By Alex Robinson
Flushing activist and businessman S.J. Jung has kicked off a campaign to challenge state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Flushing) in a September primary.
The former president of the MinKwon Center for Community Action made the announcement to run for the 16th Senate District Tuesday, contending the state needs new leadership to pass meaningful reforms to tackle corruption.
“I enter this race as a reformer who refuses to accept politics as usual,” he said. “I am determined to weed out public corruption and restore the public’s faith in our state government, but we must first clean up our house if we are going to make significant progress on the everyday issues facing working and middle-class New Yorkers.”
In addition to campaign finance and ethics reform, Jung said some of his other main priorities will be to advocate for the revitalization of the Flushing waterfront and to raise the minimum wage, which is currently $8.
“I believe that the minimum wage should not be a ceiling. It should be a floor,” he said in an interview. “I believe each city should have the power to determine its own minimum wage.”
Jung refused to criticize Stavisky, who was first elected to the upper chamber in 1999, but said it was time for leadership with new vigor.
When asked what policy differences he and the senator might have, Jung replied, “I don’t want to compare myself to anyone. She has long served the district.”
Stavisky’s campaign manager, John Gallagher, responded to the news of Jung’s announcement with a statement that said, “Sen. Stavisky is proud of her 14 years serving in the state Senate, where she has been a powerful voice for middle-class families, for immigrant rights and for planned economic growth in Queens. She enjoys wide support from all corners of her diverse district and looks forward to continuing to serve her constituents.”
Stavisky’s district includes parts of Flushing, Bayside, Whitestone, Rego Park and Forest Hills. More than 40 percent of eligible voters in the district are Asian, according to state district maps.
But Jung, a Korean American, urged people not to support him simply because of his ethnicity.
“Please do not vote for me simply because I am an Asian American,” he said. “Check my platform and my past and if you think S.J. Jung will represent you, then vote for me.”
A tireless immigrant rights advocate, Jung participated in an eight-day fast in Washington, D.C., last fall in an attempt to push the U.S. House of Representatives to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
He joined the MinKwon Center, a Flushing-based nonprofit that advocates for immigrant rights, 26 years ago as a volunteer and served as its executive director from 1989 until 2006, when he became the nonprofit’s president.
Jung resigned from his position as president in anticipation of his Senate run against Stavisky.
He ran for City Council in 2009 and narrowly lost the Democratic primary to Yen Chou, who went on to lose the general election to Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing).
A spokesman for Jung said he is not seeking endorsement from the Independent Democratic Conference, which has been rumored to be looking for a candidate to challenge Stavisky.
In 2012, Stavisky beat John Messer in the Democratic primary and Republican J.D. Kim in the general election by a wide margin.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
