FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 1, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 21
Holden leads Ardila in District 30 City Council race
BY JULIA MORO
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
Voters in City Council District 30 hit
the polls on Primary Day to pick between
two Democratic candidates, and early
results have the incumbent leading.
Councilman Robert Holden has about
53 percent of the vote (4,409 votes) with
Juan Ardila trailing behind at 46 percent
(3,868 votes), as of Th ursday, June 24,
according to unoffi cial results from the
city’s Board of Elections.
Th e offi cial results will not be in until the
anticipated date of July 12, aft er all absentee
Brooks-Powers cruises to primary victory in District 31
BY BILL PARRY
bparry@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers
breezed to a primary victory in District 31
in the Rockaways, a seat she captured during
a special election in February to replace
Donovan Richards.
Brooks-Powers received more than 68
percent of the vote as of Wednesday
morning, June 23, with 92 percent of the
precincts reported, according unoffi cial
results from the city’s Board of Elections.
While the offi cial results of the June
22 primary will not be revealed until the
anticipated date of July 12, as thousands
of absentee ballots still need to be counted,
ranked-choice voting will not be implemented
in this case, as Brooks-Powers
received more than the 50 percent requirement
to win the seat outright.
“It has been a tremendous honor to represent
my community in the City Council for
the past three months, and I am thrilled to
have overwhelmingly won the Democratic
primary on my way to being re-elected to a
full term,” Brooks-Powers said.
Brooks-Powers, who resides in the
Rockaways with her husband and their
daughter, cruised past her two challengers,
Nicole Lee and Nancy Martinez,
in the race to represent the neighborhoods
of Arverne, Brookville, Edgemere,
Far Rockaway, Laurelton, Rosedale and
Springfi eld Gardens.
“I am humbled by the support of my
community, and your support and faith
in me inspire me every day to make a
diff erence and deliver,” Brooks-Powers
said. “I especially want to thank my
family, friends and supporters including
Congress member Gregory Meeks,
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards, Senator James Sanders,
Assembly Member Alicia Hyndman and
all the labor unions and organizations
who worked with me to achieve this
victory.”
Her path to victory was cleared in May
when Pesach Osina dropped out of the
race and endorsed Brooks-Powers, calling
her “the proactive leader we need
fi ghting for us in the City Council.”
She was also endorsed by other key leaders
on the Rockaway Peninsula including
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheff er Amato
and Assemblyman Khaleel Anderson.
Th e daughter of Jamaican immigrants,
Brooks-Powers formed her reputation as
an eff ective leader and credible community
organizer aft er years of high-impact
initiatives on critical issues, including
education, voter empowerment, racial
and economic justice, domestic violence
and workers’ rights.
“Fighting for positive change here takes
all of us,” Brooks-Powers said. “I am excited
to continue serving southeast Queens,
a community that has given me so much.”
ballots are counted. Since there are
only two candidates in the race, if Holden
continues to hold more than 50 percent
of the vote, he will win the seat outright
and there will not be a ranked-choice
voting count.
Holden has represented City Council
District 30 — which includes Ridgewood,
Maspeth, Glendale, Middle Village,
Woodside and Woodhaven — since 2018.
His campaign has been centered on
quality-of-life concerns, such as public
safety and excessive noise.
Some of the work Holden said he is
most proud during his time serving on
the City Council is the funding he has
secured for parks and schools. In 2019,
Holden got a record-breaking $11 million
in capital funding for the district’s schools,
parks and government buildings.
Holden has a large backing from
unions, some of which include the NYPD
Police Benevolent Association, NYS
Court Offi cers Association and the United
Federation of Teachers.
Meanwhile, this is Ardila’s fi rst run for
public offi ce. He ran more of a grassroots
movement, garnering support from
the progressive side of the party. He
received endorsements from Councilman
Jimmy Van Bramer, state Senator Jessica
Ramos and Borough President Donovan
Richards.
Holden’s Communications Director
Kevin Ryan said that since the race has
been called by major news outlets, their
team is feeling good and is ready to move
past the election.
“Th is is a district of hardworking people
who want safe, clean streets and to
peacefully enjoy their homes and raise
their families,” Ryan said. “Th ey also care
deeply about a quality education for their
children. Councilman Holden has stood
up for those issues like no one else in the
Council and will never stop.”
Some of Ardila’s main policy points
revolved around aff ordable housing for
all, more public transportation access and
investment on education.
“If there’s one thing that all the cities
that have implemented aff ordable housing
and reduced their homeless population
have in common, it’s that they
view homeownership not as a speculative
investment, but as a human right,”
Ardila told QNS in September. “And I
think that’s where New York City fails; we
view it as an investment.”
Th ough Ardila is behind, he does not
plan to concede the race just yet.
“Th ere are 541 votes separating us
and we will wait for all the absentee ballots
to be counted,” Ardila said. “We ran
a very positive race focusing on inclusivity
and real representation. Th is election
was very close and shows there is a large
part of the district that feels misrepresented
and the demographics have changed
drastically.”
Photo courtesy of Councilman Robert Holden’s offi ce/Photo courtesy of Juan Ardila’s campaign
Incumbent Councilman Robert Holden and challenger Juan Ardila.
Photo courtesy of Brooks-Powers campaign
Councilwoman Selvena Brooks-Powers votes with her husband.
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