On to the next election: Who is running for office in Queens in 2025?
/By Ryan Schwach
Still trying to process last Tuesday’s election? Wondering how President-elect Donald Trump made such big gains in Queens? What was the deal with those ballot propositions?
Well, read up quickly, because now it’s time to start looking toward 2025.
Next year, every Queens City Council seat will be on the ticket – though only three seats will be open. There will also be a race for Queens borough president, city comptroller and public advocate. Obviously, there is also the race for New York City’s next mayor, which has already become crowded.
While the mayoral Democratic primary in June, which will include at least two well-known Queens officials, will garner the most attention, there are several down ballot races likely to be competitive.
There are currently six council races in Queens with more than one registered candidate. Half of those are open races to fill the seats being vacated by Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilmembers Francisco Moya and Bob Holden, all of whom will be term-limited out of office by the end of 2025.
Here is a very early look at who may be on the ballot in Queens in 2025.
City Council
The first of the three open seats will come in the 21st District, which includes Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst, Corona and LeFrak City, being vacated by Moya.
The biggest name currently filed in the race is former elected official and district leader Hiram Monserrate. While Monserrate has gained more support locally in recent years – and more sympathy for his checkered past which includes 17 months in prison for corruption charges – there is still a law on the books barring people convicted of corruption related-crimes from serving in the City Council. The law, which was seemingly passed to explicitly keep Monserrate from running for office, has already prevented the former state senator from running once before.
Monserrate is currently challenging the law in court.
Also filed to run in Council District 21 is Sandro Navarro, the district director for State Senator Jessica Ramos and the president of Peruvian Civic Center of New York, a local Peruvian organization.
Local Dominican leader Yanna Henriquez and Speaker Adrienne Adams staffer Erycka Montoya have also filed to run in the race.
The race to replace the current Council speaker in District 28 has also gotten a little crowded.
Four candidates have already filed in the “Great 28,” as Adams refers to it.
Among them is Tyrell Hankerson, the chief of staff for Adams and a district leader. Hankerson will head into the election with the backing of his boss and much of the local Democratic party, who have already come out and endorsed him.
Community member Romeo Hitlall and local advocate Latoya LeGrand have also both filed to run in the race, as has Constance Miller, who doesn’t have much of an online presence.
District 30, which includes the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Glendale and Ridgewood, is being vacated by the term-limited Holden and there are currently two candidates filed to replace him.
One of them is Dermot Smyth, a political leader at the United Federation of Teachers, who is already endorsed by the majority of the Democratic establishment in Queens. Smyth also already had more than $40,000 in his campaign war chest.
Also filed to run in District 30, is Jonathan David Rinaldi, the notorious Republican candidate who was arrested on Election Day for harassing voters. Rinaldi has, in recent years, become a perennial candidate. He was last on the ballot on Tuesday, the day of his arrest, when he was mounting an unsuccessful run for Assembly against incumbent Andrew Hevesi.
Like all races at this stage in the game, there’s a chance other candidates launch election bids in the coming months. Among them could be Holden’s current chief of staff, Daniel Kurzyna, who Holden has urged to run.
Beyond the open seats, a number of challengers have announced attempts to unseat some of Queens’ incumbent councilmembers.
In Northern Queens, one of the borough’s two Republican councilmembers will face a challenger.
Republican Councilmember Vickie Paladino, who beat former elected Tony Avella by a wide margin in 2023, will run against local Alexander Caruso, who currently has little online presence.
City Councilmember Shekar Krishnan is the only member of the council’s progressive caucus currently looking at a challenge.
Krishnan, who represents Jackson Heights’ District 25, will once again face off against Richard Pacheco, a community leader who unsuccessfully ran against him in 2022, and unsuccessfully ran against Jessica González-Rojas last year.
Local paralegal Abubaker Ashiq, and Republican Shah Haque have also filed to run against Krishnan.
Southeast Queens representative, Councilmember Nantasha Williams also has a challenger in District 27.
Vera Daniels, a psychologist, is currently filed to run in the district.
Borough President
Also on the ballot this year will be Queens Borough President Donovan Richards. But he may not be alone.
Two challengers have filed to run against the BP looking to get elected to his second full term.
Henry Ikezi, a young real estate broker in Queens is filed in the race and has already brought in some cash. According to the city’s Campaign Finance Board, Ikezi has around $9,000 in his campaign account – he’ll likely need a lot more to challenge Richards, who has served in elected office for over a decade.
Bashek Grimes, an education company CEO and former substitute teacher, has also filed to run for borough president.
Mayor
At the top of the ballot during the 2025 Democratic primary will be the race for mayor, which has already begun to heat up.
Mayor Eric Adams, who was recently indicted on bribery and corruption charges, will have to defend his seat from a slew of progressive candidates who have announced efforts to prevent Adams from serving a second term.
Among those candidates are two Queens elected officials – State Senator Jessica Ramos and State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.
Comptroller Brad Lander, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, and Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie are also registered to run.
While those names and more than 20 others are currently registered to run for mayor, the most interesting names may be the ones yet to file officially.
Both former Governor Andrew Cuomo and sitting state Attorney General Letitia James are rumored to be considering a mayoral run in the city.
Comptroller
Several big name candidates have already filed to succeed Lander as comptroller of the city and help manage the city’s coffers.
City Council Budget Committee Chair Justin Brannan has registered to run, as has Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine and Queens Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar.
Rajkumar, who has been a staunch supporter of Adams, is expected to run on something of a pseudo-ticket with the mayor.
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated Hiram Monserrate severed several years in prison after being convicted of corruption charges. That is incorrect. He served 17 months in prison.