Kevin Riley: Campaigns and Elections
2020 Special Election
Riley's first campaign was for the December 22, 2020 special election in Council District 12, triggered by the October 2020 expulsion of Andy King from the City Council by a 48-2 vote . King had faced a third ethics committee investigation, this time for sexual harassment, a kickback scheme, and failure to comply with previous disciplinary sanctions . King attempted to designate Brian Melford as his preferred successor, but Melford's paperwork was filed too late for ballot inclusion . The special election was a three-way race among Riley, Pamela Hamilton-Johnson, and public defender Neville Mitchell . Riley ran with the endorsement of Speaker Heastie, several Bronx Democratic elected officials, and multiple labor unions . He declared victory on election night with over 65 percent of in-person ballots, a margin wide enough that absentee ballot counting was unlikely to change the outcome . He was sworn in on January 6, 2021 .
2021 Democratic Primary and General Election
Riley faced his first primary as an incumbent in June 2021, the first cycle to use ranked-choice voting in New York City Council elections. Hamilton-Johnson, who had run against Riley in the special election, challenged him again. Riley secured his nomination through ranked-choice tabulation, maintaining at least 50 percent of the vote through all three rounds of counting, while Hamilton-Johnson reached approximately 40 percent in the final round . Riley won the November 2021 general election to secure his first full term .
2023 Democratic Primary and General Election
Due to redistricting and 2020 changes to the New York City Charter, council members elected in 2021 and 2023 served abbreviated two-year terms rather than the standard four years . In the June 2023 primary, Riley faced challengers Aisha Ahmed and Pamela Hamilton-Johnson for a third consecutive cycle. Riley won decisively with approximately 82 percent of the vote, with 5,648 first-choice ballots to his name, while neither challenger reached 1,000 votes . District 12 recorded the highest voter turnout of any Bronx Council primary that cycle, with 6,860 ballots cast, continuing a pattern of strong engagement in the district . In the November 2023 general election, Riley defeated Republican Dewayne Lee with 92.8 percent of the vote .
2025 Democratic Primary and General Election
The 2025 cycle marked the first time Andy King appeared on a ballot since his 2020 expulsion. King had attempted to run in 2023 but was initially removed from the ballot by the Board of Elections over term-limit questions, briefly reinstated by a Manhattan Supreme Court justice who ruled in his favor, and then removed again later that month . In 2025, King successfully petitioned onto the ballot and mounted a direct challenge to Riley in the June 24 Democratic primary. Riley won with 75.4 percent of first-choice votes (13,662 ballots) to King's 24 percent (4,343 ballots), with 119 write-in votes . City and State New York characterized King's challenge as a longshot comeback bid that ultimately failed . In the November 2025 general election, Riley won his first full four-year term with 90.4 percent of the vote (28,065 ballots), defeating Republican Franchie Muniz Sr. (6.6 percent, 2,035 ballots) and Conservative/United Alliance candidate James Washington-Ward (2.8 percent, 873 combined ballots) . The four-year term extends through 2029 .
Campaign Finance
Riley participated in the New York City Campaign Finance Board's public matching funds program for his initial 2020 special election run . He has run in subsequent cycles under the same public financing framework. Detailed fundraising figures for individual cycles are filed with the NYC Campaign Finance Board.