David Siffert speaks at a candidate forum earlier this year. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
David Siffert squeaked by Jeannine Kiely to win the Democratic primary race for Lower Manhattan’s 66th State Assembly District.
.jpg "Jeannine Kiely narrowly lost in the six-candidate Democratic primary race for the State Assembly. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib")
Siffert, a lawyer, beat Kiely, his closest opponent in the six-candidate race, by just 15 votes out of 17,172 ballots cast. A hand recount on Wednesday did not change that. Kiely, who serves as chair of Community Board 2, had emerged 56 votes ahead of Siffert on primary night June 23, but ballots from 15% of the precincts had yet to be counted. With all votes tallied, Siffert topped her, just barely.
Assembly District 66 covers a large swath of Lower Manhattan’s west side, including Tribeca. Deborah Glick had represented the district for 35 years before announcing earlier this year that she would not run again. Glick gave Kiely her endorsement.
Siffert is a civil rights lawyer, NYU professor and the founding head of NYU’s State Government Initiative, which aids in the writing and passage of legislation. He has said the most urgent issues facing Assembly District 66 are the unaffordable cost of housing, human rights abuses of the Trump administration, and the risks of AI.