New York City's 8th City Council district

New York City's 8th City Council district
Boundaries following the 2020 census
Country	United States
Government
• Councilmember	Diana Ayala (D—East Harlem)
Population  (2010) [1]
• Total	162,606
Demographics
•  Hispanic	50%
•  Black	22%
•  White	20%
•  Asian	6%
• Other	2%
Registration
•  Democratic	76.8%
•  Republican	4.3%
• No party preference	16.1%
Registered voters (2021) 117,149 [2]

New York City's 8th City Council district is one of 51 districts in the New York City Council. It has been represented by Democrat Diana Ayala since 2018, succeeding fellow Democrat and former Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. ^[3]

Geography

District 8 covers several majority-Hispanic neighborhoods in northern Manhattan and the South Bronx, including Mott Haven, Port Morris, most of East Harlem, and parts of Highbridge, Concourse, and Longwood. ^[4] Randalls and Wards Islands are also a part of the district.

The district overlaps with Manhattan Community Board 11 and Bronx Community Boards 1, 2, and 4, and with New York's 12th, 13th, and 15th congressional districts. It also overlaps with the 29th, 30th, and 32nd districts of the New York State Senate, and with the 68th, 77th, 84th, and 85th districts of the New York State Assembly. ^[5]

The district is one of three in the City Council to span two different boroughs, the others being the 34th district in Brooklyn and Queens and the 50th district in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Although the 8th district's population is split evenly across Manhattan and the Bronx, its five most recent councilmembers have all hailed from Manhattan.

Recent election results

2025

2025 New York City Council election, District 8 Democratic primary ^[6]

Party		Candidate	Maximum round	Maximum votes	Share in maximum round	Maximum votes First round votesTransfer votes
	Democratic	Elsie Encarnacion	7	6,689	58.6%	​​
	Democratic	Wilfredo Lopez	7	4,718	41.4%	​​
	Democratic	Clarisa Ayaleto	6	3,101	24.1%	​​
	Democratic	Raymond Santana	5	2,514	18.2%	​​
	Democratic	Rosa Diaz	4	1,821	12.6%	​​
	Democratic	Federico Colon	3	1,376	9.1%	​​
	Democratic	Nicholas Reyes	2	1,097	7.1%	​​
	Write-in		1	86	0.6%	​​

2025 New York City Council election, District 8 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Elsie Encarnacion
	Working Families	Elsie Encarnacion
	Total	Elsie Encarnacion
	Republican	Tyreek Goodman
	Conservative	Tyreek Goodman
	Total	Tyreek Goodman
	Unity	Federico Colon
	Write-in
Total votes				100.0

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. ^[7]

2023 New York City Council election, District 8 ^[8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana Ayala (incumbent)	5,571	87.3
	Republican	Exodus Gary	741	11.6
	Write-in		68	1.1
Total votes			6,380	100.0
	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. ^[9]

An interactive map of District 8

2021 New York City Council election, District 8 ^{[10] [11]}

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana Ayala (incumbent)	6,621	56.5
	Democratic	Tamika Mapp	3,391	28.9
	Democratic	Antoinette Glover	1,077	9.2
	Democratic	Manuel Onativia	512	4.4
	Write-in		121	1.0
Total votes			11,722	100
General election
	Democratic	Diana Ayala (incumbent)	12,007	98.8
	Write-in		142	1.2
Total votes			12,149	100
	Democratic hold

2017

2017 New York City Council election, District 8 ^{[12] [13]}

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Diana Ayala	4,012	43.5
	Democratic	Robert Rodriguez	3,895	42.2
	Democratic	Tamika Mapp	902	9.8
	Democratic	Israel Martinez	393	4.3
	Write-in		21	0.2
Total votes			9,223	100
General election
	Democratic	Diana Ayala	13,541
	Working Families	Diana Ayala	800
	Total	Diana Ayala	14,341	90.9
	Republican	Daby Carreras	738
	Reform	Daby Carreras	61
	Stop De Blasio	Daby Carreras	31
	No Rezoning 4 Ever	Daby Carreras	16
	Total	Daby Carreras	846	5.4
	Conservative	Linda Ortiz	531	3.4
	Write-in		59	0.3
Total votes			15,777	100
	Democratic hold

2013

2013 New York City Council election, District 8 ^{[14] [15]}

Primary election
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Melissa Mark-Viverito (incumbent)	3,768	35.7
	Democratic	Ralina Cardona	1,899	18.0
	Democratic	Edward Santos	1,710	16.2
	Democratic	Tamika Humphreys [16]	1,215	11.5
	Democratic	Gwen Goodwin	986	9.3
	Democratic	Sean Gardner	986	9.3
	Write-in		3	0.0
Total votes			10,567	100
General election
	Democratic	Melissa Mark-Viverito	13,854
	Working Families	Melissa Mark-Viverito	442
	Total	Melissa Mark-Viverito (incumbent)	14,296	93.8
	Republican	Ralina Cardona	793	5.2
	Libertarian	Christopher Giattino	131	0.9
	Write-in		24	0.1
Total votes			15,244	100
	Democratic hold

References

1. "Census Demographics at the NYC City Council district (CNCLD) level". NYC Open Data. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
2. "Council District Summary Report" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. February 21, 2021. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
3. "District 8 - Diana Ayala". New York City Council. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
4. "Council Members & Districts". New York City Council. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
5. "NYC Boundaries Map". BetaNYC. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
6. "2025 Primary Official Ranked Choice Rounds, DEM Council Member 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. July 22, 2025. Retrieved July 22, 2025.
7. Pazmino, Gloria (January 15, 2020). "Why the Census Means NYC Lawmakers Will Serve 2-Year Terms Instead of 4". www.ny1.com. New York 1. Retrieved November 11, 2022.
8. "General Election 2023 - Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 6, 2021.
9. Rachel Holliday Smith (January 18, 2021). "How Does Ranked Choice Voting Work in New York City?". The City. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
10. "2021 Primary Official Ranked Choice Rounds, DEM Council Member 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. July 20, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
11. "General Election 2021 - Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
12. "Primary Election 2017 - Democratic Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
13. "General Election 2017 - Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
14. "Primary Election 2013 - Democratic Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
15. "General Election 2013 - Member of the City Council, 8th Council District" (PDF). New York City Board of Elections. Retrieved June 17, 2021.
16. Humphreys would later run for the district again under her married name, Tamika Mapp