By Kathianne Boniello
The little election that could was finally decided Tuesday night when the Queens County Green Party decided in favor of Paul Graziano as the Green Party candidate to replace City Councilwoman Julia Harrison (D-Flushing).
Graziano and fellow Green candidate Evergreen Chou were tied 17-17 after the Sept. 25 primary, and both men said they would abide by a county party decision rather than hold a run-off election. Less than 100 Green Party voters are registered in the district.
Chou said Tuesday night the election was finally settled after two rounds of voting by the 14-person group of county Greens, following a familiar pattern: after the first vote the two were tied 7-7. A second vote did the job, giving the election to Graziano in a 9-5 decision, Chou said.
The contest for Harrison’s seat has been anything but clean-cut, with eight candidates running to replace the longtime politician. The Green Party primary in Flushing has been one of the most intriguing facets of a complicated Council race.
While the race between Graziano and Chou — the only such City Council primary in the city — has been difficult to resolve, the Democratic nomination was also in limbo this week.
Democratic nominee John Liu, who had raised far more money for the campaign than his opponents, was largely seen as the favorite but squeaked by with only about 200 votes in the primary race.
Even though the Board of Elections certified those results Oct. 4, Democratic competitor Ethel Chen, who was runner-up to Liu, filed a challenge to the results Friday, campaign manager James Wu said.
Wu cited numerous election irregularities in the 20th Council District that he said could have marred the vote count, echoing an early complaint by Graziano about voting problems in the district Sept. 25.
Wu said “we had to wait for them to certify the results before we could overturn them.” Chen is a longtime Democratic district leader in Flushing.
The contest to succeed Harrison has the best chance of producing New York’s first Asian-American council member and the first Asian-American elected official in the state.
After the tied vote in the Green Party primary, Graziano said there were only three options: a candidate could concede, a runoff could be held, or the contest could go to the Queens’ County Greens.
Graziano said both he and Chou preferred the county organization’s decision.
Chou expressed disappointment Tuesday night after his loss, but said: “I wish Paul all the best.”
Graziano said the end to the primary contest was “quite a cliffhanger.”
“It was a really tough evening,” he said. “I don’t think either of us knew how it was going to turn out.”
Though originally slated for Sept. 11, the Primary Day elections were canceled after the World Trade Center attacks and rescheduled for Sept. 25. Candidates agreed not to campaign in the two-week interim, leaving campaigns in limbo.
Harrison, a 15-year veteran of the City Council, was barred from running again due to term limits but announced earlier this year she was retiring from her seat regardless.
The 20th Council District includes Flushing and Queensboro Hill as well as parts of the communities of Fresh Meadows, Auburndale, Linden Hill, Murray Hill and Whitestone.
The race for Harrison’s seat has also drawn interest because, while most races in Queens, a heavily Democratic borough, were decided after the Sept. 25 primary narrowed the Democratic field, at least four candidates remained on the ballot for the 20th Council District.
The Democratic winner will face off against Republican Ryan Walsh, a Green Party candidate, and Independent Martha Flores-Vazquez, who was knocked off the Democratic Party line earlier this year when her petitions were challenged.
In a district where the Hispanic population has a large voter turnout, Flores-Vazquez’ presence on the ballot in November could be a threat to the other candidates.
Reach reporter Kathianne Boniello by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 146.
