Poughkeepsie City Councilperson Yvonne Flowers is projected to win the city’s Democratic primary for mayor.

“I'm excited," she said. "We were on edge a little bit because it was the numbers were coming through, but very excited. All our hard work paid off.”

Challengers Wesley Lee and interim mayor Marc Nelson conceded to Flowers after unofficial results came in that showed her with a nearly 4-point lead over Lee and an almost 17-point lead over Nelson.

Turnout was higher than many expected for a primary election. The campaigns estimated up to 1,500 people would vote, but the final unofficial total was more than 1,700.

Flowers says the community knows who she is, having been a consistent face on the city council.

“The people see me out there," Flowers said. "They know that I really care and I will roll up my sleeves to get the work done. So now they feel like as a mayor, they have confidence that I will be able to lead the city and be able to make the changes that we need to make in our city.”

With the projected primary victory, Flowers will face Republican Anthony LaRocca in the general election.

“I'm looking forward to it," Flowers said. "We have an amazing team that's going to move forward in 2024. So that's the goal to make sure that happens.”

She's also one step closer to making history. If elected to office, Flowers would be the first African-American woman elected mayor in Poughkeepsie.

“Again, it's just so surreal," she said. "It's still sinking in … My grandson was so excited to the fact he couldn't believe it's happening.”