Holdin’ for Holden? Broad Channel GOP candidate registers for Western Queens council race
/
Councilmember Robert Holden. Photo by John McCarten/City Council
By David Brand
Conservative Democrat Robert Holden won his Queens council seat in 2017 after first losing the party primary to incumbent Elizabeth Crowley. A few days later, he accepted the Republican Party’s nomination, taking the ballot line from a placeholder candidate from far outside the district. He went on to win the general election rematch.
A similar thing could happen again.
John Spataro, an attorney from Broad Channel, has filed petition signatures to run as the lone Republican in Queens’ District 30, which covers Middle Village, Maspeth, Glendale and parts of Ridgewood, Woodside and Woodhaven. Those neighborhoods are at least eight miles, and several council districts, away from Spataro’s island home.
The filing has fueled speculation that Holden and the GOP are hedging in case Holden loses the Democratic primary again, this time to Juan Ardila, a Legal Aid Society program director from Maspeth. Spataro did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
Holden’s spokesperson, Kevin Ryan, dismissed that notion and said his candidate has no need for a contingency plan.
“There’s no reason to plan for what would happen if Council Member Holden loses the primary because he’s definitely going to win,” Ryan said in a text. “He’s enormously popular because everyone knows he fights so hard for his district in the Council.”
Holden, a former civic association leader and community board member, won the seat after riding a wave of reactionary opposition to homeless shelters and remains popular among moderates and conservatives in the suburban sections of the district. He joined the Democratic conference, despite winning as a Republican, but has frequently broken with his liberal colleagues. He has also alienated progressive voters and immigrant communities by, for example, appearing on Fox News to defend courthouse Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and introducing a bill to reverse a ban on police chokeholds.
Holden has raised about $53,000, while Ardila has taken in about $44,000. Both qualified for more than $160,000 in public matching funds.
In a statement, Ardila said he looks forward “to the opportunity to face off against John C. Spataro and Robert Holden in November."
Holden’s staff maintains strong ties to Queens Republicans, and some have been campaigning for the GOP.
Holden’s aide Charles Vivruska attended a rally for Northeast Queens council candidate Vickie Paladino and Republican mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa earlier this month. His deputy chief of staff, Alicia Vaichunas, has encouraged voters to petition for Holden and a slate of GOP candidates.
“Please stop by and show your support for Bob Holden and our Republican candidates,” she wrote on Facebook March 20. “Petitions for Republicans (and any Democrats from your household supporting Bob Holden) will be available to sign, to help keep our great Councilman Bob Holden in office.”
Queens Republican Party Chairperson Joann Ariola shot down the notion that Spataro was holding the line for Holden, however.
“John Spataro came to me because he’s been interested in running,” she said. “It’s not hedging. He really felt that he really wanted to run. He looked into it and decided the 30th Council District looked good for a Republican.”
She said Spataro would move into the district if he were to win. She did not answer questions about whether he would give up the spot to Holden if Holden loses the June Democratic primary.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” she said. “I believe Bob Holden is a strong candidate on his own party ticket and he’s going to win.”
