John Quaglione snags Republican primary victory in race for City Council

Republican candidate John Quaglione was declared the winner of his respective primary election in the race the 43rd District City Council Seat shortly before 9:45 p.m. Tuesday evening.

Quaglione — a longtime aide to State Senator Marty Golden who bested opponents Liam McCabe, Bob Capano and Lucretia Regina-Potter with 49 percent of the vote (1,789 votes) — celebrated with friends, family and supporters at the Bay Ridge Manor (476 76th Street).

With his campaign up against the wall, Quaglione said, “We ran right through the wall tonight.

“There are so many issues that this city is facing,” Quaglione went on, “and I truly believe that this election is a point where we can either draw the line in the sand and hold onto the New York that we know and that we love and that we want to stay a part of, or if we have a Bill de Blasio re-elected, we’re coming for him. We’re gonna fight for Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst and Bath Beach, and we’re gonna stop being shortchanged.”

Among Quaglione’s promises, if elected, are to get more police officers on the streets of the district (“We have more parking agents than we do cops in the neighborhood”), build senior housing and put an end to things like the proposed garbage tax for property owners and five-cent bottle deposit.

On his win, he said, “this was a fight.”

McCabe, who came in second with 31.6 percent (1,153 votes) of the vote, gave his concession speech at the Leif Bar (6725 Fifth Avenue) just after 10 p.m. In it, he stressed that his campaign “hit all the marks” but the nomination just “wasn’t meant to be.”

“One of the greatest experiences from this campaign — at least for me — was going door to door,” Liam said, thanking his friends, family and supporters for their hard work all summer. “I have never met that many people in my lifetime from my community in such an intimate way, all across this district. . .Had things gone a different way perhaps we would’ve won, but it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Capano — who joined Quaglione at the Bay Ridge Manor after the race was called to concede in person — finished with 14.9 percent of the vote (543 votes), and Regina-Potter with just four and a half percent (163 votes).

“John Quaglione ran an honorable race,” said Capano, thanking him for running a clean, respectable campaign. “That’s who John Quaglione is.”

“I wasn’t sure I was going to be doing this tonight,” Quaglione admitted when opening his acceptance speech, to which the audience responded unanimously, “We’re glad you are.”

Come November 7, he will face off against Democratic winner Justin Brannan for the seat — currently occupied by Vincent Gentile who is term-limited and cannot run again.

Additional reporting contributed by Jonathan Sperling