One of the few Republican incumbents in the City Council survived friendly fire from billionaire supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis to win re-election Tuesday night.
Eric Ulrich got by Democrat challenger Lew Simon even though Catsimatidis backed his opponent and financed a $15,000 attack mailing.
With all the voting machines counted, Ulrich was ahead 53-47 percent and he declared victory.
“I beat Simon for the second time,” Ulrich boasted.
The two also faced off in a 2009 special election.
Catsimatidis got into the battle after Ulrich backed Joe Lhota over him in the Republican primary for mayor.
The supermarket mogul wasn’t too happy to be described as a “buffoon” by the counclman during the heated mayoral contest.
Catsimatidis was endorsed by the leadership of the divided Queens Republican Party. Ulrich is aligned with the dissident faction.
Ulrich went after Catsimatidis again Tuesday night.
“Catsimatidis is a destructive forced in the Republican Party and we need to get rid of him. He’s a vicious person and full of sour grapes. Misery likes company,” Ulrich said.
He argued that Democratic Bill de Blasio’s landslide victory over Lhota was the key factor in his close race in the district that covers the Rockaways, Howard Beach, Woodhaven and Ozone Park.
De Blasio’s sweeping victory included Ulrich’s district.
“This was a tough year for Republicans,” he said.
Two other Republican candidates expected to have a fighting chance for open seats were trounced by their Democratic opponents.
In northeast Queens, Democrat Paul Vallone defeated Republican Dennis Shafran, 57 to 43 percent.
And is south Brooklyn, Democrat Chaim Deutsch bested Republican David Storobin, a former state senator, 55 percent to 39 percent.
Meanwhile, Manhattan East Side Assemblyman Micah Kellner, who apologized for inappropriate conduct with a female staff member, ran a distant third in the Upper East Side Council race on the Working Families party line.
He had earlier been defeated in the Democratic primary by Ben Kallos, who won again Tuesday night.