Election results: Queens incumbents hold strong, upset on the Civil Court bench

With the exception of an upset in the race for Queens Civil Court, there were few surprises in the early returns for Tuesday’s primary election in Queens. Eagle file photo by Jacob Kaye

By Jacob Kaye and Rachel Vick

After 15 hours of open polls, plus over a week of early voting, results from the first of this summer’s primaries are in and the candidates for a slate of offices are set for the November general election. 

There weren’t many surprises in Queens – with a few expectations. 

Progressive candidates showed up strong in both of the borough’s open Assembly races and Assembly incumbents facing challengers cruised to victory, for the most part. The biggest surprise however, may have come in the race for Civil Court, where a Queens County Democratic Party-backed candidate appeared to have lost to an insurgent candidate. 

Hochul gets bid at first full term 

Queens voters helped get Governor Kathy Hochul one step closer to her first full term in office. She would be the first woman to be elected to the seat if she wins in November, after knocking off challengers Jumaane Williams and Thomas Suozzi on Tuesday. 

Lieutenant Governor Antonio Delgado, Hochul’s running mate who took over as second-in-command after former Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin was arrested on corruption charges, also appeared headed for victory early Tuesday night, beating out a challenge from the left in Ana Maria Archila, who formerly worked at a nonprofit in Queens.

Though Republican candidate Lee Zeldin held the lead Tuesday night statewide and appears to be headed to the November general election to square off against Hochul, Queens voters made a case for Andrew Giuliani, the son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who picked up 46 percent of the vote with 94 scanners reported in Queens.

Turnout throughout the state and in New York City was low. 

As of 6 p.m. on Tuesday night, around 495,800 voters had cast ballots throughout the five boroughs. That falls far short of the 900,000 who voted in the gubernatorial primary in 2018. 

In Queens, no winning assembly candidates received more than 6,000 votes, and one won their race with fewer than 3,000 votes. 

An upset on the bench

Queens voters also cast ballots to fill two vacancies on the Queens Civil Court. On the ballot were former Housing Court judge Karen Lin, the president of the Latino Lawyers Association Thomas Oliva and local attorneys Devian Daniels and Maria T. Gonzalez. The race brought with it potentially one of the biggest upsets of the night. 

With 97 percent of scanners reported, Lin, at 39 percent, and Gonzalez, at 24 percent, led in the four-way race for the two vacancies. 

While Lin and Oliva both received the endorsement of the Queens County Democratic Party and were both given an “approved” rating by the Queens County and New York City Bar Associations, Gonzalez ran as an insurgent. 

Should Oliva lose, it will be the fourth time in as many years a Queens County Democratic Party-backed candidate lost to an insurgent in a judicial race. 

An ally of Hiram Monserrate – the former Queens elected official convicted of domestic abuse and corruption charges – Gonzalez’s campaign lacked a website until days before the election. As of Tuesday night, her campaign website still featured stock text. 

Oliva received the backing of a large number of local elected officials in Queens but appeared to come in last in the race with around 17 percent of the vote with 97 percent of scanners reported. Daniels appeared to finish third with around 19 percent of the vote. 

Some voters told the Eagle earlier on election day that they were unsure who to vote for in the race and selected candidates listed at the top of the ballot – Oliva was listed last. 

Other voters said that they wanted to see women elected to the court. 

“I tended to lean toward female judges,” said Long Island City voter Joanna Levinger. “But I know that doesn't always mean they're good judges.”

Speaking to the Eagle Wednesday, Oliva conceded the race. 

“While I am deeply disappointed in the results, I'm extremely gratified of the coalition I was able to build to help work this campaign and I'm very proud of their work,” Oliva said. “I'm a deep believer in the democratic process, warts and all, and will continue to believe in it.” 

If Lin’s victory holds, she will become one of only a handful of Asian American judges elected to the bench in Queens. Asian Americans are among the least represented racial or ethnic groups on the bench in the borough. 

“It was incredibly heartening to just be in so many different neighborhoods and to see that people want judges who are going to be fair, and who are going to listen to them, and who have experience that can be useful and effective in the courtroom,” Lin told the Eagle on Wednesday. “I was just overwhelmed by the show of support.”

Progressives victorious in open races

There were only two open Assembly races in Queens on this election cycle – District 37, vacated by Assemblymember Kathy Nolan’s impending retirement, and District 30, vacated by Assemblymember Brian Barnwell who decided not to run for reelection. 

In both races, progressive candidates appear to be headed to Albany. 

In District 37, Juan Ardila, who formerly challenged Councilmember Robert Holden in 2021, was up with nearly 44 percent of the vote with 97 percent of scanners reported. As of Tuesday night, he held a large lead over the Nolan-endorsed Joanna Carmona, community advocate Brent O’Leary and local attorney Jim Magee. 

Ardila was the outlying progressive in the race, receiving endorsements from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio–Cortez and other progressive electeds in the borough. Should his lead hold and should he win the November general election, he’ll join a slate of progressive elected officials from Western Queens in Albany. 

Speaking with the Eagle Wednesday, he said that while many policies he supports will align him with the progressive block in Albany, his apparent electoral victory proves his ability to work with people across the political spectrum.

“This was a very interesting dynamic, because I identify as a progressive, I ran as a progressive, there was no secret about it,” Ardila said. “But we had endorsements from Democrats from across the spectrum, which was very fascinating for me because that's where I think it shows that you can be effective.” 

“We excited a whole population – the 37th District believes in a progressive vision and that's what we brought to the table,” he added. “I’m looking forward to representing the people and making sure that we're supporting our working class families.” 

In District 30, Steven Raga, a former City Council candidate and non-profit leader, was beating out the Monserrate-aligned Steven Cando with nearly 70 percent of the vote with around 90 percent of scanners reported. 

Raga was also backed by a number of progressive leaders in Queens. 

Incumbents hold strong

None of the incumbent assemblymembers facing challengers were in too much trouble as the early returns trickled in Tuesday night. 

Assemblymembers David Weprin, Andrew Hevisi, Alicia Hyndman, Vivian Cook, Clyde Vanel, Jeffrion Aubry and Ron Kim all held relatively healthy leads around 11 p.m. on Tuesday. 

Cook was facing what appeared to be a tough challenge from Anthony Andrews Jr., who was endorsed by the Working Families Party. The incumbent has been in office for around 30 years and was reported to have lost a number of supporters to Andrews in the weeks leading up to the election. 

However, on Tuesday night, Cook led the race with 57 percent of the vote with 96 percent of scanners reported. Her lead amounted to around 1,000 votes. Though sizable and safe, her lead wasn’t as large as those won by the majority of incumbents in the borough. 

The only incumbent who could potentially face trouble is Kim. 

He faced a challenge from Kenneth Chiu, a community advocate who recently helped to create a group dedicated to stopping the building of a supportive housing site for homeless families in Flushing. 

With around 93 percent of scanners reported, Kim led Chiu by around 200 votes.

There were around 520 absentee ballots returned to the Board of Elections in Kim’s assembly district. Should a bulk of those ballots go for Chiu, Kim could potentially be ousted from the office he’s served since 2013.    

Kim did not respond to request for comment. 

See a full list of results below, and don’t forget – this was the first of two primaries to be held this year in New York State. Voters will head back to the polls on Aug. 23 to vote for State Senate and congressional races.  

Judges of the Civil Court, Countywide, two vacancies 97 percent reported

Karen Lin – 39 percent (52,305 votes)

Maria T. Gonzalez – 24 percent (32,411 votes)

Devian Daniels –  19 percent (25,351 votes)

Thomas Medardo Oliva – 16 percent ( 22,170 votes)

State Assembly

23rd Assembly District 

Stacey Pheffer Amato (D) – No primary, Pheffer Amato advances to the November general election. 

Thomas Sullivan (R) – No primary, Sullivan advances to the November general election. 

24th Assembly District 98 percent reported

David Weprin (D) –  66 percent ( 3,233 votes)

Albert Baldeo (D) – 16 percent (764 votes)

Mizanur R. Choudhury (D) – 17 percent (817 votes)

25th Assembly District 

Nily Rozic (D) – No primary, Rozic advances to November general election 

Seth Breland (R) – No primary, Breland advances to November general election. 

26th Assembly District 

Edward Braunstein (D) – No primary, Braunstein advances to November general election. 

Robert Speranza (R) – No primary, Speranza advances to November general election. 

27th Assembly District 

Daniel Rosenthal (D) – No primary, Rosenthal advances to the November general election.  

Angelo King (R) – No primary, King advances to the November general election. 

28th Assembly District 99 percent reported

Andrew D. Hevesi (D) – 69 percent (4,992 votes)

Ethan M. Felder (D) – 31 percent (2,249 votes)

Michael Conigliaro (R) – No primary, Conigliaro advances to the November general election. 

29th Assembly District  99 percent reported

Alicia L. Hyndman (D) – 79 percent (5,282 votes) 

Everly D. Brown (D) – 20 percent (1,361 votes)

30th Assembly District  93 percent reported

Steven B. Raga (D) – 71 percent (2,561 votes)

Ramon P. Cando (D) – 29 percent (1,033 votes)

Sean Lally (R) – No primary, Lally advances to the November general election. 

31st Assembly District

Khaleel Anderson (D) – No primary, Anderson advances to the November general election. 

32nd Assembly District 98 percent reported

Vivian E. Cook (D) – 57 percent (4,163 votes)

Anthony D. Andrews Jr. (D) – 43 percent (3,143 votes)

Marilyn Miller (R) – No primary, Miller advances to the November general election. 

33rd Assembly District 92 percent reported

Clyde Vanel ​​(D) – 86 percent (5,210 votes)

Oster Bryan (D) – 13.5 percent (814 votes)

34th Assembly District

Jessica González-Rojas ​​(D) – No primary, González-Rojas advances to the November general election. 

35th Assembly District 98 percent reported

Jeffrion L. Aubry (D) – 62 percent (2,596 votes)

Hiram Monserrate (D) – 38 percent (1,601 votes)

36th Assembly District

Zohran Kwame Mamdani (D) – No primary, Mamdani advances to the November general election. 

37th Assembly District   99 percent reported

Juan Ardila (D) – 44 percent (3,355 votes)

Brent O’Leary (D) – 26 percent (2,019 votes)

Jim Magee (D) – 10 percent (791 votes) 

Johanna Carmona (D) – 20 percent (1,518 votes)

38th Assembly District

Jenifer Rajkumar (D) – No primary, Rajkumar advances to the November general election. 

39th Assembly District

Catalina Cruz (D) – No primary, Cruz advances to the November general election. 

40th Assembly District 93 percent reported

Ron Kim (D) – 53 percent (1,825 votes)

Kenneth Chiu (D) – 46.6 percent (1,604 votes)

Sharon Liao (R) –  No primary, Liao advances to the November general election.  

Incumbents are denoted in italics. 

Additional reporting by Rachel Vick.