Western Queens residents will have a new State Senator for the first time since 1983 and the front-runner is Queens Assemblymember Michael Gianaris.
Gianaris, who has represented areas of Long Island City and Astoria among others in the Assembly for the past 10 years, announced on Monday, January 11 that he would run for Senate in the 12th District – a seat that will be vacated by longtime Queens Democrat George Onorato, who will not seek reelection in November.
“Given the experience I have in the State Legislature as an independent thinker and a reformer, I thought I could most help move the state forward by serving in the Senate,” Gianaris told The Courier on Monday morning.
Gianaris is widely seen as the leading candidate to replace Onorato, who officially endorsed Gianaris’ candidacy the same day as the announcement, no matter if another Democrat decides to enter a primary or whom the Republicans decide to run.
Prior to the announcement on Monday, there had been speculation that Gianaris would challenge Onorato in a Democratic primary in September if the senior lawmaker decided not to retire. There was also conjecture that Gianaris could be seen as a candidate for Attorney General (AG) in 2010 should current AG Andrew Cuomo decide to run for Governor, but Gianaris said that the State Senate is where he intends to be after this November’s election.
“One thing we learned in the past year is that the Senate decides the direction that we are going to go,” said Gianaris, who cited the difficult budget situation that the state is currently in as one of his motivating reasons for making the decision to run for State Senate.
For his part, Onorato called the decision not to run a difficult one, but he was proud of the years of service he has given to the borough that he has called home for his entire life.
“This is a bittersweet decision; I have greatly enjoyed representing the people of my Senate district, and I have appreciated the confidence and trust they have placed in me over the years,” Onorato said. “But I will also enjoy spending more time with my family, especially my grandchildren, and becoming a full-time constituent of my district at the end of 2010, rather than a full-time elected official.”
Onorato, who graduated from Long Island City High School, currently serves as the Assistant Majority Leader and the Chair of the Senate’s Labor Committee. Throughout his Senate career, which has spanned four decades, he has been an advocate for working families, senior citizens, veterans and consumers.
“During 2010, among other issues, I will continue to push for my legislation to increase unemployment benefits, which haven’t been raised in more than a decade, to help New Yorkers struggling to survive at a time of record-high unemployment, and also to return our state’s unemployment insurance trust fund to solvency,” Onorato said.
