Next week, the Bayside Hills Civic Association will host its annual “Meet the Candidates Night” event, where Queens residents can get to know who is running for office ahead of the November elections.
The virtual event will take place on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at 8 p.m. and will feature candidates from the Queens borough president and City Council District 23 races.
Queens borough president hopefuls who will be in attendance at Meet the Candidates night include Democratic incumbent Donovan Richards and his Republican challenger Thomas Zmich.
Richards won the November 2020 election, receiving 518,840 votes to Republican Joann Ariola’s 205,893 votes. The former District 31 councilman was sworn into office in December 2020, becoming the first Black man to serve as Queens borough president.
Zmich ran unopposed in the Republican primary and was automatically advanced to the general election. Zmich previously ran for office against Senator Grace Meng, who represents the Sixth Congressional District.
Democrat Linda Lee and Republican James Reilly are the two candidates for the City Council District 23 race who will attend next Tuesday’s event.
In July 2021, Lee was named the official winner in the District 23 City Council Democratic primary, which utilized ranked choice voting. Other candidates in the primary included Jaslin Kaur, Steve Behar, Debra Markell, Sanjeev Kumar Jindal, Koshy Thomas and Harpreet Toor.
Reilly earned 1,040 votes against Alex Amoroso’s 461 votes, making him the winner of the Republican primary.
To watch the candidate forum on Oct. 26, click this Zoom link. To learn more, visit facebook.com/BaysideHills.
