Astoria, LIC Election Results: Ardila Ahead In Open Assembly Race

ASTORIA, QUEENS — With the vast majority of votes counted in Western Queens's Democratic primary elections, a picture is emerging of the likely victors in the area's hard-fought races for State Assembly, Civil Court judge and more.

In Long Island City's 37th Assembly District, a wide-open race for a newly-redrawn seat, progressive Juan Ardila appeared comfortably ahead of his three rivals just before midnight Tuesday, with nearly 44 percent of the vote.

In Astoria, both of the neighborhood's socialist incumbents cruised to re-nomination without a primary challenger.

And across Queens, a four-way race for Civil Court Judge saw two candidates set to advance: including one backed by the borough's Democratic Party and another who was rated "not approved" by the city's bar association.

Below, find the preliminary vote totals for each major Astoria and Long Island City race as of Tuesday night. (Totals are based on preliminary Board of Elections data, with no races formally called as of Tuesday.)

Results for Assembly District 37 (Long Island City, Sunnyside, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Fresh Pond)

Results as of 11:50 p.m. (99% of scanners reporting):

• Juan Ardila: 43.61% (3,355 votes)
• Brent O'Leary: 26.24% (2,019 votes)
• Jim Magee: 10.28% (791 votes)
• Johanna Carmona: 19.73% (1,518 votes)

Results for Assembly districts 34, 36 (Astoria, Dutch Kills)

Zohran Mamdani and Jessica González-Rojas both re-nominated unopposed.

Results for Queens Civil Court Judge

Results as of 11:52 p.m. (97.21% of scanners reporting):

• Karen Lin: 39.36% (52,305 votes)
• Devian Daniels: 19.08% (25,351 votes)
• Maria T. Gonzalez: 24.39% (32,411 votes)
• Thomas Medardo Oliva: 16.68% (22,170 votes)

Here's some background on each race.

Assembly District 37

This highly-competitive race played out in a newly-redrawn district that runs from the Long Island City waterfront in Hunter's Point all the way to Fresh Pond — touching on all or parts of Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth and Ridgewood along the way.

See here for statewide results from the governor and lieutenant governor's races.

Incumbent Cathy Nolan announced plans to retire in February, triggering a mad dash to replace her. Four Democrats entered the race; Juan Ardila, a Legal Aid Society staffer and former Department of Education employee; Johanna Carmona, an attorney and community board member; James Magee, a defense attorney; and Brent O'Leary, an attorney.

Ardila, who ran for City Council last year in Central Queens, has picked up progressive endorsements, including from the Working Families Party, as well as elected officials like Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Carmona was backed by outgoing member Nolan and U.S. Rep. Greg Meeks, among others.

Magee, an attorney, said he was focused on wealth inequality, climate change and public safety, while O'Leary also focused on violent crime, as well as helping small businesses and restoring the gifted and talented program to specialized high schools.

Assembly districts 36 (Astoria, Dutch Kills) and 34 (Ditmars, east Astoria)

Meanwhile, the outcomes of Astoria's two Assembly races have already been decided, with both Zohran Mamdani and Jessica González-Rojas winning their primaries unopposed in districts 36 and 34, respectively.

Both socialists who toppled incumbents in 2020, Mamdani and González-Rojas are now all but assured to win second terms in November, with neither facing any Republican opponent.

Mamdani's district changed under the recent redistricting round, shifting to the southwest to encompass the Astoria waterfront while losing most of its territory in Ditmars. González-Rojas, whose district formerly centered on Jackson Heights, is now representing the Ditmars area.

Queens Civil Court

Voters across Queens also cast ballots in the county-wide Civil Court primary race, where four people are running for two judge seats. Civil Court judges serve 10-year terms, ruling on cases involving disputes of $50,000 or less.

Candidates were Devian Daniels, an attorney reportedly with city judiciary experience; Maria T. Gonzales, an attorney; Karen Lin, a former housing court judge with experience in the Surrogate's Court and State Supreme Court; and Thomas Medardo Oliva, a Bronx prosecutor turned private attorney.

Notably, both Daniels and Gonzalez were considered unqualified for the job by the New York City Bar Association, while Lin and Oliva were both "approved."

State committee, district leader

All three Assembly districts in Northwest Queens also feature competitive races for state committee: an internal party position that nominates candidates for office, among other responsibilities.

In each Assembly district, voters elect one male and one female for the two seats.

District leader is a similar party position — an unpaid role charged with voting for party leadership, nominating judges and more. Only the 37th Assembly district has a competitive district leader primary.

To learn more about these offices, check out this guide by THE CITY.