City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s record on term limits was on the minds of voters in Manhattan’s third district as they hit the polls Tuesday, but it didn't threaten to unseat her.
While victorious, Quinn got an underwhelming 52 percent of the vote in Tuesday's primary.
Quinn spearheaded last year's vote to extend term limits for city elected officials. That gave her a chance for another run, against Democrats Yetta Kurland and Maria Passannante Derr, but it also irked many of her constituents.
"I voted twice for term-limits," said Bill Carey, 53, of Queens, as he handed out leaflets for Passannante Derr outside the polling station Tuesday.
"They went ahead and overturned it. They undid what we did," he said.
Not every City Council incumbent fared as well as Quinn. Kendall Stewart of Brooklyn, Alan J. Gerson of Manhattan, Kenneth Mitchell of Staten Island and Helen Sears of Queens all lost their seats to challengers.
Quinn's campaign emphasized her work for tenants rights and connection to the community while she greeted voters on the corner of the voting site, saying she would visit many more stations during the day.
She said she wasn't worried that term limits might cost her the seat.
"One person … said she disagreed with my decision on term limits, but she voted for me," Quinn said Tuesday.
Quinn campaign volunteer Dan Lowenstein said he turned out to support his candidate because, "she’s always been a progressive leader for New York and she deserves another four years," said Lowenstein, 41, of Manhattan.
Margaret Segall, 61, of Manhattan sported a bright yellow "I (heart) Yetta" T-shirt to cast her vote.
Exiting the polling station on the same corner where Quinn greeted passersby, Segall said the was impressed with Kurland's commitment to animal rights, and the fact that she didn't take part in the term limits skirmish.
"I first got involved because I was upset about term limits," Segall said. "But the more I got to know Yetta, the more I liked what she had to say."
