Bill Perkins claimed victory last night in a special election for the City Council seat vacated by Inez Dickens, who left the seat for the New York State Assembly. The seat was previously held by Perkins, who won the nine-way special election supported by Mayor de Blasio’s endorsement. He still has to run in the citywide elections this fall for his seat.

Perkins is expected to resign his State Senate Seat, bringing the number of mainstream Democrats in the Senate (aka the number without the Independent Democratic Conference) down to 22 members in a 63 member chamber.

The vacant seat can be filled either by a special election called by Governor Cuomo, the earliest of which can be done is mid-April long after the state budget negotiations are finalized, or if Cuomo doesn’t call a special election, the seat would remain vacant until the November elections.