Skywalker, Squarepants, Piazza score votes in Queens judge race

Queens voters had fun at the polls, writing in names like Luke Skywalker, Spongebob Squarepants and Mike Piazza, in the race for Civil Court judge.  AP photo by Wilfredo Lee/Remy de la Mauviniere/Chris Pizzello

By Jacob Kaye

For any candidate running for office there are few things more valuable than name recognition.

And for a handful of both real and fictional people who didn’t even file the proper candidate paperwork with the New York City Board of Elections, that proved true Tuesday.

The BOE released certified results in the primary elections in Queens this week and in one race – the boroughwide Civil Court Judge race – the agency included the names of “candidates” Queens voters decided to write-in.

While Soma Syed – a real candidate in the race – was ultimately named the winner over Michael Goldman, several people and characters made a strong showing in the results, baffling pundits and possibly paving the way for a run in the next election cycle.

Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, neither of whom were spotted on the campaign trail once, both received a handful of votes from Queens residents. Minnie Mouse, Mickey’s longtime domestic partner, also got a few tallies. Neither Mice nor Mr. Duck could be reached for comment.

Jedi mind tricks didn’t work too well on Queens voters this primary cycle as Luke Skywalker only received one vote. Spongebob Squarepants, who’s rumored to be a resident of Jamaica Bay, also only received one vote.

One Queens voter, who possibly went to the polls with the first-place New York Mets on their mind, cast a vote for Mike Piazza.

Vermin Supreme, who has run for U.S. President on multiple occasions and campaigned on a platform of good dental hygiene and a promise to give every American a pony, got a vote in the borough.

Queens voters also felt that current and past elected officials deserve a shot at a judgeship – they wrote-in ballots for Donald J. Trump, Rudolph Giuliani, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ronald Reagan and Warren G. Harding.

Ultimately, the winner of the write-in campaign was bad handwriting – over 450 write-in ballots were deemed “unattributable.”