Despite calls for resignation, Juan Ardila files for re-election
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Assemblymember Juan Ardila has launched his campaign for re-election after a turbulent year of sexual assault allegations and calls to resign. Photo via Ardila campaign
By Ryan Schwach
Embattled Assemblymember Juan Ardila has officially filed to seek re-election for his Western Queens seat, despite having been called on to resign following sexual assault allegations made earlier this year by nearly every one of his Western Queens colleagues, a number of local leaders and the governor.
Ardila officially filed to run with the state’s Campaign Finance Board on Wednesday, the Queens Chronicle first reported.
The incumbent’s filing in Assembly District 37, which he has represented since January, sets up a potentially contentious primary challenge against Claire Valdez, a Democratic Socialists of America-endorsed candidate and labor organizer who, before Ardila’s filing, was the only candidate in the race.
Sexual assault accusations levied against Ardila by two women in March – accusations he initially apologized for, than later denied – prompted calls for his resignation from a host of his elected colleagues, including other members of the Assembly, previously friendly Western Queens allies and Governor Kathy Hochul.
The accusations also prompted three separate Democrats to file to run against him – District Leader Émilia Decaudin, activist Hailie Kim and Valdez.
Kim eventually terminated her campaign citing family obligations, and Decaudin suspended her campaign – but has not officially terminated it – after Valdez secured the DSA’s backing in September, an endorsement Decaudin also sought.
A Ridgewood resident and United Auto Workers union organizer, Valdez launched her campaign in late August, and quickly gained traction for her campaign, which, in part, was spurred on by the allegations against Ardila.
“I’m running to represent Assembly District 37 because our community deserves an experienced representative who isn't too busy dealing with personal scandals to get to work,” Valdez said in her campaign announcement in August.
In a statement to the Eagle sent via text on Friday night, Valdez said that Ardila’s issues are distracting from his work as a legislator.
“Juan Ardila has been too distracted by sexual harassment scandals to do his job,” she said. “It's a shame he hasn’t listened to calls to step down and it's a shame he's asking our community to send him back to Albany. My campaign will continue to focus on what the people of this district care about: housing as a human right, dignity for all workers, and a future free from climate disaster.”
Ardila did not respond to the Eagle’s request to comment before presstime.
Ardila’s bid for re-election was not a given. Previously, the junior lawmaker declined to explicitly say whether or not he would actually be seeking re-election amid the controversies he faced earlier this year.
The sexual assault accusations not only prompted calls for resignation, but saw him ostracized by many of his colleagues, who opted to give him little authority during state budget negotiations and stripped him of the power over his own public funding.
With his announcement, Ardila will face Valdez in a 2024 summer primary.
However, the shape of the race could significantly change before voters actually begin casting ballots, political observers told the Eagle.
Claire Valdez will run against Assemblymember Juan Ardila in next year’s primary, following the lawmaker’s filing a re-election campaign last week. Photo via Valdez campaign
“I have a feeling that the field has not settled yet, and that a lot of more political conversations are still happening,” said Democratic political strategist Trip Yang. “There's a lot of stakeholders who are going to want to weigh in.”
With DSA already backing Valdez, the Queens County Democratic Party and the Working Families Party – which rescinded its endorsement of Adrila earlier this year – have yet to back a candidate.
“I don’t think it will be just Juan versus Claire,” Yang said. “Most people, most stakeholders have not decided who they're going to back even though we're approaching the halfway point of this race, that gives me the inclination that there are other people who are being talked about and may still jump in.”
Among those possibilities is Johanna Carmona, a Queens Civil Court attorney who ran with the backing of the Queens County Democratic Party unsuccessfully against Ardila in 2022. Multiple sources with knowledge of the race told the Eagle on Monday that Carmona has been discussing a potential run during various political events in recent weeks, including at New York City’s seminal political event, the SOMOS conference, last week.
Carmona told the Eagle that she has been approached about the possibility of launching a bid for the seat, but declined to comment further.
Should the race remain one between just Valdez and Ardila, Yang said he believes the district’s progressives will rally behind the DSA candidate rather than “incumbent that has generated the headlines that Juan has.”
The sexual assault allegations also won’t just have an impact on how people vote, but where they put their money.
Though Valdez has yet to file any campaign contributions with the state, it’s unclear if Ardila has brought in a single dollar since the allegations first surfaced. His campaign has only listed one donation – a $2,000 donation made a month before the allegations were first made public – given to the campaign this year.
“The lifeblood of any campaign are donors, and Juan’s donor activity has really ceased to be active since the March allegations – it remains to be seen whether he will try to jumpstart his fundraising apparatus,” said Yang. “But donor activity is the most important early activity of any campaign. Without money, there's no campaign.”
