Six takeaways from Queens’ election results

Six takeaways from Queens’ election results.  Eagle file photo by Ryan Schwach

By Ryan Schwach

If there was one story from Tuesday’s election, it was Democratic domination across the United States from Texas to Michigan to Queens.

But behind the numbers of the “Blue-nami,” there were a handful of interesting election outcomes in Queens, including split ballots in Far Rockaway, a socialist insurgency in Ridgewood and a central Queens block lost by someone whose last name is on its street signs.

At least 495,000 Queens residents voted in Tuesday’s election, which saw the borough’s Democratic candidates sweep their contests, and all three statewide candidates, including Governor Kathy Hochul, dominate in the borough, mirroring the Democratic success seen across the country.

Hochul won the borough with 72 percent of the vote over Republican Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman – although it was her lowest margin of victory among the boroughs she won.

The borough re-elected several state-level incumbents, sent eight new legislators to Albany, and Claire Valdez to Congress.

Queens also sent a native daughter to join Hochul, electing former Queens Councilmember, Council Speaker and one-time Community Board Chair Adrienne Adams as lieutenant governor.

But there’s more to the story of Tuesday’s election when one looks under the hood.

Queens saw a 19 point shift to the left, four points higher than the national number, and Hochul also performed 25 points higher in the borough than Kamala Harris did in 2024.

At a more local level, Queens saw interesting results in Southeast Queens, conservative corners of northern Queens and in Flushing’s Asian community.

Here are six takeaways from Queens’ Election Day:

The split ticket of the 23rd Assembly District

The 23rd Assembly District, which includes a large portion of the Rockaways as well as Broad Channel, Howard Beach and parts of Ozone Park, was home to the borough’s only somewhat tight local contest.

It was also home to one of the borough’s most notable electoral anomalies.

While Democrat Pesach Osina defeated his Republican opponent Thomas Sullivan by more than 1,400 votes, it was the only Queens Assembly district that Blakeman won on Tuesday.

Osina, a moderate Democrat, won the district with 51.92 percent of the vote. Blakeman won the district with 55 percent of the vote.

In the conservative western parts of the Rockaway peninsula, Blakeman and Sullivan – who campaigned together – were in lockstep. Where Blakeman won, Sullivan won too.

The splits only came in four election districts in Far Rockaway and Bayswater, all home to Orthodox Jewish communities. In those districts, locals cast their votes for Blakeman, then voted for Osina down ballot.

In those four districts, Osina received 92 percent of the vote and Blakeman received 77 percent of the vote.

Districtwide, Blakeman outperformed the winning Democrat by over 1,000 votes.

The same phenomenon occurred in 2022, when Lee Zeldin dominated Far Rockaway’s Orthodox vote while outgoing-Democratic Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato won over many of the same voters.

Four heavily Orthodox Jewish districts in Far Rockaway voted for Republican Bruce Blakeman, and then Democratic Assemblymember-elect Pesach Osina.   Screenshot via Atlasizer.net

Hochul (narrowly) won Paladino’s Council district

Governor Kathy Hochul’s 20 point victory on Tuesday was larger than originally expected.

Also surprising were her results in northern Queens, one of the last remaining conservative bastions in the borough. There, Hochul prevailed over Blakeman in the City Council district represented by Vickie Paladino.

Paladino, arguably the most conservative and controversial member of the Queens political delegation, strongly endorsed Blakeman.

While Hochul won the district, the margin was close – only 440 votes separated the candidates.

The only Queens Council district Hochul lost was the one belonging to Republican Joann Ariola, which Blakeman won by around 350 votes.

Despite her constituents voting Democratic, Paladino, after the election, called on her fellow GOPers to take advantage of the next month and a half before the new Democratic majority is sworn in.

On Friday, she argued that Republicans should “severely limit what Democrats can do with their power,” by moving quickly to codify Trump’s executive orders into law, fund border wall construction and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, put an end to birthright citizenship and push through new sites for oil and gas extraction.

“There is absolutely no reason to walk away graciously and give the keys to the kingdom to these lunatics who are out here talking about murdering all of us,” she said on X.

Valdez did better in Brooklyn than her home borough

On Tuesday, Claire Valdez, a staunch Democratic socialist, was officially elected to Congress. Her rise from local union leader, to Queens assemblymember, to congressional representative unfolded in two years.

Valdez defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in a contested primary in June, and sealed the deal with a 69 point win over Republican Melvin Rivera on Tuesday. She will succeed trailblazing Rep. Nydia Velazquez, who is retiring.

Valdez is a Queens local and currently represents the borough in the Assembly, but she performed better in the Brooklyn portions of her new district on Election Day. She won 78 percent of the vote in Queens, nine points lower than her share of the Brooklyn vote.

The results are the reverse of the primary, when she had to contend with Reynoso’s support in his home borough.

In June, she won Queens with 62 percent of the vote, and Brooklyn with 53 percent.

The People’s Republic of Ridgewood?

While Astoria recently earned the nickname “The People’s Republic of Astoria” because of its distinction as the only community in the nation represented by Democratic Socialists of America members at every level of government, Ridgewood is now giving it a run for its money.

Though parts of Astoria are represented by Democratic Socialist of America members Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, State Senators Kristen Gonzalez and Aber Kawas, State Assemblymembers Diana Moreno and Brian Romero and Councilmember Tiffany Caban, Ridgewood now has its own stack of DSA officials.

The Brooklyn-border community is now represented by DSA-backed Valdez, Kawas, State Senator Julia Salazar and State Assemblymembers-elect David Orkin and Samantha Kattan.

Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez, whose district also includes parts of Brooklyn, is Ridgewood’s only elected official not supported by the DSA. She is, however, a member of the Council’s progressive caucus.

Flushing's Asian voters move back to the left

For the last several election cycles, significant attention has been paid to the future of the Chinese and Korean voting blocs that dominate the busy and diverse streets of Flushing.

In past elections, Asian voters in Flushing have shifted toward the right, raising questions about how long Democrats might be able to hold on to the immigrant community.

Tuesday’s results show Democrats holding the line, and reversing trends from two years ago.

Congressmember Grace Meng was handily re-elected on Tuesday, defeating Republican Joseph Chou with 68 percent of the vote. That’s eight points better than she did two years ago.

She also performed better in election districts in the heart of Downtown Flushing, increasing her total in five key election districts by 10 points.

Although Hochul dominated the district, Blakeman still won most of the districts in Downtown Flushing.

However, he performed two points lower than Donald Trump did in 2024.

Weprin swept election districts – except for one

Assemblymember David Weprin strolled to re-election on Tuesday, winning 75 percent of the vote over Republican challenger Welson Chang.

He also won every individual election district, except for one.

But the single district he lost also happens to be the one that has a street named after a member of his family.

188th Street in Fresh Meadows is co-named for Weprin’s father, Saul Weprin, who represented the district for over two decades, from 1971 until his death in 1994.

David Weprin lost the election district that includes one side of 188th Street between Union Turnpike and 81st Avenue.

Only 26 people voted from that election district, 18 of whom voted Republican.

Weprin won all the surrounding districts, which are heavily Jewish, and so did Blakeman.

Saul Weprin was succeeded by his other son, Mark Weprin, who held the seat until 2009 before handing the reins to his brother, David.