(Special elections in New York are already nonpartisan.)
The winner was Vincent Gentile, who'd just lost his seat in the Assembly. As it happened, LGBT rights were one othe main issues in that race, because one of Gentile's last acts in the Assembly was to vote against SONDA, the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act. LGBT groups and their allies put a lot of work into the campaign of his main opponent, Joanne Seminara. In a Democratic primary, she would have beaten Gentile easily -- from what we can t ell, registered Dems supported her by a wdie margin. But opposition to SONDA played much better in the general electorate than among Democrats, and so Gentile's anti-gay stance didn't hurt him the way it would have in a primary.
That's what we'll see all over the city if nonpartisan elections go through. The current City Council is far from perfect, but it will be much harder for candidates associated with gay rights to win without the boost of Dem primary.
Josh