18 C R Y D E R P O I N T SEPTEMBER College Point, Auburndale-Flushing, Ba yside, Whitestone Ba y Terrac e, Douglaston and Little Neck THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Paul Vallone hugs his wife after winning the City Council District 19 primary. Constantinides takes primary victory in Vallone’s seat BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO Constantinides is one step closer to filling Peter Vallone Jr.’s seat in City Council District 22 and representing Astoria, Long Island City and parts of Jackson Heights. son, mother, family, friends and supporters Constantinides celebrated his victory as the Democratic candidate in the primary elections on September 10 at Raven’s Head Public House in Astoria. He won the race with 4,295 votes, or 55.8 percent. in this district have put in me,” said Constantinides. “I look forward to having a discussion about the issues that matter to people in the general election, but tonight I’m still celebrating and so proud of the people I worked with, our campaign team.” was joined by Assemblymember Aravella Simotas, State Senator Michael Gianaris and District 24 Councilmember James F. Gennaro during his celebration. understand the faith and the gravity of what they’ve the people asked me to do,” said Constantinides. “They’ve asked me to represent them in city government, to stand up for them, to make sure they have a voice, and I’m looking forward to being that voice for them and making my case in the general election on why I have the best vision to move our district forward.” 18 cryder point courier | SEPTEMBER 2013 | WWW.QUEENSCOURIER.COM ASTORI A, LONG ISLAND CITY AND PARTS OF JACKSON HEIGHTS After months of campaigning, Costa Together with his wife, four-year old “I’m humbled by the faith people The lifelong Astoria resident “I’m excited, but at the same time I Costa Constantinides celebrated winning the primary election for City Council District 22 together with Assemblymember Aravella Simotas, his family, friends and supporters. Some of the main issues on Constantinides’ campaign include improving education, healthcare, public safety and improving Astoria. In the primary race Constantinides was running against long time community board 1 member Constantinos “Gus” Prentzas and attorney John Ciafone, who ran against Vallone in 2001. Ciafone brought in 1,702 votes during the primary election. Constantinides will now run against Republican Daniel Peterson, Green Party candidate Lynne Serpe and Independent Danielle De Stefano in the general election on November 5. Whoever wins the seat for District 22 in November will mark the first time since 1992 that a member of the Vallone family does not hold the position. Before current Councilmember and term-limited Peter Vallone Jr. was elected to represent the district, his father, former Speaker Peter Vallone Sr. held the seat. Briarwood, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest, Hillcrest Estates, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hills, Kew Ga rdens Hills, Utopia Estates, and pa rts of Forest Hills Flushing, Jamaica & Rego Park primary CD 22 BY MELISSA CHAN Former Assemblymember Rory Lancman swept his Democratic primary race and moved one step closer to winning an open City Council seat. Lancman, 44, won the District 24 Democratic primary in a landslide victory on September 10. The Fresh Meadows attorney Rory Lancman easily won the City Council District 24 primary race. beat out his opponents, Andrea Veras and Mujib Rahman, with nearly 62 percent of votes, according to unofficial election results. Photo Courtesy of Twitter “It’s very satisfying that so many people who I represented when I was in the State Assembly thought I did a good enough job there to give me the chance to serve them in the City Council at a time when all of New York City government is turning over,” Lancman said. He will face off with Republican candidate Alex Blishteyn, who is also a Fresh Meadows attorney, in the November general election. The winner will represent parts of central Queens in City Hall. The seat is being vacated by term-limited Councilmember James Gennaro. Lancman was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2006. He pledged not to seek re-election last year while running for Congress — later losing his bid for Capitol Hill in the Democratic primary. CD 24 Vallone charges to victory in crowded race BY MELISSA CHAN Attorney Paul Vallone came out on top in a contentious Democratic primary race to replace scandalscarred Councilmember Dan Halloran. Vallone defeated his four opponents by taking about 31 percent of the vote on Tuesday, September 10, according to unofficial results. With nearly 99 percent of precincts reporting, Vallone won 2,723 votes, while runner-up candidate Austin Shafran received 2,579 votes, according to unofficial tallies. “There’s so much that goes through your mind on a day like today,” said Vallone, 46. “You prepare all your life for this. Its times like this I want to start tearing up, but my wife said, ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it.’ But you can’t help but to be inspired.” Shafran, who trails by about 140 votes, said he was not conceding. “Voting rights are sacred and we will use every legal remedy that’s available to ensure that the votes of every member of our community are fairly and fully counted,” he said. The field that included Chrissy Voskerichian, Paul Graziano and John Duane was crowded long before the Republican incumbent was arrested in April on corruption charges that rocked the district and stunned the city. Only two candidates — Dennis Saffran, the race’s sole Republican candidate, and Voskerichian, who quit her job as Halloran’s chief of staff — threw their hats in the ring after the lawmaker’s indictment. The race grew contentious in the last few weeks of the campaign when three of the candidates were targeted in mailers paid for by Jobs for New York, a political action committee that endorsed Vallone. Austin Finan, a spokesperson for Vallone’s campaign, said candidates, by law, have no control over outside spending. PACs can spend as much money as they want on behalf of candidates but cannot coordinate with them. The fuming candidates still tied the attacks to Vallone, calling the hit pieces “one of the worst mudslinging campaigns” the district has ever seen. They then each grilled Vallone publicly during a televised debate and called on him to denounce the smear campaign pieces. Vallone, the Queens Democratic Party pick, was also slammed by his opponents in forums before that for being a registered lobbyist. At his victory party in Bayside, he said his message about keeping a positive campaign never changed. “It was never about being negative, and there are a lot of candidates that did that, but that’s their choice to do that,” Vallone said. “The people that came out today said, ‘Paul, we know you. You’re a man of honor, you’re a family man.’” Halloran, one of only two Republican councilmembers in Queens, pleaded not guilty to bribing GOP officials to get Democratic State Senator Malcolm Smith on the Republican mayoral ticket. He said in May he would not seek re-election to focus clearing his name. Vallone will face off with Saffran in the November general election. Additional reporting by Liam La Guerre LANCMAN LANDSLIDE CD 19
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