Who’s running for Assembly in Queens?
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There are currently six contested Assembly elections in Queens, with the first round of financial disclosures being reported this week. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach
By Ryan Schwach
The first financial contribution filing deadline for the 2024 election cycle came on Tuesday, giving the public their first look at how much monetary support candidates in Queens have been able to drum up so far.
This year brings with it a number of high-profile elections. There’s the race for the presidency, as well as elections for Congress. Also on the ballot for Queens voters will be races for State Senate and Assembly.
There are six contested Assembly elections in the World’s Borough, with one being a race for an open seat.
In total, candidates running for Assembly in Queens have $671,732 in their war chests, with incumbents far out raising challengers by a significant margian.
Elections this year will see a potentially competitive rematch in the Rockaways between a Democrat and her Republican challenger, incumbents throughout the borough will also face off against challengers both within and outside of their own party, and a three-way primary in Western Queens is shaping up to be one of the biggest races to watch in the city.
While the process for redistricting the state’s Assembly lines was complicated, districts in Queens did not see much change from their previous version, and more than likely will not have much of an impact on this year’s election.
Here’s who so far has filed to run for the State Assembly in Queens.
District 23
The race for the 23rd Assembly District in the Rockaways and South Queens will be a rematch. Incumbent Democrat Stacey Pheffer Amato is running against Republican Thomas Sullivan, whom she beat in 2022 by a mere 15 votes after a slew of legal challenges to a shockingly close initial ballot count.
Pheffer Amato, a moderate Democrat, has already raised $97,000 in contributions, and her current balance of $216,380 the second most among any candidate.
Sullivan, an Army Reserve colonel and small business owner, currently has $13,240 in the bank and has spent around $7,000 of his $19,266 in contributions.
The two have recently overlapped politically with the legal case against the Floyd Bennett Field migrant shelter, with both of their names appearing as complainants on the injunction against the tent shelter.
In Southeast Queens, there is a rematch between Republican Tom Sullivan and incumbent Stacey Pheffer Amato. Photos from Sullivan campaign/Pheffer Amato Twitter
In 2022, Sullivan was helped by a high Republican turnout connected to the governor’s race between Lee Zeldin and Kathy Hochul, and it is possible a similar turnout with the presidential race could help him this November, as well.
District 25
Incumbent Democrat Nily Rozic, who represents areas of Central Queens including Fresh Meadows has yet to file for her re-election campaign, but has two challengers.
One is Republican Steven Wang, who has a small online footprint but recently spoke at the Central Queens Republican Club meeting, and community organizer Kenneth Chiu. Chiu ran in the 40th District against Assemblymember Ron Kim in 2022 and lost by three percentage points in the primary. He is running is a Republican in this election.
Neither Chiu nor Wang filed campaign disclosures for the Jan. 16 deadline.
District 35
District 35 is the only open Assembly race in Queens. The seat has long been held by Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, who recently announced that he would step down at the end of his term at the close of 2024.
In announcing his retirement, Aubry tapped Larinda Hooks, a district leader and community organizer, to replace him.
“She is the only Democrat I trust to fight for our values, unite our diverse communities, and deliver for working families,” Aubry told the Eagle in December.
Hooks is running against controversial former State Senator and Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who has been slapped with both corruption and misdemeanor assault charges in separate criminal cases. Monserrate has challenged Aubry several times in the past and lost. He’s also mounted failed bids for the City Council.
However, as far as funding goes, Monserrate has a leg up in the Elmhurst-Corona district.
Currently, Monserrate has $30,000 in the bank, around $7,000 more than Hooks, neither of whom reported any expenses. Monserrate has been filed for the race around two months longer than Hooks, which could account for the difference. Although, it is possible Monserrate’s name recognition as a former elected official could help him against a non-incumbent.
District 37
What could be the most closely watched race in Queens comes in Western Queens, where two Democrats are running to unseat fellow Democrat Juan Ardila, who faced sexual assault allegations and subsequent calls to resign in March 2023.
Ardila, who recently filed to run for re-election for his Sunnyside and Long Island City-centered district currently has $12,024 on hand with a total of $9,090 in contributions.
Democratic Socialists of America-backed labor organizer Claire Valdez currently has $62,355 in the war chest, having already spent just over $11,000 of her $73,000 in contributions.
Valdez, who received a contested bid for DSA’s enforcement, also got a recent $1,000 donation from the campaign of Emilia Decaudin, another DSA member who ended her bid for the seat after Valdez received DSA’s nod. Valdez also just received support from the DSA members currently in office, including Ardila’s assembly neighbor Zohran Mamdani.
Johanna Carmona, who ran against Ardila in 2022 with the blessing of the Queens Democratic Party, has raised money fast since joining the race just over a month ago.
The former court attorney currently has $25,812 in the bank, having received around $17,000 in contributions.
It is unknown currently if the Queens Democratic Party will back Carmona again in the primary against Valdez and Ardila, but she has already received financial support from her former boss and Ardila’s predecessor Catherine Nolan and Jim Magee, who also ran in 2022.
Queens most closely watched race is expected to be in Western Queens between incumbent Juan Ardila, Claire Valdez and Johanna Carmona. Photos from Ardila /Valdez Campaign/Carmona
In a press release announcing her own funding, Valdez aimed early criticism at Carmona, saying she got “significant help from luxury real estate developers, billionaires, and charter school and real estate PACs.”
District 38
South Queens incumbent and noted Eric Adams ally Rajkumar has also filed for re-election, and she already has two challengers who have had difficulties in raising funds out of the gate.
Rajkumar so far has around $219,000 in the bank, having raised just over $100,000 in contributions. Her $219,000 is the most any candidate has been able to raise so far in Queens.
Rajkumar is being challenged by Hongbao Ma, a researcher from Forest Hills, and Juan Pagan, a perennial Republican candidate who works in higher education.
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.
Ma currently has spent more than he has made, expending $598 of his $415 in contributions, leaving him $138 in the hole.
Pagan has had similar difficulties, only filing $325 in contributions, all coming from himself. He has spent $25.
This is, according to Ballotpedia, Pagan’s sixth attempt at elected office. He previously ran against Brain Kavanaugh in the Assembly in 2012, Harvey Epstein in 2018, Congressmember Nydia Velazquez in 2022 and Councilmember Carlina Rivera in 2021 and 2023.
District 40
Assemblymember Ron Kim has raised a significant amount in the race for his seat which has two challengers.
Kim, who represents areas of Flushing, has $118,181 in the bank after bringing in $73,970 in contributions.
Dao Yin, a Chinese-American political activist, is challenging Kim, and has raised $18,450, but only has $4,048 on hand.
Yin has a campaign website and has taken part in 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.
Yi Andy Chen has also filed to run in the election, but did not submit any financial disclosures as of yet.
Chen previously ran for City Council in a packed field for the 25th District, a race ultimately won by Shekar Krishnan.
Chen told QNS that he is running on a platform based around tackling crime and bringing more affordable housing to the community.
Ahead of the June 25 primary in New York, candidates will have to begin petitioning to get on the ballot on Feb. 6.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that neither Assemblymember Juan Ardila or Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar had submitted updated campaign finance filings this week. That is incorrect. The story has been updated to reflect that Ardila and Rajkumar have submitted filings.
