By Phil Corso
With November’s general election looming, six different races for state Assembly have shaped up throughout Queens, according to the city Board of Elections.
According to a citywide candidacy list provided by the BOE, Assembly races in the borough will be decided Nov. 6 for the 25th, 30th, 33rd, 36th, 37th and 40th districts.
In the 25th District, which runs from Flushing to Douglaston and includes most of Bayside Hills, September’s Democratic primary winner, Nily Rozic of Fresh Meadows, will face off against Republican Abraham M. Fuchs and Conservative William N. Garifal Jr., as well as her defeated opponent Jerry Iannece, who will appear on the Independence Party line.
Rozic, who ran on a platform that pushed improving vital services for women and seniors, bested Iannece in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary with more than 56 percent of nearly 4,000 total votes, the BOE said. Iannece campaigned largely on bringing his experience to Albany after spending more than a decade as president of the Bayside Hills Civic Association and chairman of Community Board 11.
Fuchs said he was running largely on an education-first agenda while Garifal has campaigned for lower taxes and fiscal responsibility.
As for the 30th District in central Queens, including most of Maspeth, incumbent Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth), who was first elected in 1998, will see a rematch against Republican and Conservative candidate Anthony Nunziato Nov. 6.
In 2010, Markey bested Nunziato in the same race with 9,745 Democratic votes against her opponent’s 5,029 on the Republican line, 439 on the Independence line and 768 on the Conservative line, according to the BOE.
Markey has signed onto several bills throughout her more than 10 years in the Assembly, including one that sought to address sexual abuse in private schools. In his last run against Markey, Nunziato campaigned largely on job creation, capping government spending, cutting taxes, fiscal responsibility and school vouchers.
Democratic and Working Families Party candidate Barbara Clark, of Cambria Heights, will face Clyde Vanel, of the More Jobs Party, in November to decide who will represent the 33rd Assembly District in that region.
Clark bested Vanel in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary with more than 63 percent of about 4,700 votes, campaigning on her experience against Vanel’s pro-business platform.
Clark was first elected to the 33rd Assembly District in 1986, which includes all or parts of the neighborhoods of Bellerose, Queens Village, Cambria Heights, Hollis and St. Albans.
In the 36th District, which encompasses northwest Queens and most of Astoria, Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) will defend her seat against Republican challenger Julia Haich, of Astoria. Simotas will be running on both the Democratic and Working Families party lines.
After running unopposed in the Nov. 2, 2010, general election, the Greek-American Simotas said she has focused in Albany on revitalizing New York’s economy, protecting neglected consumers and strengthening our criminal justice system. Her opponent, Polish-American Haich, has campaigned on reforming crime prevention, senior outreach programs and lowering real estate taxes.
In the 37th District, which includes Sunnyside, Woodside, Astoria, Maspeth, Queensbridge, Long Island City and Ridgewood, incumbent Catherine Nolan (D-Ridgewood) will defend her seat against Republican challenger John Kevin Wilson.
Nolan, who will appear on the ballot as a Democrat and Working Families candidate, has held onto her seat since her initial election in 1984 and was appointed as chairwoman of the Assembly Standing Committee on Education in 2006. Wilson, an actor and bartender, has campaigned on breathing new life into the Assembly seat and reforming education and spending in Albany.
In the 40th District, which encompasses downtown Flushing, Democratic, Working Families and Independence candidate Ron Kim will face Republican Philip Gim after both candidates won primaries Sept. 13.
Kim, who received more than 27 percent of the nearly 4,000 votes cast in the Democratic primary, has campaigned on promoting small business growth and education. Gim, a small business owner, former postal worker and U.S. census supervisor, ran his campaign focusing on cutting state regulations that hinder small business growth, which he said would create jobs.
Reach reporter Phil Corso by e-mail at pcorso@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
