FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 25, 2020 • THE QUEENS COURIER 3
Richards holds early lead in Queens borough president race
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
While the Democratic nominee for
Queens borough president won’t likely
be set in stone until next Tuesday,
Councilman Donovan Richards holds the
lead in the fi ve-way race with about 96
percent of scanners reported.
Former Councilwoman Elizabeth
Crowley trailed behind a close second
most of the night, even taking the lead at
times. Councilman Costa Constantinides
and retired NYPD Sergeant Anthony
Miranda held about 15 percent of the vote
each as the numbers trickled in throughout
the evening. Businessman Dao Yin
holds the fewest votes of the fi ve candidates.
“I’m encouraged by the results coming
in for our campaign for Queens Borough
President and I want to thank all of
my supporters who came out yesterday
to make their voices heard,” Richards
said in a statement Wednesday morning.
“I commend my competitors for running
a good race that put the issues
aff ecting our borough at the
forefront of the campaign.
While we want to ensure
that every vote is counted,
I’m looking forward to the
race in November and ultimately
serving all of
our communities
as Queens
B o r o u g h
President.”
C o n -
stantinides
held a virtual
election
night
p a r t y
Tuesday
night. On
the call, the
candidate thanked
all his supporters,
and said he’s recovering well from previously
contracting COVID-19, which he
said kept him from protesting in the last
few weeks during the Black Lives Matter
demonstrations. But as a councilman, he
said he’s “been voting.”
“Queens deserves
more. We deserve a
deputy borough president
for sustainability
and resiliency.
We deserve solarized
and green
roofs for every
building in
Queens. We
need to act
on climate
c h a n g e
with the
u r g e n -
cy that
it needs.
We need to
invest in our hospital
system,” Constan tinides
said. “We spent a lot of
money. We were outspent
by our two major opponents, but
I had the one thing that they didn’t have
— we had people. And I’m so grateful
to each and every one of our volunteers.
Queens is the most diverse place in the
world, but we can do so much more here.”
Th e Queens borough president’s race
has been ever evolving, beginning with
former Borough President Melinda Katz’s
election to Queens district attorney in
November 2019. A special election was
scheduled for late March but was then
postponed to June 23 as COVID-19 ravaged
the borough and city.
Soon aft er the postponement, the election
was canceled outright. Th e winner of
the special election was only to serve until
the end of the year.
Th e winner of Tuesday’s race will face
off against Queens County Republican
Chairwoman Joann Ariola in the
November general election.
Results of Tuesday’s primary, including
the Queens borough president’s race,
will likely not be known for some time,
as thousands upon thousands of absentee
ballots have yet to be counted. Voters were
encouraged to vote by absentee ballot this
election cycle because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Th e city’s Board of Elections won’t begin
to count absentee ballots until June 30.
For more on early results from Tuesday’s
primary, visit QNS.com.
Activists encourage residents to vote during Election Day protest
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
A group of activists and demonstrators
gathered in Jackson Heights Tuesday
to call for an end to police brutality
against Black and brown people, while
also encouraging the community to get
out and vote on what is likely to be one of
the more unusual and complicated primary
days in recent history.
Organized by the group Justice for
George Queens, the demonstration of
about 40 people gathered in Diversity
Plaza around 11 a.m., on Tuesday, June
23.
Aided by Th e Blue Angels Drumline,
a band composed of young Christian
Black men, demonstrators gave
speeches about the history of
voting and the plight of undocumented
immigrants in the
United States.
Th e demonstration began
with a reading of names of
people who have died in U.S.
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) border
camps. Protesters took a knee as
the names were read out loud.
As the rally continued, people from
the surrounding community joined the
demonstration. Activists encouraged
everyone to vote and handed out literature
that contained information about
polling sites in Woodside, Corona and
Jackson Heights.
Justice for George Queens, which has
not endorsed any candidates as an organization,
also distributed papers that listed
the candidates running in several local
races.
QNS fi le photo
Photo by Dean Moses
/QNS.com
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