LIVE UPDATES: See the full results of the Democratic primary in New York's 15th Congressional District

• A crowded 15-candidate field is vying for the Democratic nomination to replace retiring Rep. Jose Serrano in New York's 15th Congressional District, based in the South Bronx.
• The controversial New York City Council member Rubén Díaz Sr. and another council member, Ritchie Torres, are the frontrunners in the June 23 Democratic primary.
• With thousands of absentee ballots outstanding and left to be tabulated, this race likely won't be called until after June 30.

Because of the substantial coronavirus-related increase in New Yorkers voting absentee and a New York law prohibiting election officials from processing absentee ballots until eight days after Election Day, the Democratic primary in New York's 15th district won't be called until after June 30.

The stakes

A crowded 15-candidate field, including many prominent local Democratic officials, are vying to replace retiring Rep. Jose Serrano in New York's 15th Congressional District, which includes most of the South Bronx and is heavily Hispanic.

The New York City Council member Rubén Díaz Sr., a fixture of New York and Bronx politics since the late 1980s, is one of the most formidable candidates for the seat. A Pentecostal minister, Díaz also has a years-long history of opposing same-sex marriage and abortion, making homophobic remarks, and speaking positively about President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

Díaz's opponents vying to come out in front in the progressive lane include the former City Council president Melissa Mark-Viverito, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Assemblyman Michael Blake, the affordable-housing advocate and organizer Samelys Lopez, and Councilman Ritchie Torres, the youngest member of the New York City Council and first openly gay legislator to represent the Bronx.

If Torres wins, he would be one of the first openly LGBTQ Black men to serve in the US Congress. Mondaire Jones, who won the Democratic primary in the Hudson Valley-based 17th congressional district, is also an openly gay Black man.

And as Gothamist and The Wall Street Journal have reported, many Democrats are fretting that a splintered progressive vote could allow Díaz, propelled by high name recognition and decades of being actively involved in the community, to narrowly win the primary.

"There's a real risk that a Trump Republican could represent the bluest congressional district in America, which would represent a profound embarrassment for the Democratic Party and progressive politics nationwide," Torres told The Washington Post.

A poll of the race conducted by Data for Progress in late May found no candidate with a clear majority. Díaz narrowly led with 22% support compared with 20% for Torres and the other candidates trailing behind in the single digits and 34% still unsure.