Julie Won Gets Challenger In Queens Council Race As Kim Seeks Rematch

ASTORIA, QUEENS — City Council member Julie Won drew one of her first challengers in her bid for re-election next year, as former candidate Hailie Kim announced she would run again for the Western Queens seat.

Kim finished eighth out of 15 candidates in last year's race in District 26, which covers most of Long Island City and Sunnyside, and parts of Astoria and Woodside.

In her campaign announcement on Saturday, Kim took aim at Won for voting for the city's latest budget, passed in June, which included deeply controversial funding cuts to public schools.

"This is a difficult time for Queens families, especially immigrant students, and I am running to serve our community because we deserve so much more than this," Kim said in a statement.

The budget, covering the 2023 fiscal year, included roughly $370 million in reductions to the city's education budget, caused largely by a dropoff in federal funding and declines in student enrollment. Won later defended her vote, saying the budget was bound to pass regardless and that she "could not allow for funding to be stripped from my district."

Eugene Noh, Won's husband and campaign manager, added when reached for comment that Won had helped secure more than $8 million in capital funding for District 26 schools as part of the same budget, which will pay for repairs, technology upgrades and more.

A tenant organizer and former adjunct English professor at Hunter College, Kim said she would push to increase funding for both public schools and the CUNY system, build "deeply affordable social housing," and lower property taxes for working-class households.

Like in 2021, Kim is running as a self-proclaimed socialist, and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.

Since taking office, Won's biggest preoccupation has been the huge Innovation QNS rezoning, located entirely within her district. After withholding support for months, Won ultimately agreed to a deal in November after persuading developers and the city to substantially increase its amount of affordable housing.

But Kim, in a statement, knocked those 1,436 affordable units as "a drop in the bucket." She also accused Won of having “moved the goal posts” during negotiations, first setting a minimum affordability threshold of 50 percent, raising it to 55 percent and ultimately agreeing to a project that was roughly 45 percent affordable — though the number of overall units had also increased.

“It does not address the urgency of our housing crisis, and we are gravely concerned that the megaproject is being used as a talking point among developers to bring back 421a tax breaks that would harm state coffers and aid wealthy real estate developers,” Kim said.

Noh likewise defended Won's handling of the rezoning, noting that the final agreement she brokered will "more than double the amount of deeply affordable housing that’s been constructed in this district in the last 10 years.

"I totally reject what our opponent is claiming, that this sets a bad precedent somehow," he said. "This sets an incredibly high bar for affordable housing from private developers."

In her campaign announcement, Kim touted support from two public school teachers, a public defender, and John Choe, executive director of the Greater Flushing Chamber of Commerce.

Besides Won and Kim, two other candidates have already filed for the 2023 race: Lorenzo Brea, who finished second-to-last in the 2021 Democratic primary; and Marvin Jeffcoat, a Republican whom Won easily defeated in the general election.

Normally held every four years, Council elections are happening in 2023 just two years after the previous round, due to a city charter rule that mandates shorter terms after Council districts are redrawn.