Queens County Democrats set to nominate Paul Vallone for judgeship
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The Queens Country Democratic Party will nominate Paul Vallone for a judgeship Tuesday, the Eagle has learned. City Council Photography
By David Brand
Term-limited Councilmember Paul Vallone will be among four candidates nominated for judgeships by the Queens County Democratic Party Tuesday morning, according to five people familiar with party decision-making.
Democratic district leaders and other members of the organization will meet virtually to make the endorsements at 10 a.m. The party’s choreographed endorsement events typically serve to rubber-stamp candidates chosen by party chiefs.
If elected in November, Vallone, a councilmember in Northeast Queens, would follow his brother Peter Vallone Jr. from City Hall to the Queens bench. Peter Vallone Jr. became a justice in Queens Criminal Supreme Court, where he handles child abuse cases, in 2016 after representing Astoria for 11 years in the council.
The Vallones have been prominent members of the Queens Democratic organization for decades. Their father Peter Vallone Sr. served as city council speaker and now runs a lobbying firm. Their grandfather Charles Vallone was a long-time judge in Queens.
Paul Vallone did not respond to requests for comment for this story.
He was previously rated as qualified for a judgeship by an independent agency in 2012 but decided to run for the council rather than seek a judicial nomination at the time.
Vallone participated in a CLE led by Surrogate’s Court Judge Peter Kelly in October 2020. Screenshot.
He was seen participating in a Continuing Legal Education course about opportunities in lucrative Surrogate’s Court on Oct. 1, 2020. The event was moderated by Queens Surrogate Judge Peter Kelly.
The Queens County Democratic Party did not provide a response for this story.
The party also plans to endorse David Weprin for city comptroller, the people familiar with the organization’s plans said. Each asked to remain anonymous to discuss party decision-making.
Like Vallone, Weprin is a member of a Queens political dynasty. He serves in the state Assembly and as a Democratic district leader. His brother Mark Weprin is a former city councilmember and assemblymember. Their father Saul Weprin served as state Assembly speaker.
In addition, three other judicial candidates will be nominated by the Democratic organization Tuesday, according to the people familiar with the nominees.
They include court attorneys Michael Goldman and Cassandra Johnson, and Andrea Ogle, a Guyanese-born attorney who has held leadership roles in the Queens County Bar Association and as vice president of the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean Bar Association of Queens.
In heavily Democratic Queens, the county party’s picks for judgeships typically sail to primary and general election victories.
In 2019, however, attorney Lumarie Maldonado Cruz challenged the party-designated candidate and won a decisive victory in the first contested Democratic primary for a Queens Supreme Court seat in decades.
