CITY OF NEWBURGH — City of Newburgh Mayor Torrance Harvey won a coveted Democratic primary on Thursday, according to unofficial results from the Orange County Board of Elections. Harvey won comfortably, 1,130 votes to 343.

Harvey defeated former Councilwoman Gay Lee as both seek to fill the remaining year on the four-year term won by late Mayor Judy Kennedy in 2015.

Kennedy died in April after a long bout with cancer. Harvey, then a Council member, was chosen unanimously by his colleagues to serve as mayor until the general election. The mayor’s seat will be up for election again next fall, this time for a full four-year term.

Harvey and Lee will face each other again in November’s general election, in which Lee will carry the Independence and Reform lines. But Thursday’s primary carried a sought-after prize: the Democratic line in a city where the party’s voters far outnumber Republicans and other parties.

“This sends a clear message that the city is really willing to give me an opportunity to do what I committed to the city residents and Judy Kennedy,” said Harvey, who will also carry the Working Families line in November. “This is for Judy and the residents.”

Harvey listed among his priorities: repairing the city’s infrastructure, including repaving roads; attracting new development; improving transportation to connect residents to job opportunities outside the city; and creation of a technology center for youth and adults.

“There’s a lot that we want to do,” he said.

Lee’s initiatives and policies include establishing commissions to involve residents in city decision-making. The commissions would work directly with departments and the city manager’s office.

Her platform also includes advocating for a law requiring that 30 percent of the city’s workforce be composed of city residents, housing laws to protect the rights of tenants and the redevelopment of once-contaminated Brownfield properties.

lsparks@th-record.com