In one of his first interviews since the Associated Press declared him the winner in Tuesday night's Democratic primary, former federal prosecutor and first-time candidate Dan Goldman told Errol Louis on "Inside City Hall" Wednesday his opponents in the race have yet to congratulate him.
Goldman led the 10th Congressional District race with roughly 1,300 votes separating him and his closest competitor, Manhattan Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou.
Since there are still 13,000 outstanding absentee ballots that need to be counted, Niou has not conceded.
“Look, that’s the democratic process. I have no problem with that whatsoever. That’s how elections work,” Goldman said. “It’s not the AP that makes the decision. It’s not my declaring victory that makes the decision. It is the counting of the ballots. So it’s up to her if she wants to wait it out and see what happens.”
Goldman laid out his theory on why he emerged victorious, saying he earned votes from every part of the district, which spans Lower Manhattan and brownstone Brooklyn.
“We really did go out to every corner of the district and tried to meet voters exactly where they were and understand their issues and talk to them to get our message out,” he said. “So I’m quite happy that it was not a particular assembly district or area that really propelled us to victory.”
When asked about fundraising for his campaign and using millions of his own money, the heir to the Levi Strauss & Co. fortune said it was a short race and he had to make a choice whether he was going to spend most of his time fundraising to make television advertisements or go out and speak with the voters.
“One of the things that’s incredibly important, to me, about this position and being in this position is that I want to be beholden to the voters,” he said. “And so I did put my own money in, but I do think that the constituents of this district should look at this more broadly and understand that I am doing this, in part, that I’m continuing my career in public service. But I’m not beholden to anyone but them.”
Goldman noted that he wants people to understand that he shares the progressive ideals of the district despite opposition from his opponents to the left.
“There’s very few issues where you will find me in any meaningful difference in policy between me and my opponents,” he said.
When it comes to working with his opponents, Goldman said he looks forward to it.
“I have immense respect for Carlina, Jo Anne,” he said, referencing Councilmember Carlina Rivera and Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon. I’ve already, on the campaign trail, learned a lot from them and I think they’ve been incredible advocates and elected representatives for their constituents and I hope to work very closely with them.”
“I hope they are, obviously, going to remain elected officials in the 10th District of New York,” Goldman added. “I hope to lean on them very heavily to understand what the issues are and see what their constituents care about and how I can use the leverage of the federal government to help.”