City Councilmember Michael Patterson will almost certainly enter a second decade as sitting member of the Rochester City Council after soundly fending off a challenge from Chiara "KeeKee" Smith in the Democratic primary for the Northeast District seat.
With 79 of 82 election districts reporting, Patterson took 56% of the vote, according to unofficial results released shortly after 10:30 p.m. Tuesday by the Monroe County Board of Elections.
There is no Republican challenger for the seat, meaning that Patterson will all but certainly win the general election and be sworn in for another term on Jan. 1.
Patterson is a longtime political figure in the city's northeast. He formerly represented that part of the city in the Monroe County Legislature as the representative for the 29th District seat before being appointed to the Northeast Council seat in 2013 as a replacement for Lovely Warren as she took the mayor's office. He's held the seat consistently ever since.
In recent years, Patterson has marked himself as an outspoken critic of changes to state criminal justice reform laws that relaxed bail standards. He has regularly called on the state to modify the Bail Elimination Act of 2019 and similar laws, which he believes are contributing to a local crime spike.
Smith, a program manager at the Community Health Foundation, entered politics by way of community advocacy.
Born and raised in the 14621 neighborhood, among the poorest in the state, Smith launched 14621 Food Stands in 2020 in an effort to bring easily accessible food to the area's youth.
Smith ran with support of the People's Slate, a leftist political coalition with socialist leanings. Her political positions included heavy investment in housing quality and tenant protections, and pushing for more mental health and youth resources in the city.
Voter turnout for the election was low by any measure, with just 13.3% of enrolled Democrats in the city casting a ballot, according to the county Board of Elections.
