Seven spicy races to watch in Queens

Eagle photo by David Brand

By David Brand

It’s Primary Day in Queens, which means all seven House seats, seven state Senate seats and 18 Assembly spots are up for grabs in the overwhelmingly Democratic borough. 

The next occupant of Queens Borough Hall will almost certainly emerge from the field of five Democratic candidates running in the Queens borough president primary. There are also two judgeships and dozens of district leader spots on the line. 

Many of the races are foregone conclusions: There’s either no challenger or a weak field of candidates is attempting to displace an entrenched incumbent. Boring, for the most part.

But there are certainly plenty of spicy races in Queens where mighty challengers have emerged, a large candidates fields have upped the ante or a particularly assertive hopeful has stirred the pot. Will the incumbents hang on? If so, by how many votes? Or can a challenger or two or three grab a seat in Albany? Here are a few primaries to watch today and in the coming weeks as absentee ballots trickle in.

Assemblymember Mike Miller under pressure

Five-term incumbent Assemblymember Michael Miller’s brand of moderate politics has played well with the white, homeowner set in District 38, which covers Woodhaven, Ridgewood, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and Glendale. But the district’s rapidly changing demographics could spell trouble for Miller.

Latino New Yorkers account for nearly 50 percent of the district, and Asian residents make up another 20 percent, according to census information. Younger voters, meanwhile, are moving further to the left — especially in the Ridgewood portion of the district.

That opens a significant opportunity for a more liberal challenger. Jennifer Rajkumar, an attorney and former Cuomo Administration official who lost a bid for a Manhattan Assembly seat before moving to Woodhaven, has outpaced the field in fundraising and has the endorsement of Councilmember Donovan Richards, a candidate for Queens borough president. 

The wildcard is Joey de Jesus, a poet and CUNY adjunct professor who identifies as a queer person of color. De Jesus’ campaign and contagious energy have invigorated progressives in the district.

“COVID-19 is a crisis that exacerbates all the existing disparities,” de Jesus said. “I would not have started this campaign had I not felt it coming. We need a poet to make this critical intervention.”

“The campaign is not about me,” de Jesus added. “I hope that it signals a dire need for socialist intervention.”

Weprin for Assembly, District Leader and Judicial Delegate

Veteran incumbent Assembly David Weprin is attempting to hold onto three different positions — and facing a coordinated campaign from challengers for each one.

Weprin, an assemblymember, a Democratic district leader and a judicial delegate is heavily favored to retain his seat, but he has faced pressure from opponents over a campaign contribution from the vice president of Zara Realty, a firm being sued by the state for allegedly harassing and exploiting its mostly South Asian tenants. 

Like District 38, Weprin’s District 24 features a sizable South Asian population.

Assembly challenger Mahfuzul Islam, district leader challenger Mahtab Khan and judicial delegate candidate Ali Najmi have also organized demonstrations against Weprin for accepting money from law enforcement unions. Former Guyanese magistrate Albert Baldeo, who was convicted of a donor corruption scheme in a previous bid for office, is also running for Assembly.

“People are trying to be symbolic, but I don’t see how abuses in other places should affect the NYPD,” Weprin told the Eagle. “Yes we’ve had abuses, but I’m not planning to give back union money that was legally obtained.”

A Weprin family member has been in office for nearly five decades, giving the incumbent a significant boost and widespread name recognition. Weprin has the support of powerful labor unions and the Queens County Democratic Party. 

Islam’s platform includes limiting funding for the NYPD, making CUNY and SUNY free and instituting Assembly term limits Islam said his platform is inspired by Bernie Sanders and he is running to foster community engagement. 

Weprin is heavily favored to win, but can the South Asian insurgents draw a significant chunk of the vote and foreshadow future elections in the gerrymandered district, which stretches northeast from Richmond Hill to Glen Oaks?

The county party chair faces a young progressive: Take 2

We in the media just love to compare the contest in New York’s 5th Congressional District to a 2018 race that pitted the chair of the Queens County Democratic Party against a charismatic socialist candidate named Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

So does that get annoying for U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and challenger Shaniyat Chowdhury?

“It does to be quite honest,” Meeks said. “I think if you look at most or all of the people that serve in Congress, they all have gotten reelected and done a great job. One election changes everything and it means that other folks are subject to it.”

This is race is different, said Meeks who has served NY-5 since 1998. For one thing, it’s almost wholly contained in Queens, unlike NY-14, which covers a chunk of the Bronx. Meeks rose through the county Democratic organization to become chairperson last year — when ex-Rep. Joe Crowley left the job a few months after his loss to Ocasio-Cortez.

Meeks remains a popular figure in the county and the district, but progressives have quite a few bones to pick with his more moderate ideology, including his February decision to endorse former Republican Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s failed bid for president.

“Southeast Queens has always been left out of progressive politics,” said Chowdhury, who lives in public housing in South Jamaica. “A universal basic income and reparations are two key agendas that I will be a big advocate for.”

For his part, Chowdhury resists the comparisons to AOC/Crowley in 2018, too.

“This is a different beast,” he said. “Crowley did underestimate Alexandria. I don’t think this time Meeks takes this race lightly.” 

DenDekker vs. Challengers; Challengers vs. Each Other

The race for Assembly District 34 in northwest Queens has turned into one of the city’s fiercest battles, pitting four challengers against incumbent Michael DenDekker — and against each other.

Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, the former executive director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, has the backing of local progressive groups like Make the Road Action and the Working Families Party, as well as former candidate for Queens District Attorney, Tiffany Cabán. Gonzalez-Rojas’ supporters have pressured another candidate, local civic leader Nuala O’Doherty, to drop out of the race while criticizing her record as a Manhattan prosecutor.

But O’Doherty has pointed to her roots in the community as former head of the Jackson Heights Beautification Group. She has also led mutual aid efforts in the area.

A third candidate, Uber-driving labor organizer Joy Chowdhury, has run a grassroots campaign focused on the rights of workers in the gig economy.

Another candidate, Angel Cruz, is aligned with the East Elmhurst Corona Democratic Club, but does not have a campaign website and has not responded to requests for comment.

The movement to replace DenDekker is palpable among progressives in the district, but will they consolidate around one candidate or split the vote?

Can Simotas beat back a leftist challenge?

Like other Western Queens lawmakers, Assemblymember Aravella Simotas has evolved to become one of the most reliably progressive votes in Albany. It’s all part of the political transformation in Astoria, Long Island City and surrounding communities, where lawmakers have been pushed ever leftward in a quest for electoral survival.

That’s what makes Simotas, a former attorney who emigrated from Greece as a child, vulnerable in her District 36 showdown with housing activist Zohran Mamdani, the only Queens candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America this election cycle. 

Mamdani, the son of an Oscar-nominated film director and a Columbia professor from Uganda, has significant funding and a powerful campaign operation. He has hammered Simotas for taking money from real estate developers and not going far enough to support tenants, though she co-sponsored every bill in last year’s pro-tenant Housing Justice for All package. During her time in Albany, Simotas has worked on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse and harassment.

Mamdani says it’s time to have more activist representation in Astoria.

The contest has become increasingly bitter in recent weeks, with Mamdani pointing out that Simotas took money from developer George Tsunis in violation of her pledge to reject real estate money. Simotas contends that Tsunis is a hotelier, not a housing developer, and accused Mamdani’s campaign of spreading misinformation. “I am a person of my word and I would not go back on a pledge,” she said.

A political action committee representing Uber and Lyft has waded into the race on behalf of Simotas, placing ads on Spotify that call Mamdani an “extremist.” 

Can the DSA pull off another win in Western Queens or can Simotas’ base of support in Astoria and work on behalf of women propel her to reelection?

A vacant seat in Assembly District 31

When veteran Assemblymember Michele Titus earned a seat on the Civil Court bench, she left her Southeast Queens district without a representative. A canceled special election means the position will stay that way until the November general election.

Six candidates are running to fill the position. The field includes Democratic District Leader Richard David, who has the support of the Queens County Democratic Party and endorsements from U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks and State Sen. Leroy Comrie. David, who is of Indo-Caribbean descent, is the only non-Black candidate in the race.

Community activist Khaleel Anderson, a member of Community Board 14, has the backing of the Working Families Party and the influential nonprofit Rockaway Youth Task Force, where he once served as a board member.

Derrick DeFlorimonte is a Community Board 13 member and National Guard combat medic.

Titus’ former Chief of Staff Tavia Blakley has framed herself as the most prepared to take over the office. 

Lisa George, a staffer for State Sen. James Sanders, got her boss’ endorsement earlier this month.

Chiedu “Shea” Uzoigwe, is another former staffer for State Sen. James Sanders and has worked with NYPIRG and the Riders Alliance.

Demographics will play a key role in the diverse district, which has been represented by a Black person since Meeks won the seat in 1992. There has never been a South Asian person elected to city or state office in Queens and David could be the first.

Who will take Queens’ only vacant seat?

District leader insurgency

A group of nearly two dozen community activists and political strategists have launched an insurgent campaign for Democratic district leader positions in an effort to have a voice within the county organization, long criticized for its opacity and insularity. The 72 district leaders — two men and two women from all 18 Assembly districts in Queens — vote on party decisions, including endorsements. Critics say they act more like rubber stamps for the will of top party officials.

The candidates, known as the New Reformers, are seeking party positions that few Queens residents even knew existed. 

They have coordinated their campaigns over the past year, but the effort has meant educating voters about what a district leader does (They vote on party endorsements and designations).

Will their unique bid pay off?

Bonus 8th race: Jeff Aubry vs. Hiram Monserrate

Two candidates couldn’t be more different. Read this deep-dive into this uncertain race.