlem, which was once the center of black political power in New York City but had ceded that title to Brooklyn.
During the race, Mr. Salaam regularly about his conviction, acquittal and prosecution by former President Donald J. Trump, who in 1989 placed full-page ads in DailyExpertNews and other newspapers calling for the death penalty in the Central Park jogger. case.
“Many doubted us along the way, but this was a campaign built on change, and voters overwhelmingly agreed with our vision for a better, stronger and more tolerant community,” Salaam said.
