With the backing of The Bronx Democratic Committee[3] and the endorsement of key unions, Cabrera was able to defeat the incumbent by just over 1% difference in three-way race that included Yudelka Tapia.
During his primary bid against Rivera, Cabrera attracted ire for his opposition to abortion & gay marriage, as well as his apparent praise of an anti-gay Ugandan law.
[9] On September 12, 2017, Cabrera won 55% of the vote in the New York Democratic Primary election, to 35% for challenger Randy Abreu and 10% for Felix Perdomo.
[11] On March 1, 2020, Cabrera announced that he was ending his primary bid against Ocasio-Cortez and that he would instead be running for the position of Bronx Borough President in 2021.
[12] Cabrera lost this borough president race to Vanessa Gibson, the then-chair of the council's Committee on Public Safety.