Since Robert Jackson left office in 2013, the district has been the only one in the borough to be represented by a Black councilmember.

[6] In 2019, voters in New York City approved Ballot Question 1, which implemented ranked-choice voting in all local elections.

Under the new system, voters have the option to rank up to five candidates for every local office.

If one candidate surpasses 50 percent in first-choice votes, then ranked-choice tabulations will not occur.

Like all municipal special elections in New York City, the race was officially nonpartisan, with all candidates running on ballot lines of their own creation.