2017 Primary Election: Index of Uncontested Incumbents

Of the 51 seats in the New York City Council, 18 incumbents are uncontested for their party’s nomination. Surprisingly, there is even one non-incumbent candidate running unopposed in the Democratic Primary for the open seat in CD 44 (not listed below). That means more than a third of the city’s legislative body is held by incumbents who do not face competition in their parties. In a city where the winner of the Democratic Party primary is almost assured to win the Council seat, this lack of competition amounts to a serious erosion of representative democracy.

Of the 5 incumbent Borough Presidents in New York City, only 1 is facing competition in his party, while all for 4 others are uncontested in the primaries. In addition, the City Comptroller and the Manhattan District Attorney are both uncontested in their party primaries. The names of candidates who are uncontested in the primary election will not appear on the primary election ballot.

The following incumbents are running uncontested in their primary elections for New York City Council, Borough President, District Attorney, and Comptroller.