Queens Dems back Moreno for Mamdani’s seat

The Queens Democratic Party is backing Democratic socialist Diana Moreno in her bid to succeed Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the State Assembly. Eagle photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach & Jacob Kaye

The Queens Democratic Party nominated Democratic socialist Diana Moreno to succeed Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the State Assembly, her campaign announced Monday.

The Queens Dems’ nomination of Moreno all but ensures her a spot on February’s special election ballot, and appears to be a major olive branch from the local party to the new mayor, who they declined to endorse during both the primary and general elections.

Moreno, an Ecuadorian-born organizer, is now the far-and-away frontrunner to succeed Mamdani, who had already endorsed her campaign, along with the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. She is one of four candidates filed to run for the seat, including two other DSA members.

The nomination means that Moreno will appear on the Democratic Party line in the special election, which Governor Kathy Hochul recently set for Feb. 3.

“Thank you to our local Democratic district leaders and Congressmember Gregory Meeks for entrusting me with the immense responsibility of succeeding Mayor Zohran Mamdani and representing Astoria and Long Island City in the state legislature,” Moreno said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the Queens delegation to build the broad coalition in Albany we will need to protect our neighbors from Trump’s authoritarianism and deliver an affordable future for all our families.”

In backing Moreno, a staunch Democratic socialist and close Mamdani ally, the Queens Democratic Party appeared to show a new willingness to abide by the wishes of the new mayor, who represented the Astoria district for the past four years. Most of his former constituents are represented by DSA-backed candidates at the city, state and federal levels.

“Today’s nomination reflects the strength and depth of leadership in the 36th Assembly District,” said Queens Democratic Party Chair Gregory Meeks. “We are grateful to the several outstanding candidates who stepped forward, shared their vision, and demonstrated a real commitment to our community. By working alongside Mayor Mamdani in nominating Diana Moreno, we are putting forward a leader who understands the urgency of making New York more affordable for working families and is ready to deliver results.”

“We look forward to working collaboratively with the Mayor and partners at every level of government to meet this moment and ensure the 36th Assembly District continues moving forward,” Meeks added.

The significant show of support for Moreno is a major win, not just for her, but for Mamdani, whose ability to consolidate support across the Democratic spectrum has been called into question.

While local district leaders voted to nominate Moreno to the party’s line, they did so only after Meeks came on board with the idea.

Key to the negotiation over the endorsement was Ali Najmi, a prominent Queens lawyer and Mamdani confidant, according to a Queens political insider. Najmi, who was nominated to serve as the chair of the Mayor’s Advisory Committee on the Judiciary on Friday, has worked with party leaders to nominate a number of judicial candidates over the past decade.

Moreno’s opponents, Rana Abdelhamid, Shivani Dhir and Mary Jobaida, now need to find their own way to the ballot via the Working Families Party or another third-party line.

None of the three candidates responded to a request for comment on the Queens Dems’ nomination on Monday afternoon.

The WFP told the Eagle they will be making a nomination of their own before the Friday, Jan. 9 deadline.

The local Republican Party can also nominate a candidate under their ballot line – which would be a longshot in the progressive district. Queens GOP Chair Tony Nunziato said that local district leaders are speaking with potential candidates.

“We'll see if any candidate wants to step up to be nominated or represent that area,” Nunziato said.

A sprint to February

For all four candidates, the main opponent in the campaign will be time.

Regardless of party nomination, the candidates will have less than 30 days to collect petitions and campaign for the special election in the political equivalent of a 100 meter dash.

On Saturday, all four candidates attended a forum in Astoria at a local Democratic club where they discussed their plans for the district as they begin the sprint to February.

Dozens of Astoria residents packed into the Powhatan Democratic Club to listen to the candidates and their plans should they be elected to succeed Mamdani.

All four are women of color, have immigrant roots and all characterize the tsunami of progressive politics that are quickly becoming a powerful movement in New York City and Queens. Moreno, Abdelhamid and Jobaida are all DSA members, and all support Mamdani’s progressive agenda. Dhir, while not a DSA member, supports many of Mamdani’s policies.

All preached affordability and economic justice as a main issue, albeit with varying approaches.

Even before sealing the Democratic nomination, Moreno seemed to be the apparent frontrunner with her support from the powerful DSA and the mayor himself.

She is a close ally of Mamdani’s, and has reiterated on several occasions that stewarding his plans, mainly universal childcare, through the legislature would be her main priority.

“I am running for State Assembly District 36 to succeed our Mayor Mamdani in the State Assembly to deliver affordability for our working families and to fight back against Trump's authoritarianism,” she said in her opening statement Thursday.

Abdelhamid, who has cut her teeth as a prominent organizer and activist in Astoria, has a long history in the Western Queens neighborhood having been born and raised there.

“I come to this race as someone who's been asked to come to this race,” she said. “I will show up, even if we do not agree on everything, I will still show up for you.”

Jobaida was the first candidate to declare for the seat, even before it was clear it would be up for grabs.

She also said affordability in Western Queens was a main issue, but cited environmental justice as a priority.

Dhir is self-admittedly the least known of the four candidates but boasts a long career in academia. She is an assistant dean at the Tandon School of Engineering at NYU.

She has a big picture view on the popular affordability platform.

“Affordability has two parts to it” she told the Eagle. “It's lowering costs in the short term, but also creating economic mobility and stability in the long term.

“My platform is focused on how we think about that,” she added. “When you look at how economic mobility is built, it's built from the ground up. It's built from creating strong local infrastructure and strong investing in local businesses, local communities.”

She also told the Eagle she understands her shortcomings with name recognition, but wants her campaign to speak for itself.

“I believe in my message, I believe in my competencies,” she said.

All the candidates told the Eagle following Saturday’s forum that they were well prepared for a quick turnaround when launching their candidacy.

“Every single day we are knocking on doors and speaking to our neighbors," said Abdelhamid. “I think we had an understanding that it was going to be quite quick. So we’re ready.”

Jobaida told the Eagle she had volunteers out petitioning as soon as the special election date was called.

Moreno’s campaigning efforts will be supported by the DSA’s volunteer army, as well as the significant infrastructure that comes with the Democratic establishment.

“Next month we are going to have to shine in what we do best, which is our field operation,” she said. “We have to get out and knock on our neighbor’s doors.”

No matter how February goes, all four candidates told the Eagle they will be back on the campaign trail ahead of the regularly scheduled June Democratic primary.

Petitions to get on the special election ballot are due on Jan. 14.