The New York Post reports:

Councilman Ritchie Torres broke out to an early lead Tuesday night in the hotly contested battle for an open Bronx congressional seat, as the openly gay city lawmaker appeared to turn away a challenge from one of New York’s most high-profile conservative politicians.

Torres led the crowded field to replace retiring Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) with 30 percent of the votes cast during early voting and Primary Day, according to returns from 61 percent of precincts. Assemblyman Michael Blake (D-The Bronx) was in second place with 18 percent.

Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr., a conservative firebrand and minister best known for making homophobic statements, trailed in third place with just 15 percent of the vote.

The final result won’t be official for another week as most people voted by absentee ballot. Still, this is very encouraging. As you can see in the clip below, Diaz was in rather a foul mood last night. Bronx United, a coalition formed to oppose Diaz, has already declared him the loser, snarkily using Diaz’s standard “you should know” opening to all of his press releases.