Corey Johnson apparently may be the next speaker of the City Council. According to the Daily News, sources say Johnson and Democratic county leaders are telling people that he has secured the support of the county leaders, enough so that he will win the closely contested race between the eight candidates currently running to lead the city’s legislative body. The county leaders were reportedly either finalizing the deal or it was already in place as of Wednesday. Johnson, 35, has represented the West Side’s Council District 3, which includes the Village and Chelsea, for the past four years, and was recently overwhelmingly re-elected. He faced no opposition in the Democratic primary. Melissa Mark-Viverito, who has been speaker since Mayor Bill de Blasio’s election four years ago, will be term-limited out of office at the end of this year. The Council’s 51 members will elect the new speaker in the first week of January. Requests for comment from Johnson, as well as his chief of staff, Erik Bottcher, were not immediately returned.
