With 96% of the votes tallied, Phil Wong is set to claim the seat of District 30 City Council on Nov. 4 to replace Council Member Robert Holden, his current boss.
The once friendly competition between Wong and his co-worker Alicia Vaichunas, who ran as a Republican, ended climatically with accusations of dirty campaign tactics and betrayal. But now that the dust has settled following the drama of election night, residents of Elmhurst, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood, Rego Park and Glendale are sharing their opinions on the outcome of the election.
“I want to congratulate Phil Wong on his victory last night. I wish him nothing but the best of luck and success moving forward,” Vaichunas said in a Facebook post Wednesday afternoon.
Before the formal concession statement, Vaichunas gave an emotional speech after her loss to Wong in front of her supporters at a lavish watch party held at Holden’s office. Vaichunas alleged that Wong and his campaign team destroyed her campaign signs and spread negativity, claims that Wong denies. Holden endorsed both candidates early in the race, and all three of them shared the sentiment that the “best candidate would win.”
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“Alicia Vaichunas, thank you for all your tireless efforts, your unwavering support for our children and tackling the quality of life issues in this community,” one supporter wrote in response to Vaichunas’ Facebook post. “Stay true to who you are, the community admires you. You will be deeply missed for now, but your future is brighter than before.”
However, in her speech Tuesday night, Vaichunas said she felt “knives in her back” from a lack of support from Holden, also a Republican, due to the dual endorsement. Holden had asked Wong to run in 2024 to replace him, before Vaichunas announced her candidacy. A conflicted Holden credits both Wong and Vaichunas as helping him get elected in 2017.
“What was I supposed to do?” Holden told the Queens Chronicle that night, but Holden was congratulatory of Wong’s win.
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“I want to thank my good friend, and our budget director, Council Member-elect Phil Wong on his victory last night,” Holden announced on Facebook. “My office will work closely with you for a smooth transition so you can hit the ground running for our community.”
Many residents of Ridgewood, who voted for Zohran Mamdani for the mayoral race by margins as large as 30%, according to unofficial data from the city’s Board of Elections, were unhappy with Wong’s more conservative policies and the fact he currently works for the Republican incumbent. Though not currently living within District 30, one Ridgewood resident even started a protest vote campaign featuring the fluffiest nominee on the ballot: Leo Namuche.
While data showing exactly how many votes Leo received is unavailable, write-in candidates received 825 votes, which is 2.5% of the total and almost doubles the amount of write-ins from previous elections.
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Wong never put much credence in the cat’s campaign and still deems it a “waste of time.” When asked how he feels after beating the feline, Wong reiterated that he hopes his new constituents of Ridgewood reach out to him or his office directly with matters they’re concerned about or report them to 311. In his victory speech at his headquarters in Maspeth, Wong said he had continued to campaign in Ridgewood despite a not-so-warm welcome.
“I go to Ridgewood and they curse me out,” Wong said. “But I was there… the purpose of any elected official is to sit down and come to an agreement.”
Despite some doubts from teh Ridgewood community, Wong won the election with a healthy margin of around 10%, according to the unofficial results, and other residents who met with and spoke to him during his long grass-roots campaign said that they admired his accessibility and willingness to speak directly with constituents.
“Phil is compassionate, caring, dedicated, yet filled with humility and is relatable to the constituents,” Queens resident wrote in response to Holden’s post. “I know you will go above and beyond. District 30 got a great council member in Phil Wong.”
