By Mark Hallum
Mayor Bill de Blasio may have won more than twice the votes for Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis (R-Staten Island) overall in Queens Nov. 7, but the GOP choice for City Hall pulled ahead of the incumbent in five Assembly districts, Board of Elections results show.
District 26, which Assemblywoman Edward Braunstein (D-Bayside) represents, saw voters cast the highest amount of ballots in favor of Malliotakis despite domination by Democratic officials at the city, state and federal level with about 14,000 votes going her way to de Blasio’s roughly 8,000.
Neighborhoods in this district have a history of strong Republican support, only recently swinging left after overlapping districts saw state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) defeat Republican Frank Padavan in 2009 and former Republican Councilman Dan Halloran replaced by Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) in 2013.
Braunstein’s district sits within the boundaries of Avella’s. The senator defended himself to anti-Independent Democratic Committee protesters in March, claiming he keeps the district free from GOP governance.
“Well, I beat a Republican in the general election or a Republican would be sitting here,” Avella said, referring to his victory over Mark Cipolla in 2016. “I’m defending the Democratic Party in this district, in a very conservative district, where a Republican can get elected any day of the week. That’s why Frank Padavan was in office for 38 years.”
Vallone beat longtime rival Paul Graziano for the third time by a wide margin, with his Reform Party opponent coming in third with only about 17 percent of the vote.
The south Queens district of Assemblywoman Stacy Pheffer Amato (D-Rockaway) had the second highest number of votes for Malliotakis at about 12,700 compared to de Blasio’s roughly 7,200. Democrats outnumber Republicans in this area by a 3-to-1 ratio.
Pheffer Amato’s district sits within that of Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), who managed to keep his seat against a Democratic challenger in the general election.
De Blasio lost the district of Assemblywoman Nily Rozic (D-Fresh Meadows) by a tight margin. A 300-vote difference handed the majority to Malliotakis with about 6,300 votes.
Although the district of Councilman Barry Grodenchik (D-Oakland Gardens) is only about half the size of Rozic’s, it sits within the boundaries and saw him win last week despite Malliotakis’ victory over the mayor.
Grodenchik beat GOP candidate Joe Concannon with 65 percent of the vote.
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) had his district go to the GOP mayoral candidate as did Assemblyman Brian Barnwell (D-Maspeth).
Barnwell’s district overlaps with that of Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village). The BOE was still tallying absentee ballots as of press time Wednesday after Juniper Park Civic Association President Bob Holden re-emerged from an unsuccessful Democratic primary bid as a Republican and grabbed 50.1 percent of the vote to the incumbent’s 49.9 percent.
The BOE said it would make announcement regarding the tally later in the week.
Malliotakis won these communities in this Assembly district 8,900 votes to de Blasio’s 8,360.
There are 18 Assembly districts total in Queens.
Reach reporter Mark Hallum by e-mail at mhall
