# New York City's 37th City Council district

New York City's 37th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It is currently represented by Democrat Sandy Nurse, who took office in 2022.

## Geography

District 37 covers a series of majority-Hispanic neighborhoods along Brooklyn's northern border, including a large swath of Bushwick as well as Ocean Hill, Cypress Hills, City Line, and small parts of East New York and Brownsville.
The district overlaps with Brooklyn Community Boards 4, 5, and 16, and with New York's 7th and 8th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 18th, 19th, and 25th districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 53rd, 54th, 55th, and 60th districts of the New York State Assembly.

## Members representing the district

| Members | Party | Years served | Electoral history |
| District established January 1, 1992 ||||
| Martin M. Dilan (Cypress Hills) | Democratic | January 1, 1992 – December 31, 2001 | Elected in 1991. Re-elected in 1993. Re-elected in 1997. Termed out and ran New York State Senate. |
| Erik M. Dilan (Cypress Hills) | Democratic | January 1, 2002 – December 31, 2013 | Elected in 2001. Re-elected in 2003. Re-elected in 2005. Re-elected in 2009. Termed out and ran for U.S. House of Representatives. |
| Rafael Espinal (Cypress Hills) | Democratic | January 1, 2014 – January 26, 2020 | Elected in 2013. Re-elected in 2017. Resigned. |
| Vacant | Vacant | January 26, 2020 – November 4, 2020 | |
| Darma Diaz (Cypress Hills) | Democratic | November 4, 2020 – December 31, 2021 | Elected to finish Espinal's term. Lost renomination. |
| Sandy Nurse (Cypress Hills) | Democratic | January 1, 2022 – current | Elected in 2021. Re-elected in 2023. |

## Recent election results
### 2023 (redistricting)

Due to redistricting and the 2020 changes to the New York City Charter, councilmembers elected during the 2021 and 2023 City Council elections will serve two-year terms, with full four-year terms resuming after the 2025 New York City Council elections.
2023 New York City Council election, District 37 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sandy Nurse | 3,765 | |
| | Working Families | Sandy Nurse | 1,004 | |
| | Total | Sandy Nurse (incumbent) | 4,769 | 88.7 |
| | Republican | Isaiah Vega | 461 | |
| | Conservative | Isaiah Vega | 93 | |
| | Total | Isaiah Vega | 554 | 10.3 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 55 | 1.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 5,378 | 100.0 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2021

In 2019, voters in New York City approved Ballot Question 1, which implemented ranked-choice voting in all local elections. Under the new system, voters have the option to rank up to five candidates for every local office. Voters whose first-choice candidates fare poorly will have their votes redistributed to other candidates in their ranking until one candidate surpasses the 50 percent threshold. If one candidate surpasses 50 percent in first-choice votes, then ranked-choice tabulations will not occur.
2021 New York City Council election, District 37 Democratic primary :
| Party | Candidate | Maximum round | Maximum votes | Share in maximum round | Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes |
| Democratic | Sandy Nurse | 5 | 6,124 | 65.4% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Darma Diaz (incumbent) | 5 | 3,247 | 34.6% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Misba Abdin | 4 | 1,154 | 11.0% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Heriberto Mateo | 4 | 1,071 | 10.2% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Rick Echevarria | 2 | 558 | 5.1% | ​​ |
| Democratic | Chris Durosinmi | 2 | 340 | 3.1% | ​​ |
| Write-in | | 1 | 25 | 0.2% | ​​ |
2021 New York City Council election, District 37 general election :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Sandy Nurse | 8,884 | 86.4 |
| | Republican | Franklin Gonzalez | 1,369 | 13.3 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 20 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 10,273 | 100 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2020 special

In January 2020, Councilman Rafael Espinal resigned in order to take a job with the Freelancers Union, leaving his seat vacant. An April special election was called, but due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was moved to align with the concurrent 2020 elections. While the election initially appeared to be a competitive contest between Darma Diaz, Sandy Nurse, and several other candidates, a complex series of judicial rulings and political maneuvers meant that all candidates but Diaz were removed from the ballot, and Diaz won both the primary and general elections uncontested.
2020 New York City Council special election, District 37 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Darma Diaz | 37,228 | 99.4 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 235 | 0.6 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 37,463 | 100 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2017

2017 New York City Council election, District 37 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Rafael Espinal (incumbent) | 10,369 | 89.8 |
| | Green | Persephone Sarah Jane Smith | 1,152 | 10.0 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 20 | 0.2 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 11,541 | 100 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |

### 2013

2013 New York City Council election, District 37 :
| Primary election |||||
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Democratic | Rafael Espinal | 3,538 | 45.9 |
| | Democratic | Kimberly Council | 2,459 | 31.9 |
| | Democratic | Heriberto Mateo | 927 | 12.0 |
| | Democratic | Helal Sheikh | 792 | 10.3 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 0 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 7,716 | 100 |
| General election |||||
| | Democratic | Rafael Espinal | 9,058 | 86.1 |
| | Working Families | Kimberly Council | 1,235 | 11.7 |
| | Conservative | Michael Freeman-Saulsberre | 230 | 2.2 |
| | Write-in | Write-in | 4 | 0.0 |
| Total votes | Total votes | Total votes | 10,527 | 100 |
| | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold | Democratic hold |