Former Queens Dems candidate enters race to unseat Ardila

Sunnyside attorney Johanna Carmona has filed to run for Assembly District 37 against Juan Ardila and DSA-backed Claire Valdez. Photo courtesy of Carmona

By Ryan Schwach

Assemblymember Juan Ardila will face off against a familiar face in next year’s primary after a third candidate has officially filed to challenge the scandal-plagued lawmaker for his Western Queens seat.

Sunnyside attorney Johanna Carmona, who ran against Ardila in 2022, has officially filed to be a candidate in the 2024 primary for the 37th Assembly District, state election filings show. Carmona is now the third candidate in the race for the district, alongside Ardila and Democratic Socialists of America-backed labor organizer Claire Valdez.

Carmona, who formerly worked with the seat’s previous holder, Cathy Nolan, is likely to receive the backing of the Queens County Democratic Party. Carmona received the support of the party during her first bid for the seat last year.

In 2022, Carmona placed third in voting for AD37, receiving just shy of 20 percent of the vote behind Aridla and Hunters Point civic leader Brent O’Leary.

Carmona was working as a court attorney in Queens Civil Court until last month, when she began working as legislative administrative manager at City Hall.

The Eagle reported in November from multiple sources that Carmona had been discussing a run in recent weeks at political events, including the SOMOS conference in Puerto Rico. Carmona declined to confirm the reports at the time.

Carmona did not comment on the filling Monday night.

Representatives for the Queens County Democratic did not respond to request for comment.

The field against Ardila has grown since sexual assault allegations first surfaced against him in March.

Challengers have also included short-lived bids from local district leader Émilia Decaudin and activist Haillie Kim, both of whom suspended their campaigns not long after the DSA announced Valdez would receive their endorsement for the seat.

Valdez has also received endorsements from Make the Road Action and the Working Families Party.

Ardila has yet to get the backing of any major institution or group. His fundraising efforts have also stalled this year. The lawmaker has been asked to resign by the governor, nearly all of his Western Queens colleagues in government, as well as by one of his local community boards.

Ardila did not respond to the Eagle’s request for comment on Monday.