Keith Powers: Campaigns and Elections
Keith Powers's electoral career runs from a competitive 2017 City Council win through safe re-elections, a notable boroughwide primary defeat in 2025, and a decisive 2026 special-election victory that took him to the State Assembly. This section walks through each campaign in order, with results and context, citing primary or strong secondary sources.
A note up front: Powers's record mixes safe district wins with one high-profile loss and one resounding special-election victory. The arc, surviving a Borough President defeat to win a path to Albany, reflects both the competitiveness of citywide-tier races and the strength of his local base.
2017: First election to the City Council
Powers first won office in 2017, running for the open 4th City Council District seat being vacated by the term-limited Daniel Garodnick 1. He won a competitive Democratic primary and then the general election, defeating Republican and Liberal Party candidates, and took office on January 1, 2018 2. The win launched his career in the East Side and Midtown district where he had grown up.
2021: Re-election
Powers won re-election to the City Council in 2021, securing a second term in the safely Democratic 4th District 3. His re-election positioned him to take on the Majority Leader role in the new Council term. The race was not seriously competitive in the heavily Democratic district.
2023: Re-election
Powers won a third term in 2023, defeating Brian Robinson in the general election 4. The win came amid his Council leadership tenure, and it would be his final Council term, as term limits barred a further run in 2025 4. His district elections were consistently safe, freeing him to build influence and pursue higher office.
2025: The Manhattan Borough President primary
Term-limited out of the Council, Powers ran in 2025 for Manhattan Borough President, seeking to succeed Mark Levine, who ran for Comptroller 5. He entered as a leading contender, competing in a three-way Democratic primary against State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Dr. Calvin Sun, and leading alongside Hoylman-Sigal in fundraising and endorsements; reform group Citizens Union ranked Powers first 5,6.
Powers lost the June 24, 2025 Democratic primary to Hoylman-Sigal. In the ranked-choice contest, first-round results showed Hoylman-Sigal with a clear lead (reported at roughly 49 percent to Powers's 38 percent, with Sun third), and Hoylman-Sigal was determined the winner after the ranked-choice rounds, going on to win the office 7,8. The defeat was the most significant electoral setback of Powers's career and ended his bid for boroughwide office.
December 2025: The Assembly nomination
Powers's return to elected politics came quickly. When Assembly member Harvey Epstein resigned the 74th Assembly District seat to join the City Council, the New York County (Manhattan) Democratic committee selected Powers as its nominee for the special election on December 10, 2025, choosing him over three other candidates with about 61 percent of the vote in a single round; Epstein endorsed him 9,10. Because there is no primary ahead of a special election of this kind, the county committee's selection effectively made Powers the heavy favorite in the strongly Democratic district 10.
February 2026: The Assembly special election
Powers won the February 3, 2026 special election for the 74th Assembly District in a landslide, taking about 82 percent of the vote against Republican and Conservative candidate Joseph Foley, in a low-turnout contest typical of special elections 11,12. He assumed office on February 4, 2026, succeeding Epstein and representing a district covering much of the East Side, Lower East Side, Gramercy, Murray Hill, Kips Bay, and Midtown East areas 11,13. The decisive win returned him to elected office months after his Borough President defeat.
June 2026: The primary ahead
Because the February 2026 special election filled only the remainder of Epstein's term, which runs through the end of 2026, Powers faced a regular Democratic primary in June 2026 to hold the seat for a full term 9. Several candidates who had sought the December nomination, along with at least one democratic-socialist challenger, expressed interest in running, setting up a potentially contested primary 9. As of the latest verified information, that primary was upcoming.
Electoral pattern and analysis
Powers's electoral record divides into three phases. His City Council career featured a competitive first win followed by safe re-elections in a reliably Democratic district, giving him a stable base. His one citywide-tier contest, the 2025 Borough President race, ended in a competitive loss to a strong, veteran rival. And his 2026 Assembly special election was a resounding win that returned him to office.
The pattern is that of a politician with a secure local base who fell short in a step up to boroughwide office but quickly found another path to continue his career. His decisive Assembly victory, secured through both party-establishment support and his local standing, demonstrated the durability of his East Side base even after a high-profile defeat, though the June 2026 primary represented the next test of his hold on the seat.
Summary of electoral results
2017 NYC Council (District 4): won open seat; took office January 2018.
2021 NYC Council (District 4): re-elected.
2023 NYC Council (District 4): re-elected (defeated Brian Robinson); final term (term-limited).
2025 Manhattan Borough President: lost Democratic primary to Brad Hoylman-Sigal (June 24, 2025).
2026 NY State Assembly (District 74): won special election (~82%) over Joseph Foley; took office February 4, 2026.
June 2026 Democratic primary: upcoming (to hold the seat for a full term).