Richards backs Ardila in bid to unseat incumbent Queens councilmember

Juan Ardila is challenging Councilmember Robert Holden in Council District 30. Campaign photo

By David Brand

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards is backing the challenger in a race to unseat first-term Councilmember Robert Holden

Richards has endorsed Juan Ardila in Council District 30, a seat that Holden won in 2017. The district includes Maspeth, Middle Village, Glendale and parts of Ridgewood, Woodhaven and Woodside. 

Richards and Holden, former colleagues in the council, have frequently sparred on issues related to public safety, including legislation to criminalize police chokeholds. After the mayor signed a chokehold penalty into law last year, Holden countered with a bill to reverse the new measure. Richards called Holden’s bill “garbage.”

Ardila, he said, will “be a tremendous advocate for the people of District 30.”

“There are so many issues that need to be addressed and no one will work harder than Juan to create the change we need,” he said.

Ardila is a program director at the Legal Aid Society and has picked up endorsements from various progressive lawmakers and organizations, including the Working Families Party.

Holden is one of three Queens councilmembers running for reelection. Unlike adjacent districts, where up to 19 candidates have filed to run for open seats, the race for District 30 has remained a one-on-one contest.

Ardila is the lone candidate facing off against Holden, a conservative former civic association leader who won his seat while running on the Republican Party line. He lost the 2017 Democratic primary to then-incumbent Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, but defeated her two months later in the general election. 

Holden switched back to the Democratic Party but has bucked his conference on various issues, like defending courthouse Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests and introducing legislation to reverse a 2020 ban on police chokeholds.

Ardila and Holden have raised nearly the same amount of money and both received more than 160,000 in public matching funds, according to campaign finance records.

Ardila said he was grateful to have Richards’ support as he seeks to “create change and prosperity for District 30.”

“I look forward to working with BP Richards to bring much needed resources to our communities and to help our local economy get back on its feet as we approach the end of the pandemic,” Ardila said.