Candidates begin raising cash in Queens Council races
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Candidates in Queens have begun raising funds for bids at City Council seats in the borough. Photo by Momos/Wikimedia Commons
By Jacob Kaye
If it feels as though it hasn’t been that long since the last time the entire City Council was up for election – that’s because it hasn’t been.
Elections were last held in 2021 and will again be held this summer and fall as a result of last year’s council redistricting. While councilmembers typically serve four-year terms, councilmembers elected before a redistricting year serve for two years.
While petitions have yet to go out and ballots have yet to be set, early fundraising deadlines now give Queens residents a peek into who may be running to represent them in the city’s legislative body.
As was the case in 2021, City Council races will be determined by ranked-choice voting in races with more than two candidates. The introduction of ranked-choice voting – in addition to a majority of the council hitting their term limits two years ago – resulted in crowded primary ballots across the borough. One Western Queens district saw well-over a dozen candidates vying for the Democratic party line.
While no district appears to be as crowded as some of the districts were in 2021, several races have already seen interest from a handful of candidates.
Around half a dozen incumbents are facing challenges from a member of their own party, and will likely square off in a primary election on June 27. All of the incumbents facing primary challengers are first-term councilmembers.
Three other incumbents are facing the prospect of facing a challenger in the general election in November. There are no open seats in Queens.
Hank Sheinkopf, a political consultant and professor, told the Eagle that because of the short turn-around time between elections, incumbents likely have even more of and advantage than they would in a normal election cycle.
That’s because challengers have less time to raise funds, he said.
“One could argue that the fix is in for incumbents,” Sheinkopf said.
“Shorter periods to elections means less time to raise money – therefore, people who have an interest in influencing these elections and have relationships with candidates are more likely to donate,” he added. “We're going to see more of the usual gang.”
But still, Queens residents should expect a few more candidates to jump into their local races before the ballots are set. That’s because New York City’s eight-to-one campaign donation matching program may entice some candidates to take shot at an incumbent, despite their financial advantage.
“They'll see it as free money,” he said. “They show up, they raise X amount of dollars, they get an eight-to-one match. That's an incentive to increase fields in races, not to decrease them.”
District 19
City Councilmember Vickie Paladino currently represents District 19 and has since her election in 2021. The councilmember is one of two Queens Republicans in the City Council, and has often clashed with the legislature’s progressive caucus.
As of Jan. 17, Paladino has around $18,500 in her campaign’s bank account.
She currently isn’t facing a primary challenger but several Democrats are hoping to face off against her come November.
Among them is Tony Avella, a former City Councilmember and State Senator who ran against Paladino in 2021, losing by around 2,000 votes.
Avella, who, as a member of the Independent Democratic Caucus, lost his seat to John Liu in 2018, made his intention to run for the City Council seat known not long after losing to Paladino in 2021.
He currently has around $85,000 in his campaign bank account. A large portion of that money comes from public matching funds – Avella is currently the only candidate to have received the funds in the entire city.
In the past two years, not much has changed for Avella in his bid against Paladino, except for the fact that he’s now facing off against an incumbent.
District 19, which covers a section of Northern Queens, was shifted during the redistricting process to include around 700 more Democratic voters, but it also was changed to include around 200 more Republicans. Still, Democrats outnumber Republicans in the district by more than two-to-one, which was the case when Paladino beat Avella in 2021.
Paul Graziano, a local environmental advocate, has also entered into the race. Graziano’s campaign website does not list what party’s primary he’s running in and he did not return requests for comment.
District 20
Democratic City Councilmember Sandra Ung is currently the only candidate in the race for District 20, which now covers parts of Flushing, Murray Hill and Queensboro Hill.
The heavily Democratic district also now includes an additional 400 Democratic voters and around the same number of Republican voters.
As per the latest campaign finance report, Ung has around $43,000 on hand.
District 21
Democratic City Councilmember Francisco Moya is currently the only person running to represent District 21, which includes parts of Corona, East Elmhurst and Jackson Heights.
Of all the Democratic incumbents running in Queens, Moya currently has the smallest amount of campaign funds in his account. He currently has around $3,800 on hand.
Moya lost a bid for speaker to Adrienne Adams last year but, as an ally of Mayor Eric Adams, was recently brought in to negotiate a deal to bring the city’s first-ever stadium dedicated to professional soccer – the stadium is set to be built in Willets Point, across the street from Citi Field.
District 22
Democratic City Councilmember Tiffany Cabán is currently the only candidate running to represent District 22, which includes parts of Astoria, East Elmhurst and Rikers Island.
Cabán, who has about $12,200 on hand, beat out five Democratic candidates in the 2021 primary and easily beat a Republican challenger in the general election later that year.
District 23
Democratic City Councilmember Linda Lee will likely face off against at least one Democratic primary challenger.
Steve Behar, who formerly served as counsel to Barry Grodenchik, is again running for the seat after doing so in 2021 – he finished third in a field of seven.
Behar, who is currently suing the Daily News over stories written just prior to the 2021 election about past online comments and alleged conduct at a Black Lives Matter protest, has around $1,630 in cash on hand as of the latest filing deadline.
Lee, who currently represents parts of Fresh Meadows, Oakland Gardens, Queens Village and Floral Park, currently has around $10,700 in her campaign account.
The district saw very little change under last year’s redistricting process.
District 24
Democratic City Councilmember Jim Gennaro is running for reelection in District 24, which includes parts of Kew Gardens Hills, Pomonok, Jamaica Estates, Briarwood and Rego Park, the last of which was not previously part of the district.
Only one other candidate, Rabby Syed, has begun raising funds in the race. It’s unclear what party Syed is a member of. Syed could not be reached for comment.
Gennaro has around $18,700 on hand and Syed has around $3,000 and has yet to spend any money in the race.
District 25
Democratic City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan is facing a Democratic challenger in the race to represent Jackson Heights and Elmhurst.
Ricardo Pacheco, who formerly worked with the NYPD, has begun raising money in the race.
Pacheco’s main reason for getting into the race is the 34th Avenue Open Street in Jackson Heights. Pacheco has been one of the main organizers of a group that has long been opposed to the open street, which city officials view as a model for the rest of the five boroughs.
Krishnan, who chairs the council’s Committee on Parks, is a strong supporter of the traffic calming and urban park measure.
Krishnan currently has around $28,000 on hand and Pacheco has around $7,300. The incumbent has already spent around $17,000 in the race.
District 26
Democratic City Councilmember Julie Won is facing several challenges after beating out what was the largest field of Democratic candidates in a single district in 2021.
Won, who made headlines last year during the fight to build Innovation QNS, the largest proposed development in Queens’ history, currently has around $53,000 on hand and has spent $29,000 in the race.
She’s facing a challenge from Lorenzo Brea, a former staffer to former City Councilmember Rafael Espinal. Brea ran for District 26, which includes parts of Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside, in 2021 and finished second-to-last in the 15-person race.
Won is also facing a challenge from Hailie Kim, a community activist who finished eighth in the race in 2021.
Brea has around $970 and Kim has around $13,400 in their respective campaign accounts.
Marvin Jeffocat, a Republican who ran for the seat two years ago, has also begun raising funds in the race.
District 27
Democratic City Councilmember Nantasha Williams is facing a challenge from at least one Democratic candidate.
Jabari Bell, a local real estate developer, has begun raising funds in the race to represent Jamaica, Hollis, St. Albans and Cambria Heights. However, he only has around $200 in his campaign account. Williams currently boasts a $28,200 campaign balance.
Joanne Moreno is also listed as a candidate in the race, according to the city’s Campaign Finance Board. However, she has yet to report any campaign funds. It’s unclear what party Moreno is a member of.
District 28
City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams is currently the only candidate running to represent District 28, which includes parts of Jamaica, Ozone Park and Rochdale Village.
Should she eventually face a challenger, they’ll have a long way to go to beat her in the fundraising race.
Adams has raised around $442,300 and currently has around $288,000 on hand, by far the largest total among all Queens candidates.
District 29
Democratic City Councilmember Lynn Schulman will go up against two Democratic challenges this year.
Running to defeat Schulman and represent parts of Rego Park, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens and Richmond Hill are Ethan Felder and Sukhjinder Nijjar.
Nijjar has yet to raise any money, but Felder, who recently lost a race for the Assembly, has around $6,600 on hand – Schulman has around $41,200 in her account.
District 30
City Councilmember Robert Holden is currently the only candidate running to represent District 30, which includes parts of Middle Village, Maspeth, Ridgewood, and Glendale.
If this year’s race is anything like 2021, the only challenger Holden might face is himself. The incumbent ran on the Democratic and Republican line in the 2021 general election. He received more votes as a Republican.
He currently has around $10,900 in cash on hand.
District 31
Majority Whip Selvena Brooks-Powers has already spent around $35,700 in her bid for reelection in District 31, which includes parts of Arverne, Edgemere, Springfield Gardens, Laurelton and Far Rockaway.
Republican candidate Daniella May has also begun raising money in the race, although she only has around $80 on hand after bringing in a little more than $600.
District 32
Republican City Councilmember Joann Ariola, who formerly led the Queens County Republican Party, is not facing a challenge in the primary for District 32, which includes parts of Glendale, Ozone Park, Woodhaven, Howard Beach and the western half of the Rockaway peninsula.
So far, Ariola has only raised $180 and currently has $25 on hand.
She’ll likely need to boost her funds in the coming months because she’ll likely face a Democratic challenger in November.
Mike Scala, who ran for the seat in 2021, has around $2,650 on hand.
Though Democratic voters far outnumber Republicans in the district, Republicans have represented the area in the City Council for over a decade.
Update: This story has been updated to reflect that allegations made against Steve Behar reported in the Daily News are currently under litigation.
