Candidates eye bid to replace Nolan
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Juan Ardila, who challenged City Councilmember Robert Holden in 2021, is considering a run to replace Cathy Nolan in the Assembly. Photo via campaign
By Jacob Kaye
The race to replace Cathy Nolan in the Assembly has nearly begun.
Nolan, who has served in the legislative body for nearly four decades, said last week that she wouldn’t seek reelection in Assembly District 37 this year. After first being elected 1985, Nolan will end her 38-year career as a lawmaker at the end of 2022.
Nolan’s retirement creates one of Queens’ two open State Legislature seats – the other coming in the newly created State Senate District 17, which overlaps with Nolan’s seat.
Émilia Decaudin, a Queens district leader and Democratic Socialists of America member, was strongly considering a run for the seat but announced Monday that she’d instead seek reelection as a district leader and focus on organizing the left in the area.
“We are incredibly fortunate to live in a part of Queens with an abundance of Left energy and resources,” Decaudin said. “At the same time, we are a community facing widening gaps between rich and poor; crises of unmet housing, healthcare, and accessibility needs; thousands who are excluded from pandemic aid, basic survival assistance, and workplace protections; and a chronic lack of public investment in solutions to these needs and the ever-present climate crisis.”
“Our neighbors and fellow New Yorkers depend on our continued organizing—in our communities and in the halls of power—to help solve these problems,” she added. “In light of all of this, and the number of extraordinary candidates for state office already declared in this part of Queens, I have decided not to run for State Assembly, and by choosing to do so, create the opportunity for the consolidation of the progressive field in this and overlapping districts to ensure the highest chance of victory across the board.”
Decaudin said she aims to support the number of DSA-backed or otherwise left candidates running the area, including Kristen Gonzalez, a DSA member who was the first to announce a bid for State Senate District 17.
In Nolan’s district, Juan Ardila, who challenged City Councilmember Robert Holden in 2021, told the Eagle that he’s thinking about launching a campaign.
“I have a strong desire to serve my neighbors in this critical moment when bold, progressive leadership is needed in Albany,” Ardila said. “Several neighborhood leaders have approached me and I am actively exploring this opportunity to represent our community.”
Ardila received around 48 percent of the vote to Holden’s 53 percent in the Democratic primary election for the City Council seat, losing by a little over 500 votes.
Should Ardila declare a run for the seat, he wouldn’t be the first to do so.
Huge Ma, the creator of TurboVax, and Mary Jobaida, who previously ran for the seat, announced bids for the seat earlier this year, however both dropped out within the past couple of months.
Ma dropped out of the race earlier this month, citing the new electoral lines which would take his home out of the district – in a redistricting year, however, a candidate only needs to live within the county the seat their running for is located.
Jobaida, who was around 1,500 votes shy of beating Nolan in a primary challenge in 2020, dropped out of the race because of a family emergency. She told the Eagle last week that she won’t restart her campaign, despite Nolan’s retirement announcement.
