As Council Member Robert Holden prepares to vacate the District 30 City Council seat he’s held since 2017 due to term limits, the contentious race between two of his staff members finally came to a head on election night, Democratic candidate Phil Wong pulled out a victory over his co-worker, Alicia Vaichunas, by a margin of 10%, according to unofficial results form the city’s Board of Elections.
An exhausted Wong gave a speech to his small staff at his headquarters in Maspeth Tuesday night, just two blocks away from Vaichunas’, which was held in the same building as Holden’s office. The watch parties were a tale of two campaigns: Vaichunas’ was a fully catered affair with balloons, a DJ, a projector to watch the results and many tables that were full of her supporters, while Wong’s featured several pizzas and bottles of sodas amidst the piles of campaign materials.
“I would just like to thank all of the voters who came out today, over 10,000 and counting,” Wong said.
During his speech, Wong thanked his wife, Kim, for supporting him throughout the campaign, the individual 600 campaign donors, his team of canvassers and Holden himself, who inspired him to run in the first place after the council member personally asked in 2024. Wong’s campaign manager, Bernard Chow, accredited the unlikely win to the hard work and “ground game” of his team that he coordinated behind his desk at their headquarters.
According to Chow, Wong’s canvassers managed to door knock or leave a flier across the entirety of District 30 at least once and despite their smaller budget.
“Phil Wong is genuinely someone who is on the ground,” Chow said. “Reaching everyone in the community, reaching every neighbor, and touching the community. This is what makes him successful: he takes the time to talk to everyone and goes back to everyone who asked questions with answers.”
Wong, who serves as Holden’s budget and constituent services director, ran as a Democrat in the election on a similar tough on crime platform and advocated increasing the number of police within the 104th Precinct. At the beginning of Wong’s campaign, many residents of Ridgewood, District 30’s bluest neighborhood, did not take to Wong’s more purple campaign. Paul Pogozelski, the more progressive candidate in the Democratic primary who lost to Wong by 300 votes, respected the efforts of Wong’s small team.
However, after door knocking in the area and holding a meet and greet and the Ridgewood Democratic Club, Wong incorporated some of the issues the residents had into his campaign, such as increasing the number of public trash bins and funding local arts programs.
“I would like to congratulate Phil on becoming our next city councilman,” Pogozelski said. “His team put out a great deal of content on social media leading to the election and he worked hard to secure the victory. I wish him well.”
Though Holden endorsed both of his employees following their candidacy announcements, he appeared in several videos on Vaichunas’ social media throughout the month of October. Vaichunas, Holden’s deputy chief of staff, is a lifelong resident of District 30 and has been working within Holden’s office for eight years. In fact, Vaichunas received many notable endorsements, including fellow Republican Curtis Sliwa, third runner-up in the mayoral election, who endorsed Vaichunas while standing alongside Holden and City Council Minority Leader Joann Ariola.
“I think Alicia ran an incredible race, and she shouldn’t give up,” said Ariola, who was present at Vaichunas’ watch party. “Like myself, I didn’t win the first time, but I kept at it now I’m a sitting member of the City Council and so will she one day.”
However, according to Vaichunas, her days in public service may be over. When asked if she would be willing to work for Wong, who says he hopes to keep the entirety of Holden’s staff on board, Vaichunas said “absolutely not.”
“During the campaign, we said we were going to keep it peaceful,” Vaichunas said. “He hired someone who was negative and nasty and threw the first punch, and I’m not willing to do that anymore. I had people ripping down my signs, and he’ll say it wasn’t him, but when I talk to the store owners, they say it was. It’s not because I lost, it’s because of what transpired throughout this election.”
Vaichunas owns a catering hall business she said she will fall back on. However, after Mamdani’s win in the mayoral election, Vaichunas said she may “sell it all” and leave the city.
“My team respected all her signs,” said Wong. “My banners and signs vanished, as well, [but] I am not blaming anybody.”
After the race’s outcome became apparent and the AP called the mayoral election for Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, many attendees at Vaichunas’ event became emotional and a member of her team could be heard yelling at another staff member of Holden’s office, accusing him of becoming involved with Wong’s campaign after promising to stay by the side. The staff member was then asked to leave. Despite the loss, Vaichunas’ supporters still hope she continues with public service in the future.
Wong said he’s willing to work with Mamdani’s office during his tenure as the latest District 30 representative. But after a good nights sleep, Wong said the first thing he’ll do tomorrow is visit his father’s grave with his wife. When asked to describe his mood in three words, Wong said: “Leg-cramps, sleepy and hungry,” to laughs from his staff members.
