Special election for seat vacated by disgraced NYC Councilman Andy King to be held Dec. 22

An end-of-year election was announced by Mayor de Blasio on Thursday to fill the Bronx City Council seat opened as a result of Andy King’s expulsion earlier this week.

King was kicked out of the Council on Monday for misconduct including discriminating against a female staffer and taking a kickback, both findings from the latest in a series of ethics probes about the disgraced pol.

King’s budget director, Brian Melford, is among the candidates who have registered with the city’s Campaign Finance Board to run for the 12th District seat, which represents a chunk of the northeast Bronx.

The election, scheduled for December 22, will be the first in a likely series of special elections as several City Council members are expected to leave office before the official end of their terms in December 2021. Both Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx) and Councilman Donovan Richards (D-Queens) are expected to cruise to victory in general elections next month — for Congress and Queens borough president, respectively — which will trigger special elections.