Only 70 Votes Separate 2 Candidates in City Council Race - AP New York - Newsday.com

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Only 70 votes separated the two leading candidates in final unofficial returns late Tuesday in a special election for City Council.

Anthony Como, a registered Republican running in a conservative Queens district, led with 2,352 votes, or 32 percent, over registered Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, who had 2,282 votes, or 31 percent.

Como, a former Queens assistant district attorney and commissioner of the New York City Board of Elections, and Crowley, whose parents once represented the area on the council, were sharing the ballot with conservative Republican Thomas Ognibene and Democrat Charles Ober.

Ognibene, a former city councilman, trailed with 27 percent, while Ober, a financial executive and community activist, got 10 percent of the vote. The ballot listed the candidates without their party affiliation.

The District 30 election was held to fill the remainder of the term of Republican Dennis Gallagher, who in March admitted to sexually abusing a woman he had met in a bar in his district office in Queens. Gallagher's term was to end at the end of the year, and the seat will be up for election again in November.

Gallagher pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges: forcible touching and sex abuse. He agreed to complete an alcohol treatment program, and he avoided jail time by resigning his council seat. He also agreed to complete an alcohol treatment program.

Gallagher was elected to the council in 2001 and was one of three Republicans in the 51-member body.

Gallagher had acknowledged the encounter with his accuser, but said it was consensual. The accuser told authorities that he offered to drive her home after meeting her in the bar, but instead took her to his district office and attacked her.

District 30 includes neighborhoods such as Ridgewood, Middle Village and Glendale.