Two more Dems file to run for Ardila’s seat
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Claire Valdez (left) and Hailie Kim have both filed with the state to challenge Ardila in next year’s primary. Photos via Kim/Democracy in Action 2110/Twitter
By Ryan Schwach
Two progressive Democrats have filed campaigns for embattled Assemblymember Juan Ardila’s Western Queens district, joining one other progressive who has already launched their campaign, building a potentially competitive field for next year’s primary.
Both local activists, Hailie Kim and Claire Valdez have separately filed campaign committees with the state Campaign Finance Board, joining District Leader Émilia Decaudin in an increasingly crowded field to unseat Ardila, who was accused of sexual assault by two women in March.
Kim, a local Sunnyside progressive, is recently off her second attempt at elected office, losing to Councilmember Julie Won in June’s Democratic primary by a 27 percentage point margin after also losing to Won in the crowded 2021 primary for the same seat.
Kim said despite the online filing, she had no campaign to officially announce.
“I don't have anything to announce today, but I can say that I've been hearing neighbors asking me to run, and I have been taking their requests very seriously,” she told the Eagle over the phone on Sunday. “So, let's say I have been hearing them.”
Regardless, Kim, a public educator who immigrated to Queens with her parents from South Korea, points to housing as a major campaign issue, as well as school funding.
“As a housing organizer, I have the experience necessary to be able to work on that issue,” she said. “I have the privilege of having grown up here, and my family moved here when rents are very affordable at this time.I want to make sure that all of our neighbors get to put down roots here.”
Kim also called running for office “a real privilege in itself.”
She has already called out her potential opponent in Ardila, staging a small sit-in at his office with two other constituents, calling on the incumbent to resign.
“Assemblymember Ardila staying in office has made it so that our district’s discretionary funds are being handled by Assemblymember [Jeffrion] Aubry and constituents have no one to turn to for help with certain issues,” she said. “At the end of the day, our community deserves better than that.”
“I don't think Juan should be in office, but also, we need to think broader than that. We need to make sure that it is about making sure that the community has their needs met,” she added.
Ardila has denied the allegations that he sexually assaulted two women at a 2015 Fordham University party, and has thus far ignored calls to resign from his seat representing District 37, which includes parts of Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and Ridgewood.
Since the allegations first surfaced, Ardila was mostly removed from state budget negotiations, has been ostracized by many of his legislative colleagues and has seen his discretionary funding taken away and given to Aubry, all of which has led to a number of local leaders questioning his ability to represent his district in Albany. Those questions from locals also included a vote of no confidence from Community Board 2, which makes up much of the 37th Assembly District.
Two candidates have filed campaigns with the state to challenge embattled Assemblymember Juan Ardila in next year’s primary. Photo via Ardila/Twitter
Ardila has yet to officially announce if he will seek reelection, and did not respond to the Eagle’s request for comment on Monday.
When asked about his plans to run for reelection by the Eagle last month, Ardila instead offered a comment about the work he has been doing on behalf of his constituents.
If he does choose to run, he will be facing an already crowded primary field, with the election still nearly a year away.
“It's too early to think about any kind of landscape whatsoever,” said Kim. “At the end of the day, this democracy and more women running for office is something that's a positive thing. So I respect both [Decaudin and Valdez’s] work and their advocacy…how it shapes up is how it will shape up.”
Valdez, who is also a local activist and member of the Queens chapter of the Democratic Socialist of America, declined to comment on her campaign filing, which was made on Friday, Aug. 11.
According to a recent article in Curbed, Valdez was listed as an administrative assistant in Ridgewood.
Her fellow Queens-DSA member, Decaudin officially launched her campaign in July, and is looking to be the first openly transgender lawmaker in the New York State legislature.
“We need a representative who is going to be an effective advocate for this district in Albany,” Decaudin said in July. “It's not just voting the right way – it's speaking up in conference, it's organizing their fellow legislators and it's also organizing constituents to empower them to do the best work they can up in Albany.”
“Right now, the representation we have is not doing that, to say the least,” she added.
In July, Decaudin laid out a platform that included policies aimed at making New York more affordable for renters, expanding access to healthcare and championing trans rights.
ÉMILIA DECAUDIN, A 24-YEAR-OLD DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST WHO BECAME ONE OF THE STATE’S FIRST OPENLY TRANSGENDER DISTRICT LEADERS IN 2020, ANNOUNCED in July THAT SHE’S RUNNING TO UNSEAT ASSEMBLYMEMBER JUAN ARDILA, WHO HAS REFUSED TO STEP DOWN AMID SEXUAL ASSAULT ALLEGATIONS. PHOTO VIA DECAUDIN CAMPAIGN
“The trans community is suffering and they're not able to come to New York because of the affordability crisis, the affordability crisis is affecting New Yorkers who already live here and the climate crisis is affecting the whole world,” she said.
The 24-year-old Decaudin was born and raised in Westchester to French immigrant parents, and got her start in politics volunteering for Senator Bernie Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign.
So far, Decaudin already has a head start on local support as well as campaign contributions, having already raised close to $22,500 according to campaign finance data.
The story originally incorrectly listed Community Board 1 as the board which took a vote of no confidence in Ardila, it was Community Board 2. The story has been updated to fix the error
