Barron lost the Democratic nomination to Jeffries, with Jeffries taking 72% for the vote to Barron's 28% on June 26, 2012. Barron refused to congratulate Jeffries, accusing the Jeffries campaign of ""a smear campaign show[ing a lack of character"". He added: "They had the media. They called us names — "The New York Times", "The Wall Street Journal", the "New York Post", the white media — because we were endorsed by the "Amsterdam News" and "Black Star". We had the Wall Street corporate elite, the Democratic establishment, and the media all against us. But we put the state and nation on notice." Jeffries stated in his own victory speech that "The political pundits said that this was going to be a close race, but that was before the people had spoken."