Husband of Queens judge runs for Bronx civil court seat
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Attorney Angel Cruz (left) is running for a judgeship in the Bronx. Hs wife Lumarie Maldonado Cruz (right) won a seat on the bench in Queens in 2019. Campaign photos
By David Brand
Two years after Lumarie Maldonado Cruz defeated the Democratic Party’s pick for a Queens civil court judgeship, her husband is running for a seat on the bench — in the Bronx.
Veteran attorney Angel Cruz, a long-time functionary in the Bronx County Democratic organization, is one of five judicial candidates in the borough.
His campaign comes not long after his wife, Maldonado Cruz, said she moved to Jackson Heights from Throggs Neck in order to validate her run for the Queens seat. Angel Cruz listed a Throggs Neck address on his petitions filed with the Board of Elections.
Last year, he ran in the 2020 Democratic primary for a Jackson Heights assembly seat then held by Michael DenDekker. Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas went on to win the primary and the general election last November. Cruz finished last.
Under BOE rules, judicial candidates may live anywhere in New York City, no matter what borough they run in. Still, candidates tend to run in their home boroughs
“It’s something that everyone in politics says. ‘Oh that can’t be allowed.’ But it turns out it’s weirdly common, and judges get shuffled around all the time,” said Nick Rizzo, a political strategist and former Brooklyn district leader. “Because it’s an elected position you want to have some reason to claim the community, but it’s not legally required.”
A former member of Queens’ judicial screening committee said candidates should demonstrate some ties to the community and should definitely tell the truth about where they live.
“There have been judges over the years who have apartments in Queens or in the city and that’s where they say they live,” said the member, who asked to remain anonymous to speak freely about judges who they may encounter. “If they’re filling out paperwork saying where they live, it should be accurate.”
Cruz and Maldonado Cruz did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
After the Eagle reached out to them, an associate, Angel Audiffred, called to say everything was above board. Maldonado Cruz did indeed move to Jackson Heights ahead of her bid for civil court, he said.
“She wanted to run, she was inspired by AOC, and we all helped her,” Audiffred said. “We said, ‘There’s no opportunity for you in the Bronx, but there is an opportunity in Queens, and they also need diversity on their bench.’”
“In the Bronx, there’s an opportunity now,” he added.
Maldonado Cruz defeated Queens attorney Wyatt Gibbons in the county’s first contested judicial primary in generations. The county party went on to nominate Gibbons for a seat in Queens Supreme Court, which he won easily.
Maldonado Cruz’s candidacy, and her large margin victory, surprised some political observers and rankled members of the Queens County Democrats who bristled at a Bronx transplant winning the Queens race. “I never heard of her until she won,” said one Democratic party insider Thursday.
Others, however, cheered the win as a rebuke to a county organization that handpicks candidates who then cruise to the bench with only token Republican opposition.
“For decades voters have been robbed of their right to choose who sits on the bench in our courthouses. It’s time we support a candidate who is willing to break that cycle and return the courts back to the people,” said State Senator James Sanders Jr. in a 2019 statement endorsing Maldonado Cruz.
The Queens County Democratic Party and Bronx Democratic Party did not respond to requests for comment.
April 7, 2021 at 11:12 a.m. —This story has been updated with information about Angel Cruz’s recent bid for a Queens assembly seat.
