Republican Etan Harris Wins Brooklyn Judge Seat
Harris won the 8th District Municipal Civil Court seat in South Brooklyn, the first Republican win over a Democrat there in 105 years.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Elections
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Republican Etan C. Harris won the 8th District Municipal Civil Court judge seat in South Brooklyn, taking 50.91% of the vote according to unofficial tallies. He defeated Democrat Susan Lieberman by roughly 2 percentage points.
Why it matters
The win marks the first time a Republican has defeated a Democrat in the district in 105 years. It came as nearly every other Republican incumbent in Brooklyn lost their Assembly and Senate seats, making the judicial result stand out in a difficult cycle for the party locally.
Unofficial tallies show Harris with 50.91% of the vote, about two points ahead of Lieberman, in a district not won by a Republican in 105 years. The figures are preliminary, and the source does not indicate whether they will change after certification.
The players
Etan C. Harris
The Republican who won the 8th District Municipal Civil Court judge seat in South Brooklyn.
Susan Lieberman
The Democratic candidate Harris defeated for the judicial seat.
Inna Vernikov
A Republican New York City Councilmember whose office endorsed Harris, the only Brooklyn race her office backed.
Liam McCabe
The chairman of the Kings County Republican Party, whose organization backed Harris's campaign.
The details
Harris was backed by the Brooklyn GOP and the Conservative Party, and volunteers worked on his campaign. Republican City Councilmember Inna Vernikov endorsed him, and he was the only candidate in any Brooklyn race backed by her office, according to the source.
Timeline
A little over a year ago: the opportunity to flip the judicial seat was identified.
November 3, 2026: election day, when Harris won the seat.
Political Context
Harris's win breaks a 105-year pattern in which no Republican had defeated a Democrat in this South Brooklyn judicial district. It contrasts with the broader Brooklyn results, where nearly every other Republican incumbent lost their Assembly and Senate seats.
Residents of South Brooklyn will now have a Republican judge hearing cases in the 8th District Municipal Civil Court. The result shows that local judicial races can turn on candidate endorsements and party organizing even in heavily Democratic areas.
The takeaway
Local judicial races often receive less attention than statewide contests, yet a single seat can change who controls a court in a community. Following endorsements and party organizing at the district level can reveal shifts that broader election headlines miss.
Further reading
For more on how local races are shaping up, see Elections coverage across New York City.
Source note: This article includes information reported by New York Post.
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