Several Queens assemblymembers to face challengers
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Early filings with the state’s Board of Elections show that a number of challengers are hoping to take on incumbents in a number of Assembly races in Queens in 2024. Photo via Sullivan/Twitter/AP file photo by Mike GrolL
By Ryan Schwach
The 2024 election for Queens’ Assembly seats may be a ways away – but that hasn’t stopped a number of incumbents and challengers from starting up their campaign efforts.
Recent filings with the state’s Board of Elections show a number of potentially interesting Assembly races slated for next year in the World’s Borough.
Among them is a challenge to a Queens incumbent that may prove successful, following a failed effort last year. Also, several perennial candidates are again attempting to get onto the ballot and into office.
In total, four candidates have so far filed to run in 2024 Queens Assembly races against current incumbents.
And there may be at least one open seat – Assemblymember Juan Ardila, who has been battling sexual assault allegations since March, has yet to announce whether or not he plans to run for reelection. Over the weekend, candidate Claire Valdez was officially endorsed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, making her the only candidate in the race to represent the Western Queens district.
A lot stands to change between now and next summer’s primary elections and next fall’s general election, but here is where some of the races stand in the early days of the 2024 race for several of Queens’ Assembly seats.
A rematch on the beach – District 23
In 2022, Republican Army veteran Tom Sullivan came within 15 votes of unseating incumbent Democrat Stacey Pheffer Amato after a slew of lawsuits and appeals challenged the initial election night vote count.
Sullivan, a native of Breezy Point on the tip of the Rockaway peninsula, filed to run again against Pheffer Amato in July, and confirmed to the Eagle that he would be taking another shot at elected office.
This candidacy would be his fourth attempt at getting elected.
After his loss to Pheffer Amato, which wasn’t official until January, Sullivan admitted to The Wave, a local publication, that he could have done more by way of getting his name out in the open.
“I should have done a better job letting people know who I am,” he told The Wave. “We’ll get up and be better prepared for the next one.”
So far, it seems like Sullivan has already gotten started on that effort.
He has been a regular face already at some Rockaway and South Queens events – in particular, he’s attended several protests surrounding the planned Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter.
Both Pheffer Amato and Sullivan are on a united front when it comes to that issue as well, with both of them listed as petitioners on an injunction which has been filed against the shelter.
Sullivan currently has no fundraising listed on the campaign finance board website.
Monserrate tries again – District 35
Hiram Monserrate, the former lawmaker who served time in prison after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges, is mounting another attempt at public office, filing to run in Central Queens against Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry in the 35th Assembly.
Monserrate, who also was expelled from the State Senate after being convicted of misdemeanor assault, currently serves as a district leader representing East Elmhurst, Elmhurst and Corona.
He most recently attempted to run for the City Council against Francisco Moya, but ultimately didn’t make it to the ballot as a result of a law passed by the Council several years before. The law, which Monserrate challenged in court, was subtly directed at specifically preventing Monserrate from running for the city’s legislative body.
Monserrate has already positioned himself on the opposite side of Aubry on a few key issues, including the potential building of a casino outside of Citi Field.
Over the summer, Monserrate attended a rally outside Aubry’s office with other locals who were opposing Aubry’s bill, which would have cleared the way for Mets owner Steve Cohen’s casino dreams.
Monserrate also confirmed to the Eagle that he would be seeking the Assembly seat.
Monserrate first ran for a spot in the Assembly in 2010, losing to then-candidate Francisco Moya by over 1,000 votes in the Democratic primary.
He also challenged Aubry for his seat twice – in 2020 and 2022. In 2020, Monserrate won 35 percent of the vote to Aubry’s 65 percent. In 2022, Monserrate won 38 percent of the vote to Aubry’s 61 percent.
Monserrate so far has no new funding reported online.
Rajkumar faces a challenge – District 38
In recent months, South Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar has skyrocketed into city and statewide prominence, becoming a vocal figure in the city’s ever-growing migrant crisis and aligning herself as a key ally of Mayor Eric Adams in Albany.
However, at least one candidate, Hongbao Ma, a doctor from Forest Hills, has already filed to try to unseat Rajkumar in the 38th Assembly District.
Ma has very little online presence, but has been quoted as a member of a coalition of Chinese landlords who have repeatedly protested Good Cause Eviction, a proposal that has been up for debate in Albany for the past several years.
“Ninety nine percent of current New York housing policies are wrong,” Ma told the non-profit outlet THE CITY in March.
THE CITY also reported that Ma had filed to run for Assembly and said he was a Democrat who recently switched to the Republican Party, but at the time had not decided which party line he would run on.
“I will run to eradicate professional tenancy,” Ma told THE CITY.
Another race in Flushing - District 40
In Flushing, another perennial candidate is taking another shot at office.
Dao Yin, a Chinese-American political activist, is challenging Assemblymember Ron Kim for his seat representing the 40th District.
Political activist Dao Yin has also filed in the 40th Assembly District against Assemblymember Ron Kim. Dao Yin for New York
Yin already has a campaign website and has already been part of several rallies against Asian American hate crimes.
Yin previously ran for City Council in District 20, finishing seventh in a eight-candidate Democratic primary that was ultimately won by Sandra Ung in 2021.
Before that, Yin ran in the special election for borough president in 2020 under the “Red Dragon Party” and received 17,000 votes, coming in third behind current Councilmember Joann Ariola and now-Borough President Donovan Richards.
On his website, Yin says he “is uniquely prepared to lead this City and represent Queens given his experience as a corporate controller in a variety of industries and his routine work on budgeting, finance, accounting, and IT management.”
In addition to the challengers mention in this story, Assemblymembers Catalina Cruz, David Weprin, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas and Khaleel Anderson have filed paperwork to seek reelection.
