By Chris Fuchs
Most notably, state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose), endorsed by the Republican, Independent and Conservative parties, defeated his Democratic opponent, Rory Lancman, by a vote of about 64 percent to 36 percent, unofficial records show. The race marked one of Padavan's most formidable challenges in the 28 years he has served in Albany.
Padavan had been targeted by the Democratic Party, which attempted to gain six seats in the state Senate to tip the balance to the Democrats' side in the GOP-controlled body.
All together, Queens residents voted in seven state senatorial elections, many of which featured firmly entrenched incumbents, sparring with other less familiar candidates lacking the cachet to penetrate the electoral scene of Queens.
In more than a dozen interviews with voters at the polls, most, regardless of their political allegiances, said they would vote for the incumbents because they were pleased with their legislative performance.
The heavy voter turnout in the borough kept the state senate balance unchanged from Queens County at five Democrats and two Republican.
Aside from the Padavan/Lancman race in northeast Queens, state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) resoundingly defeated Josephine Jones, the Green Party candidate, in the race for the 16th Senatorial District, capturing a sheer 98 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results.
Elected to the senate in a special election, Stavisky secured the 16th District seat last November after her husband, Leonard, a senator for 33 years, died. Jones, although active in civic groups, said she ran this year to blaze a trail for other minority candidates considering electoral politics, especially in the 16th Senatorial District, which covers Flushing, one of the most diverse areas in Queens.
“I think that other will follow me, and that they will do much better than I did,” Jones said. “Yes, I'm a neophyte and I'm a beginner. Stavisky is all right, but she needed an opponent.”
In the western senatorial districts of Queens, the two Democratic incumbents – Daniel Hevesi of Forest Hills and George Onorato of Astoria – and GOP incumbent Serphin R. Maltese received overwhelming support from voters. Hevesi, who represents the 13th District, captured some 96 percent of the vote in unofficial returns, Onorato of the 14th District took in about 77 percent and Maltese of the 15th District attracted roughly 95 percent, according to unofficial results.
The incumbents in southeast Queens, whose districts stretch from South Ozone Park west into Cambria Heights, also took in unqualified support from the Democratic faithful.
Malcolm Smith (D-St. Albans), a senator since March and a former assemblyman, cinched the seat for the 10th District, defeating Cynthia Jenkins, a former assemblywoman herself as well as a once-candidate for the City Council, taking in about 93 percent, unofficial results showed.
Election Day was not without its share of edginess. At PS 36 in St. Albans, Smith was outside shaking hands with voters when the police asked a volunteer for the Democrats to move farther away from the school entrance to hand out literature. The woman agreed, but moments later the police asked her to move again and Smith intervened.
“There was no opposition here,” Smith said, referring to the fact that there were no Republican electioneers handing out leaflets. Smith said that in years past, voters had complained of police harassment at the site on Election Day.
For the 12th District, state Sen. Ada Smith's victory, running unopposed, was a foregone conclusion in her area that spreads through Jamaica and South Jamaica, hugging Kennedy airport.
