Henry Butler

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Henry Butler

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 22, 2021

Education

Bachelor's

City University of New York, Hunter College

Personal

Profession

Community board district manager

Contact

Personal website

Henry Butler (Democratic Party) ran for election to the New York City Council to represent District 36. Butler lost in the Democratic primary on June 22, 2021.

Butler was a Democratic candidate for District 41 representative on the New York City Council in New York. He was defeated in the primary election on September 12, 2017. Click here to read Butler's response to Ballotpedia's 2017 municipal candidate survey.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Butler earned a B.A. in political science from CUNY-Hunter College.

At the time of his 2017 run for city council, Butler was the district manager for Community Board 3. His experience includes work as the assistant director of Lafayette Gardens Community Center, a case worker for the Office of Child Support Enforcement, and a conductor for the New York City Transit Authority. He has served as the chair and financial secretary for Community Board 3, the president of the Vanguard Independent Democratic Club, the chair of the Labor Committee for the Brooklyn NAACP, and a shop steward, political organizer, and community outreach liaison for the union TWU Local 100.

Elections

2021

See also: City elections in New York, New York (2021)

General election

General election for New York City Council District 36

Chi Osse won election in the general election for New York City Council District 36 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Chi Osse (D)	99.3	18,999
		Other/Write-in votes	0.7	126

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,125
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for New York City Council District 36

Select round: Round 4 Round 3 Round 2 Round 1

The following candidates advanced in the ranked-choice voting election: Chi Osse in round 4 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chi Osse	57.0	11,149	2,139	Advanced (4)
		Henry Butler	43.0	8,402	1,910	4
	Submit photo	Tahirah Moore	0.0	0	-6,196	3
	Submit photo	Reginald Swiney	0.0	0	0	2
	Submit photo	Robert Waterman	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chi Osse	41.5	9,010	483	Advanced (4)
		Henry Butler	29.9	6,492	1,070	4
	Submit photo	Tahirah Moore	28.6	6,196	858	3
	Submit photo	Robert Waterman	0.0	0	-3,281	2
	Submit photo	Reginald Swiney	0.0	0	-628	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chi Osse	36.8	8,527	7	Advanced (4)
		Henry Butler	23.4	5,422	13	4
	Submit photo	Tahirah Moore	23.0	5,338	12	3
	Submit photo	Robert Waterman	14.1	3,281	7	2
	Submit photo	Reginald Swiney	2.7	628	3	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Chi Osse	36.7	8,520	0	Advanced (4)
		Henry Butler	23.3	5,409	0	4
	Submit photo	Tahirah Moore	22.9	5,326	0	3
	Submit photo	Robert Waterman	14.1	3,274	0	2
	Submit photo	Reginald Swiney	2.7	625	0	2
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	0.4	86	0

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 23,240
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

2017

See also: Mayoral election in New York, New York (2017) and Municipal elections in New York, New York (2017)

The following candidates ran in the Democratic primary for the District 41 seat on the New York City Council.

New York City Council, District 41 Democratic Primary Election, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Alicka Ampry-Samuel	31.23%	3,385
Henry Butler	22.04%	2,389
Cory Provost	11.20%	1,214
Moreen King	8.51%	922
Deidre Olivera	8.11%	879
Royston Antoine	5.72%	620
Victor Jordan	5.28%	572
David Miller	4.86%	527
Leopold Cox	2.89%	313
Write-in votes	0.16%	17
Total Votes		10,838
Source: New York City Board of Elections, "2017 Primary: Certified Results," accessed September 28, 2017

Campaign themes

2021

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Henry Butler did not complete Ballotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2017

See also: Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey

Butler participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

“	Creating affordable housing for the residents of my district	”
—Henry Butler (September 6, 2017)

Ranking the issues

The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.

Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking	Issue	Candidate's ranking	Issue
1	Housing	7	Transportation
2	K-12 education	8	Homelessness
3	Unemployment	9	Government transparency
4	Crime reduction/prevention	10	Environment
5	Public pensions/retirement funds	11	City services (trash, utilities, etc.)
6	Civil rights	12	Recreational opportunities

Nationwide municipal issues

The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.

Question	Response
Is it important for the city’s budget to be balanced?Answer options: Not important; Not important, but required by state law; A little important; A little important, but required by state law; Important; Very important	Candidate did not provide a response
Which level of government do you feel should set a minimum wage?Answer options: None, Local, State, Federal	Candidate did not provide a response
How do you think your city should emphasize economic development? Candidates could write their own answer or choose from the following options: Changing zoning restrictions, Create a more competitive business climate, Focusing on small business development, Instituting a citywide minimum wage, Recruiting new businesses to your city, Regulatory and licensing reforms, and tax reform	Focusing on small business development
What is the one thing you’re most proud of about your city?	Diversity
What is the one thing you’d most like to change about your city?	Candidate did not provide a response
Do you approve of the city's approach to policing and public safety? What changes, if any, do you think the city should make?	I approve of the Mayor's push for community policing. I look forward to the body cameras program getting off the ground.
Do you approve of the city's sanctuary policy? What changes, if any, do you think the city should make?	I approve
Do you approve of the city's approach to public transportation? What changes, if any, do you think the city should make?	I believe the City needs to invest now in the subway infrastructure, which is crumbling.
Do you approve of the city's approach to housing policy? What changes, if any, do you think the city should make?	The housing policy is not working for the residents of my district who continue to be pushed out due to rising rents. As a member of the City Council, I would have authority over new developments, and I will only approve developments that are in partnership with non-profit developers or Community Land Trusts

Additional themes

Butler's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

“	Education Education is the cornerstone of a strong and prosperous New York. Henry believes when we invest in high quality teachers, upgrade classroom technology, and give schools the resources and support they need to flourish, we increase the odds of our children succeeding exponentially. Henry also believes in the Community School Model which has been proven to be beneficial by serving the needs of a child not just educationally, but also their emotional, social and physical needs. Jobs The 41st Council District lags behind the rest of the city when it comes to employment and household income statistics. Much of this has to do with the low education levels and the loss of many jobs that never came back from the 2009 economic downturn. Henry will work with businesses, organized labor, and non-profit organizations that provide job training and career certifications, to bring quality jobs and career opportunities to the district, ensuring the security every family needs to prosper. Affordable Housing Our residents deserve safe and affordable housing to call home. Henry will stand with us as we fight to get needed repairs and safety improvements at our NYCHA developments that have been long overdue. Henry will stand up to developers who are looking to take our housing stock and push us from our neighborhoods. You have spent your entire lives building your families, homes, and community— you won’t be pushed out on Henry’s watch. Seniors Our seniors have spent their whole lives providing for their families and building our community, isn’t it time someone has their back? Henry has been and will continue to be a strong advocate for our seniors. Henry will make sure programs our seniors depend on, such as the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and the Elderly Pharmaceutical Insurance Coverage (EPIC) stay fully funded and provide our seniors the benefits they need. Henry also supports tax credits for employers who hire senior citizens as well as job training for older adults. Criminal Justice Reform Henry will fight to raise the age of criminal responsibility for juvenile offenders. New York is long overdue in recognizing that the adult criminal justice system doesn’t work for adolescents. While in an adult prison, youth are 36 times more likely to commit suicide, are often the target of mental, physical and sexual abuse, and have approximately 34% more re-arrests for felony crimes than those in a juvenile facility. 16 and 17 year olds don’t have the same cognitive skills as an adult, and therefore they don’t weigh the consequences of their actions to the same ability as an adult. Henry also supports the New York City Bail Fund. Currently, nearly 25,000 non-violent offenders cannot afford bail set at $2,000 or less. With the bail fund we can save taxpayer dollars in the long run by reducing the number of cases in the system while also working to fully reform our criminal justice system which disproportionately negatively impacts the lives of the poor and minorities. Election Reform Henry supports common sense election reforms like same-day voter registration, no excuse absentee voting, making New York’s primary date the same for city, state, and federal elections, and reducing the window when party enrollment changes take effect. Henry also believes we need greater training, transparency, and accountability at the Board of Elections so the public can have greater confidence in how we conduct our elections. Labor Henry knows first hand how vital organized labor is to the expansion and protection of the middle-class. Henry has been a member of a labor union for 21 years--- first spending 7 years as a member of Local 371 while working for ACS as a caseworker and NYCHA running a community center at Lafayette Gardens, and then 14 years as a member of TWU Local 100 while working as a subway conductor. Henry believes government should serve as a partner in fostering career opportunities and feels strongly that the more men and women we can train through comprehensive apprenticeship programs benefits New York's economy and expands the middle-class.	”
—Henry Butler's campaign website, (2017)

Endorsements

2017

Butler received endorsements from the following in 2017:

• New York Daily News
• Corrections Officers' Benevolent Association
• Doctors Council SEIU
• Empire State Humane Voters
• Lamdba Independent Democrats
• Local 46 Metallic Lathers
• Patrolmen's Benevolent Association
• TWU International
• TWU Local 100
• Uniformed Fire Officers Association
• Vanguard Independent Democratic Association
• New York Sen. Velmanette Montgomery
• New York Assemblyman Tremaine S. Wright
• Former New York Assemblywoman Annette Robinson
• New York City Councilman Robert Cornegy
• Former New York City Councilman Al Vann

See also

2021 Elections

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