Carolyn Maloney defeats Suraj Patel to win New York primary: AP

Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D) has officially defeated Democratic rival Suraj Patel in the party’s primary in New York’s 12th District, setting her up to win a 15th term in November in the safe blue district, according to The Associated Press.

The AP called the race for Maloney on Wednesday, six weeks after the June 23 primary. The Democratic lawmaker had declared victory in the race on Tuesday night after the New York City Board of Election declared her the winner following weeks of delays.

Maloney, the chairwoman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, won with nearly 42 percent of the vote to about 40 percent for Patel, according to the AP.

She was leading by only a very thin margin in late June, leaving the outcome in doubt until the state finished counting mailed-in ballots.

On Tuesday, a federal judge ordered city election officials to count more than 1,000 mail-in ballots that had initially been disqualified, but the newly counted votes will not be enough to push Patel — who is around 3,500 ballots behind Maloney — to victory.

Patel has yet to concede, suggesting on Twitter that he will wait to do so until all ballots are counted.

“We are fighting for voters who were disenfranchised through no fault of their own,” Patel tweeted Wednesday. “We intend to see this fight through on behalf of Democracy.”

Maloney also faced a challenge from Patel in 2018, though she prevailed by 60 percent to 40 percent.

New York’s primaries were originally scheduled for April 28, but were moved to June 23 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Like other states across the country, New York has seen a surge in mailed-in ballots associated with COVID-19 that delayed results.

The AP reported that more than 400,000 people mailed ballots in New York City this primary cycle, a number 10 times higher than the absentee ballot count in the 2016 primary.

New York incumbents have faced a slew of challengers this cycle, including progressive Jamaal Bowman, who appeared likely to prevail over longtime Rep. Eliot Engel (D-N.Y.), the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in a primary.

Maloney will run against Republican Carlos Santiago-Cano in November. She is easily expected to win: she won in 2018 with 86 percent of the vote.