The three candidates hoping to succeed term-limited Council Member Robert Holden in District 30 will have to wait until July 1 to learn the outcome of the Democratic primary, as ranked-choice voting tabulations continue.
Civic leader Phil Wong emerged as the frontrunner on primary night, securing just over 36% of the vote, with 95% of scanners reported, according to the Board of Elections. Businessman Paul Pogozelski followed closely with nearly 32%, while Dermot Smyth placed third with just over 30%.
“Campaigns are hard. They’re brutal,” Wong said from his Maspeth campaign headquarters Tuesday night. “So, I had a really strong team of supporters. They were all very supportive. At first it didn’t look too good but I have to thank the thousands of people that opened their doors to their homes or stopped what they were doing shopping to sign my petition that got me on the ballot.”
Wong acknowledged that his campaign initially struggled with fundraising.
“[It took] a lot of phone calls to friends in the district, neighbors, they were all very supportive,” he said. “They donated in small amounts, 10, 20, $30, but that got me to the threshold, got me to match funding, which came relatively late but it turned into an advantage. Because during the last three, four weeks of the campaign, I had more cash from my opponents.”
Pogozelski, speaking at a lively watch party at Ocean Prime Bar and Restaurant in Maspeth, expressed satisfaction with the results.
“This is amazing. My whole team is 28 years old and younger, and I have a lot of volunteers who did phone calls for me. They did door knocking for me, and for this crew to put this together against a machine that pulled in $975,000 combined, whatever happens tonight, it’s a victory,” Pogozelski said, referencing Smyth’s well-funded campaign. “To take on that amount of money, that type of corporate power. It was overwhelming at times. I knew it was going to be a tough battle with Dermot, and I never underestimated Dermot at all.”
Pogozelski issued a statement Wednesday in response to the early, unofficial Election Day results. “As of today, the results for the Democratic primary are still too close to call, but the early numbers and energy we’ve seen so far give us every reason to be optimistic about the path ahead,” Pogozelski said. “What we accomplished together is remarkable. This campaign was built by neighbors across District 30 who came together for a better future, and I’m proud of what we built together.”
As votes continue to be counted in the days ahead, Pogozelski emphasized his commitment to a fair and accurate process and thanked supporters for their continued trust and patience.
At Smyth’s watch party at Connolly’s Corner on Grand Avenue, a more subdued scene unfolded. A few dozen supporters had gathered, but as results came in showing Smyth in third place, the televisions were switched to baseball games. Although he was just four points behind Wong, Smyth—who serves as a political strategist with the United Federation of Teachers—declined to comment. QNS contacted his campaign Wednesday and is awaiting a response.
Meanwhile, Holden was all smiles at Wong’s campaign headquarters. He had endorsed the primary night leader, who currently serves as the budget director on his council staff. Holden also backed his deputy chief of staff, Alicia Vaichunas, who ran unopposed on the Republican line in Tuesday’s primary. The two staffers may now be headed toward a general election faceoff in November.
“Phil ran a good race, and he’s a good friend of mine. He helped me get elected eight years ago, and I remember sitting with him the night we lost the primary to [Elizabeth] Crowley, but we came back in the general and won. Phil helped me tremendously,” Holden said. “He had a good network of volunteers, he didn’t hire consultants. The other two candidates hired consultants. Phil didn’t, I didn’t, we ran our own campaigns. Phil had the most experience of any of the candidates, didn’t have unions behind him, he didn’t have big bucks behind him. He didn’t have PACs behind him, but he had the neighborhood.”
*Additional reporting by Ramy Mahmoud.
