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7th Municipal Court District Committee of the Manhattan Democrats Nominates Onya Brinson for Civil Court

On Saturday, July 19, 2025, Members of the New York County Democratic Committee representing the 7th Municipal Court District met at 551 Fort Washington Avenue to nominate a candidate to run in the upcoming November 4th General Election for the vacant Civil Court seat in the district created by the State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul. The district covers West Harlem (including Morningside Heights), Washington Heights, Inwood, and portions of Central Harlem.

The 7th Municipal Court District Committee of the New York County Democratic Party voted 59% to 41% to nominate Onya Brinson to run on the Democratic line in the November ballot. Ms. Brinson is the Principal Court Attorney for the Hon. Lisa A. Sokoloff of the New York Supreme Court, New York County. She previously served as Assistant General Counsel to DC37, New York City’s largest union. Ms. Brinson is a member of the Board of Directors of the New York County Lawyers Association. Ms. Brinson received a B.A. from Spelman College and a J.D. from the City University of New York School of Law. On July 10th, the New York County Democratic Party’s 2025 Civil Court Independent Screening Panel found Onya Brinson most highly qualified to be a Judge of the Civil Court.

The Manhattan Democratic Party is grateful to Criminal Court Judge Keshia Espinal for her candidacy for the nomination. Additionally, the Manhattan Democratic Party expresses its thanks to the over 150 County Committee Members who turned out to choose our Party’s nominee. A special thanks to District Leaders Mariama James, Paula Diamond Roman, Curtis Arluck, William Allen, Luis Ordonez, Maria Ordonez, Earnestine Bell-Temple, Maria Luna, Robert Jackson, Mariel De La Cruz, and Manny De Los Santos, who were present and assisted with the meeting, as well as the Manhattan Democratic Party’s 3rd Vice Chair Johanna Garcia. The Manhattan Democratic Party also expresses its gratitude to all of the bar associations and nonprofits who designated panelists to serve on this year’s Independent Screening Panel.

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3rd Municipal Court District Committee of the Manhattan Democrats Nominates Eric Wursthorn for Civil Court

On Monday, July 14, 2025, Members of the New York County Democratic Committee representing the 3rd Municipal Court District met at 459 W 26th Street to nominate a candidate to run in the upcoming November 4th General Election for the vacant Civil Court seat in the district created by the State Legislature and Governor Kathy Hochul. The district covers Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, and portions of the Upper West Side and the West Village.

The 3rd Municipal Court District Committee of the New York County Democratic Party voted unanimously to nominate Eric J. Wursthorn to run on the Democratic line on the November ballot. Mr. Wursthorn is a Court Attorney and Referee in Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, having previously served as Principal Court Attorney for the Hon. Justice Lynn Kotler of the New York Supreme Court, New York County, Civil Term. Mr. Wursthorn is a member of the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar’s LGBTQ+ Law Section, a member of the LGBT Bar Association of New York and is Vice Chair of the American Bar Association’s International Human Rights Committee. Mr. Wursthorn received a B.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from New York Law School. On July 10th, the New York County Democratic Party’s 2025 Civil Court Independent Screening Panel found Eric J. Wursthorn most highly qualified to be a Judge of the Civil Court.

The Manhattan Democratic Party is grateful to the over 75 County Committee Members who turned out in the pouring rain to choose our Party’s nominee. A special thanks to District Leaders Mariama James, Jen Hoppe, Layla-Law Gisiko, David Warren, Paul Devlin, Yvette Powell, Rob Gottheim, John Wahlmeier, and Pat Still, who were present and assisted with the meeting. The Manhattan Democratic Party also expresses its gratitude to all of the bar associations and nonprofits who designated panelists to serve on this year’s Independent Screening Panel.

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Minutes: February 7th County Committee Nomination for Special Election of Assembly Member

For a brief video of how this process works, check out Secretary Yee’s “The Election You Never Heard Of“.

I. Meeting called to order by Jeanine Johnson at 3:05PM

II. Temporary Officer Appointments

  • Credentials chair Cathleen McCadden

  • Chief Teller Domenico Minerva

III. Credentials Chair Report

  • Quorum of 30% present

  • Vacancies

    • ED 13: 2 vacancies

    • ED 14: 1 vacancy

    • ED 15: 1 vacancy

    • ED 37: 2 vacancies

    • ED 38: 1 vacancy due to member not living in District

    • ED 43: 1 vacancy

    • ED 61: 1 vacancy due to member not living in District

    • ED 62: 1 vacancy due to member not living in District

    • ED 67: 1 vacancy

  • Jennie Low moves to approve the report

    • Seconded by Pedro cardi

  • Report approved

IV. Election of Permanent Officers

  • Chair

    • Paul Newell nominated Jeanine Johnson for Chair

    • Justin Yu seconds

    • Jeanine Johnson is elected by voice vote

  • Secretary

    • Karen Blatt nominates Ben Yee secretary

    • Alice Cancel seconds

    • Ben Yee is elected by voice vote

V. Adoption of Rules

  • Domenico Minerva moves to adopt the rules

  • Chung Seto seconds

  • Rules adopted by voice vote

VI. Appointment of Committee to Fill Vacancies

  • Jenifer Rajkumar moves to appoint Domenico Minerva, Jeanine Johnson and Keith Wright

  • Rosie Mendez seconds

  • The appointments are approved by voice vote

— A point of order Point of Order is raised regarding county committee vacancy filling by Samuel Chiera —

  • There was a district Divisional meeting to fill vacancies before the meeting. However, the names were not submitted before 72 hour deadline.

  • An objection was filed by Samuel Chiera

VII. Nomination of Democratic Candidate for the 4/16 Special Election for the Vacant Assembly Seat in the 65th District

  • Speeches – speech order is alphabetical and was determined and agreed to prior to the meeting.

    • Alice Cancel – District Leader

    • Gigi Lee – Community Board 3 Chair

    • Paul Newell – District Leader

    • Yuh-Line Niou- withdrew candidacy

    • Jenifer Rajkumar – District Leader

  • Voting

    • If no candidate receives a majority voting on the first ballot, voting will continue in subsequent ballots. Candidate must receive at least 20% of the vote to pass to the next round of balloting.

VIII. Recess for Counting of the Vote

  • Speeches by representatives from the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns

    • Clinton represented by Melissa Sklarz

    • Sanders represented by Arthur Schwartz

IX. Results

  • Alice Cancel wins in the nomination with 5,870 weighted votes

  • Paul Newell garners 1770.5 weighted votes

  • Jenifer Rajkumar garners 634.6 weighted votes

  • Yuh-Line Niou garners 93 weighted votes

X. Adjournment

  • Alice Cancel addresses and thanks attendees; moves to adjourn

  • Rosie Mendez seconds

  • meeting adjourns at 5:30PM