16 C R Y D E R P O I N T SEPTEMBER primary October 1 runoff for Squadron, James BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA The race to determine the Public Advocate Democratic nominee is still not over. Councilmember Letitia James, who received 36 percent of the vote, and State Senator Daniel Squadron, who received 33 percent, with 98 percent of the precincts reporting, according to unofficial results, will go on to a runoff next month. If any citywide candidate doesn’t get at least 40 percent of the vote, the top two vote getters must face each other in another election on October 1. “Over the next 21 days, we’ll keep talking about my record—about results, reform, and integrity. And we will talk about my plan to make the public advocate’s office essential to our city, getting results for New Yorkers who need them,” Squadron said in a statement. “Thank you to all of our supporters. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without you. Now let’s bring it home.” Going into the race, Squadron had an endorsement from the New York Times and Senator Charles Schumer, for whom Squadron once worked as an aide. James had the backing of numerous elected officials and unions. Following the news of the runoff, James, on Twitter, also thanked her supporters, expressing that she was already looking ahead to October 1. The three candidates eliminated were Reshma Saujani, former deputy public advocate and founder of Girls Who Code; Cathy Guerriero, a professor of education and politics; and Sidique Wai, a civilian member of the NYPD. Out of the citywide primaries, the public advocate race garnered the least attention and may have left the most voters undecided. According to the results of a NBC 4 New York/Wall Street Journal/ Marist Poll released on August 16, 16 cryder point courier | SEPTEMBER 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM State Senator Daniel Squadron and Councilmember Letitia James will have a runoff in October. 51 percent of registered Democrats said they were undecided about which candidate to support. Established in 1993, the post of public advocate is not only the city’s “watchdog, ensuring that all New Yorkers receive the city services they deserve and have a voice in shaping the policies of their government,” but is also second in line to the mayor. The winner of the October runoff will face Green Party candidate James Lane and Libertarian candidate Alex Merced in the general election on November 5. Photo courtesy of Twitter/@TishJames Photo courtesy of Squadron campaign PUBLIC ADVOCATE BY MELISSA CHAN Former legislator Melinda Katz won the Democratic primary for Queens borough president by a landslide, according to unofficial results. Katz, who served on the Assembly and City Council, bested her former colleague, Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., by nearly 12,000 votes, with 99 percent of precincts reporting as of late Tuesday, September 10, according to tallies. “There was wonder and awe to how this was going to work,” said Katz, surrounded by friends and family at her Forest Hills victory party. “No one had more wonder and awe than me.” Many expected the race to be down to the wire, as internal polls had the two candidates neck and neck, sources said. More than 10,000 votes went to State Senator Tony Avella, who was on the ballot but out of the race, according to unofficial tallies. The seat opened up this year after it was held by incumbent Helen Marshall since 2001. Marshall, the first black Queens borough president, is leaving due to term limits. The lure of being the 19th person to head Queens drew six big name Democrats at one point. Announced hopefuls State Senator Jose Peralta, Deputy Borough President Barry Grodenchik and Councilmember Leroy Comrie had all dropped out by July and endorsed Katz. The field then whittled down to two on August 14 when Avella unexpectedly axed his campaign. Katz, who is backed by the Queens Democratic Party, took shots at Vallone nearing the final weeks of the campaign, depicting him in mailers as conservative and “anti-equality, anti-choice, anti-woman.” Vallone angrily fired back on his Facebook page, saying she lied about his positions. When he conceded on primary night around 11 p.m., Vallone said he was proud of leading an honest campaign and putting up a good fight. “We stood against everyone,” said Vallone, who is term-limited from the City Council. “We took on the world, and we scared the hell out of them.” The Astoria lawmaker will finish up his tenure as chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee for the remainder of the year. He was backed by multiple police unions and gained the last minute endorsement of the United Federation of Teachers, the New York Post and multiple local papers. It was not enough to beat out Katz, who served as director of community Melinda Katz (left) swept the borough president primary race. boards for former borough president Claire Schulman and as chair of the Land Use Committee in the City Council. Katz vacated her Council seat in 2009 for an unsuccessful bid for City Comptroller. THE COURIER/Photo by Terence M. Cullen She still faces a November general election against Republican Tony Arcabascio, a longshot candidate running in an overwhelmingly Democratic borough. With additional reporting by Terence M. Cullen It’s a Katz sweep BP
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