FLUSHING — Ron Kim, a legislative aid to Gov. David Paterson, announced Monday he has dropped out of the race for City Councilman John Liu’s (D−Flushing) seat to promote party unity as September’s Democratic primary approaches.
“I spent the last few weeks assessing my role as a candidate for City Council and have decided that at this point, I can best serve the residents of Queens by returning to my role at the governor’s office. Secondly, I would like to promote solidarity among Democrats in this district by stepping aside,” Kim said.
Kim did not say if he would be throwing his support behind John Choe, Liu’s former chief of staff, who received the Queens Democratic Organization’s endorsement last month.
“I respect the decision of the party,” Kim said. “But I’m going to be reaching out to the candidates to discuss making an endorsement. I’d like to make an endorsement, but I have to see if that’s even possible as an employee of the governor.”
Just last week, Kim welcomed Choe to the race and said he looked forward to debating him in the march toward the primary.
There are now six Democrats registered for the 20th Council District race with the city Campaign Finance Board: Choe, community activist S.J. Jung, education advocate Yen Chou, Democratic District Leader James Wu, Holly Civic Association President Isaac Sasson and Constantine Kavadas.
— Stephen Stirling
