Diana Moreno has cruised to a decisive victory in the special election to succeed Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the 36th Assembly District, collecting almost 75% of the vote in a race that reaffirms the district’s reputation as a stronghold for the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Moreno, an Ecuadorian immigrant and an organizer within the Queens chapter of the DSA, has received 73.95% of the vote with 99% of scanners reported as of Wednesday morning. Rana Abdelhamid, founder of local anti-violence nonprofit Malikah, was in second place with 17.09% of the vote, a margin of roughly 57%. Mary Jobaida, a Bangladeshi immigrant advocating for the Queensbridge Houses community, finished a distant third with 7.75% as 8,396 residents braved freezing conditions to vote in the special election.
Moreno was the clear frontrunner in the race after securing the Queens Democratic Party nomination along with notable endorsements from the DSA, the Working Families Party (WFP) and Mamdani himself.
Underlining the emphatic nature of her victory, Moreno’s closest competition was ultimately with herself, with the Assembly Member-elect receiving 38% of the vote along the Democratic ballot line and 36% along the WFP line.
At a raucous election watch party at Broadway-based Ecuadorian restaurant Barzola, Moreno welcomed her supporters to the “People’s Republic of Astoria” — a nickname bestowed on the neighborhood due to the support that Mamdani received during the mayoral election last year.
Her victory ensures that the district continues to be represented by DSA members at each level of government, including Council Member Tiffany Cabán in the City Council, Moreno in the Assembly, State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez in the Senate and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in Congress.
Throughout her campaign, in a bid to differentiate herself from similarly liberal candidates in Abdelhamid and Jobaida, Moreno emphasized that she was a movement candidate who would be an “unwavering ally” to Mamdani and the DSA.
She reaffirmed that commitment to the DSA movement during an address to her supporters on Tuesday night.
“It’s not about an individual,” she said. “It is about the understanding that each and every one of us has a role to play in creating the world we want to see.”
Mamdani similarly pointed to Moreno’s DSA roots in an address at Tuesday night’s election party. The mayor further described Moreno as someone who has fought for nurses and immigrants in her roles at the New York State Nurses Association and New Immigrant Community Empowerment, stating that the DSA is a movement “fighting for working people.”
“It is that movement that has continued through all of the different candidates, all of the different races,” Mamdani said. “We’re all fighting together. Diana has been there when this movement needed her.”
Cabán, meanwhile, described Moreno as a “comrade” and a source of comfort and solidarity.
“I know that she’s going to fight to tax the rich. She’s going to fight for our queer and trans neighbors. She’s going to fight for every single immigrant in this city and state,” Cabán said.
Moreno’s campaign said it knocked on 12,000 doors during the seven-week campaign for the special election, enlisting more than 300 campaign volunteers.
Moreno encouraged supporters to “step up” and continue that advocacy throughout her term in office so that she could stand up to the “fascism” of the Trump Administration.
“It’s grim out there,” Moreno said. “Fascism is not just knocking at our doors. It is here… We are showing the world what it means to fight back. We are showing the world what it means to build a world where the dignity of workers are at the center of our politics.”
Moreno named New York for All, which would prohibit state and local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities, and the MELT Act, which would bar ICE agents from wearing masks, as two of her legislative priorities for her first term in office.
“There’s no question that we have to protect our immigrant neighbors,” Moreno said at a press conference outside a polling station Tuesday morning.
