Ex-Queens prosecutor sues Cuomo to reinstate borough president special election
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Former Queens prosecutor Jim Quinn. Eagle photo by David Brand
By David Brand
A veteran former prosecutor running a conservative campaign for Queens borough president sued Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the state Board of Elections Friday over the decision to cancel the special contest to fill the vacant seat.
Ex-Queens Assistant District Attorney James Quinn, a registered Democrat, did not submit a petition to appear on the primary ballot, instead concentrating on the non-partisan special election that had been scheduled for March 23. That election was canceled due to the coronavirus, however. After first postponing the special election until the day of the June 23 primary, Gov. Andrew Cuomo last month canceled the contest and signed an executive order stating that the winner of the November general election would take office.
“I think the governor is wrong in canceling the election and I think the people have the right to vote to elect their borough president,” Quinn told the Eagle. “Canceling the election deprives them of that right.”
Quinn filed the emergency application in Queens Supreme Court Friday afternoon.
The decision “cancelling the Special Election for Queens Borough President will disfranchise non-democrat voters, who are ineligible to participate in the election process the Governor has allowed to proceed,” Quinn wrote in the court filing.
Mayor Bill de Blasio set the special election to fill the seat vacated by former Borough President Melinda Katz, who took office Jan. 1 as Queens district attorney — the same office Quinn served for 42 years.
Rather than hold a confusing special election and primary election on the same day, the borough president’s contest has shifted to a more traditional primary-general format.
Five other Democratic candidates are vying for the seat: Councilmember Costa Constantinides, former Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, retired NYPD Sergeant Anthony Miranda, Councilmember Donovan Richards and Flushing entrepreneur Dao Yin.
Queens County Republican Party Chairperson Joann Ariola is running on the GOP line.
After the primary, the Republican winner has at times stepped aside to give another candidate the GOP nomination through the state’s Wilson-Pakula Law, which allows political parties to run a general election candidate who is not registered with that party. The Queens County GOP used the Wilson-Pakula maneuver to run registered Democrat Robert Holden against Elizabeth Crowley in the 2017 race for Council District 30 and to enable defense attorney Joe Murray to challenge Katz in the 2019 general election for Queens DA.
Under the law, the Republican Party would have to designate the primary victor for another position elsewhere in the state. Quinn declined to discuss the possibility of the GOP nomination and said he was focused on reinstating the special election.
Ariola said she has no plans to step aside and no options for a Wilson-Pakula maneuver. She is not an attorney and cannot run for a judgeship and a Republican candidate is already running in her Assembly and Senate district, she said.
“It was my honor to accept the Republican line and we’re focused on November,” Ariola said.
