By Alex Robinson
After fending off former city Comptroller John Liu in a tight primary battle, state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) is facing a long-shot Green Party challenger in the general election.
Paul Gilman is running against the two-term incumbent for the 11th Senate District seat, which covers Bayside, Whitestone, College Point, Bay Terrace, Douglaston, Hollis Hills and part of Flushing.
The main two pillars of Gilman’s platform are legalizing marijuana and banning hydrofracking.
Gilman criticized a medical marijuana law Avella voted for that legalized the drug for a few maladies, calling it “a shame bill” that did not go far enough.
“It was a compromise to get it done,” Avella said of the new law. “I think we would have been preferred to have more diseases included, but sometimes you have to compromise to get anything done.”
The challenger, who has openly admitted to serving time in jail for marijuana charges, called for a pardon for all non-violent drug offenders.
“The drug war has been used as a tool of racist oppression,” Gilman said in a telephone interview. The College Point resident also said Avella softened his stance on environmental issues after joining the Independent Democratic Conference, a breakaway group of five state senators which has controlled the upper chamber with the GOP over the last two years.
“He’s totally misinformed,” Avella said of Gilman in an interview. “I don’t think he has a clue as to what’s going on in state government. I’m leading the fight against hydrofracking.”
Both Avella and Gilman have called for an outright ban on hydrofracking.
“We’re supposed to be weening ourselves off fossil fuels and we’re supposed to be developing renewable energy sources,” Gilman said.
Gilman is Avella’s lone opponent since the Queens GOP did not amass enough signatures to get a candidate on the ballot in the district. Avella is also running on the Independence Party line.
The two-term senator trumpeted his environmental achievements and was endorsed by the Sierra Club and the New York Conservation League of Voters, which are both environmental organizations, in the Democratic primary.
“I am the environmental guy,” he said.
Avella touted his recent record as a legislator, having raked in $6.5 million in funding for his district since he bolted to the IDC.
The incumbent got a boost this week when U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) endorsed him for re-election.
“Having worked with Sen. Tony Avella on those issues that are most important to his district and to all New Yorkers, I know firsthand that he has been an effective fighter for middle class values and has always put good government first,” Schumer said.
Avella faced a stiff primary challenge from Liu, who was supported by the Queens Democratic Organization, after the senator joined the IDC. The group recently agreed to form a new coalition with mainline Democrats after holding power for two years with Republicans.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
