FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com SEPTEMBER 15, 2016 • The Queens Courier 27 CAMPAIGN 2016 MASPETH THROWS OUT MARKEY Maspeth has become this week’s upset city, as nine-term Assemblywoman Margaret Markey lost in a landslide to political newcomer Brian Barnwell, a 30-yearold lawyer from Woodside. Barnwell, who ran an underthe radar campaign that relied primarily on the tried-andtrue tactics of going door to door, stunned the Queens political establishment primary night by defeating Markey by 17 p e r c e n t a g e points. Political pundits are blaming Markey’s shocking loss Queens Politics & More BY MIKE FRICCHIONE over the politics of a proposed homeless shelter to be built in Maspeth. Markey, who actually came out against the shelter, was perceived by many of her constituents as being too weak on the issue. In a district where Mayor Bill de Blasio is seen as the driving force behind new homeless shelters, like the one proposed, many voters may have seen Markey as being too close to the entrenched mayor. Conversely, Barnwell took the homeless shelter issue and ran with it by both attending meetings and opposition rallies against the proposed shelter. It seems to be a classic case of a very small but adamant group of voters turning out over a lack of leadership. A little more than 2,500 Democrats showed up to vote in the district’s primary, or to put that into perspective, less than 14 percent of the districts enrolled Democrats. Barnwell should be commended for realizing the importance of such a hyper-local issue, and the significance that it would play in a low turnout election where any issue that galvanizes supporters is critical to success. As for the Queens’ political machine, they no doubt woke up with a nasty hangover after losing a loyal member of their inner circle. NEW YORK STATE PRIMARY ROUNDUP By Liam Baker editorial@qns.com/@QNS Aside from one major upset, incumbent Democratic lawmakers in Queens held on to their seats in Tuesday’s statewide primary. State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky defeated community organizer S. J. Jung in the Democratic primary for the second time in her bid for an eighth term in the 16th Senatorial District seat. After votes from all of the district’s voting precincts were counted, Stavisky won 57 percent of the vote while Jung finished with just 42 percent. Stavisky’s triumph was the culmination of what was a heated and divisive race, with Jung at odds with Stavisky on a number of key issues, including same-sex marriage and abortion rights. Jung received a lot of grief from elected officials and women’s groups alike when, earlier in the race, he promised residents that he would remove all images of gay people from school textbooks if elected. He also publicly stated at a debate in Flushing that he doesn’t support a woman’s right to an abortion, barring circumstances where the pregnancy threatens the life of the woman. In the State Senate District 10 Democratic primary, state Senator James Sanders Jr. defeated challenger Adrienne Adams. With more than 97 percent of all voting precincts counted, Sanders came away with nearly 58 percent of the vote to Community Board 12 chairwoman Adams’ 42 percent. The Queens County Democratic Party had backed Adams after Sanders announced last year that he was planning to take on Queens Congressman Gregory Meeks of the 5th Congressional District in the upcoming fall elections. However, Sanders has since withdrew from the race against Meeks and will now be unopposed in the November election. Assemblywoman Hyndman has retained her seat representing District 29 on the State Assembly after a landslide victory over opponents Lorraine Bridges and Linda Guillebeaux. Hyndman won a dominant 73 percent of the vote, while challengers Bridges and Guillebeaux finished with 20 and 6 percent, respectively. In District 32, incumbent Assemblywoman Vivian Cook toppled opponent Rodney Reid in the Democratic primary for State Assembly. Cook won the primary in decisive fashion, finishing with 77 percent to Reid’s 22 percent. Cook has represented the 32nd Assembly District since 1991. The race for the Democratic nomination for the seat on the State Assembly for District 33 that was left vacant following the death of Barbara Clark was a fiercely contested one, with five candidates on the ballot. Ultimately, it was businessman and community advocate Clyde Vanel who came out victorious, winning 32 percent of the vote. Vanel’s closest rival was Nantasha Williams, who ended up with 28 percent of the vote. After Williams, the ticket was rounded out by Bryan Block, Roy Paul and Sabine French, who finished with 24, 11 and 3 percent of the vote, respectively. Group Home United Matthew Zebatto (left), Assemblyman Mike Miller, Assemblyman Ed Braunstein, State Senator Tony Avella, and State Senator Toby Stavisky visited Life’s WORC first group home, with director Janet Koch (3rd from right). The Geraldo Rivera group home in Little Neck was the first one opened for children under the Willowbrook Consent Decree in 1977.
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