18 JANUARY 2, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Tiff any Cabán’s near-upset in last year’s Democratic primary for Queens District Attorney emboldened many young progressives to challenge the
party establishment in 202 0 . Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
BY BILL PARRY
BPARRY@SCHNEPSMEDIA.COM
@QNS
The 2020 elections will let voters
know if the drift towards the left wing
progressives continues in Queens,
particularly in the western portion of
the borough, and if the events of the last
two election cycles represent a fl uke or a
tectonic shift in politics in the borough.
With the entire state legislature
facing re-election, the polls next year
will serve as a rorschach test for which
direction the borough is moving
politically.
The shift to the left began with Congresswoman
Alexander Ocasio-Cortez’s
stunning primary upset of Democratic
boss Joe Crowley which gave new energy
to progressive organizations such
as the Working Families Party and the
Democratic Socialists of America in
Queens. The organizations coalesced
around the mission of defeating the
so-called Queens Machine, and that led
to a near upset by public defender Tiffany
Cabán against the “establishment
candidate,” Queens Borough President
Melinda Katz who eventually won
the Democratic primary for Queens
District Attorney by only 55 votes aft er
a six-week recount.
Cabán’s radical decarceral platform
became a national story and earned her
the endorsements of presidential candidates,
Elizabeth Warren and Bernie
Sanders. But it may have awakened a
sleeping giant at the same time, the rest
of the Democratic party in Queens that
year aft er year had low voter turnout
because so many candidates were left
unchallenged on primary ballots and
many times unopposed by Republicans
in the general election.
Many other Democrats in other areas
of the borough grew alarmed at the
progressive victories, primarily when
it came to criminal justice reforms in
the state legislature.
This is what makes the 2020 cycle
so interesting to watch as Democratic
incumbents are facing primary challenges,
some for the fi rst time, from
candidates who claim to be more
progressive.
Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan,
Assemblyman Michael DenDekker and
Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas are
all facing primary challenges from the
progressives.
State Senator Michael Gianaris, the
Deputy Majority Leader, who played a
central role in fl ipping the Senate from
Republican control last year, is facing
two challengers in the Democratic primary
for a very diff erent reason. Jusitn
Potter on Long Island City and Iggy
Terranova of Astoria were so outraged
by Gianaris’ stand against Amazon’s
plan to build an HQ2 campus along the
East River waterfront in Long Island
City that they launched campaigns to
defeat him.
Gianaris became such a central fi gure
in the groundswell of opposition against
the e-commerce giant that he became
known as the “Amazon Slayer” who saw
the nearly $3 billion the state and city
were off ering in the deal as corporate
welfare wasting money that should be
used on schools, transportation, housing
and infrastructure.
Terranova and Potter blame Gianaris
for the loss of 25,000 good-paying jobs
that Amazon promised over 10 years,
with a plan to grow to 40,000 over 15
years.
With all of the drama that is set to play
out in 2020, it will be the undercard to
the following year when 2021 will usher
in a sea change in leadership in the City
Council. In Queens, 11 out of 15 City
Council districts will have open contests
because term limits prevent the
incumbent from seeking re-election.
The 2020 election cycle should serve
as a barometer as to which direction
Queens is headed.
2020 PREVIEW
A preview of the 2020 election cycle
Michael Gianaris is set to face
two challengers in the Democratic
primary. QNS fi le photo
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