Misinformation Roils Queens Senate Race With Voting Underway

ASTORIA, QUEENS — A business-aligned group placed a false Facebook advertisement to boost a dropped-out candidate in Western Queens's hard-fought State Senate primary, in what critics called an attempt to split the progressive vote.

The ad ran Wednesday on Facebook and Instagram in support of Nomiki Konst, whom it describes as "the only socialist in the race for State Senate."

The claim is false in two respects: fellow candidate Kristen Gonzalez, like Konst, is a self-described democratic socialist. And perhaps more importantly, Konst dropped out of the 59th District race on Saturday and endorsed Gonzalez — though Konst's name still appears on the Democratic primary ballot.

The ad was placed by Common Sense New Yorkers, a political action committee that has spent heavily against progressive candidates for State Senate and Assembly, backing candidates with more conservative views on law enforcement and public safety. The PAC's top donors include major figures in the real estate and finance industries.

A Common Sense representative denied that the ad was false, telling Patch that he did not consider Gonzalez to be a true socialist.

Konst could not have been involved in the ad, being barred by law as a candidate from coordinating with PACs. Indeed, she condemned the ad shortly after Patch first publicized it Wednesday evening.

"This is an [independent expenditure] funded by big real estate that wants to displace working New Yorkers in SD 59 and I *unequivocally* denounce this," Konst tweeted. "As I said, I endorsed [Gonzalez]."

Since Common Sense has seldom backed any candidates as progressive as Konst, some observers speculated that the ad was instead an effort to divert votes from Gonzalez, creating a path to victory for a more centrist candidate such as Elizabeth Crowley, another frontrunner in the 59th District race.

"[Konst] has dropped out of the race and endorsed us," Gonzalez said in a tweet Wednesday. "They're pretending she's still running to get Elizabeth Crowley elected."

Common Sense spent less than $100 to run the ad, which reached between 1,000 and 2,000 people on Wednesday — four days after Konst withdrew from the race — and is now listed as "inactive," according to data provided by Facebook parent company Meta. It mostly reached users between the ages of 25 and 44.

Jeff Leb, a lobbyist who has identified himself as Common Sense New Yorkers' treasurer, defended the ad's contents when reached for comment on Thursday, pointing to a New York Post story reporting that Gonzalez lives in a luxury Long Island City apartment tower.

"We believe that voters deserve to know the truth about candidates for office. In this case, Kristen Gonzalez is literally a executive at American Express, who lives in a luxury building," Leb said in a text message. "She’s clearly not a socialist."

As for continuing to promote Konst, Leb said the ad had been placed "before she dropped out of the race."

When the Post story was published, Gonzalez's campaign pointed to her upbringing in a small apartment in Elmhurst, Queens, describing her as "a working-class kid from Queens who made it — and she makes no apologies for it."

Gonzalez has also been endorsed by the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, where she serves as an organizer.

Meta, which has come under harsh criticism for refusing to assess the truthfulness of political ads on its platforms, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The state Board of Elections also did not immediately respond to questions about whether misleading ads ran afoul of any laws.

Gonzalez, a product manager at American Express, and Crowley, a former City Council member from Central Queens, are the two leading candidates for the brand-new State Senate seat, which runs along the East River from Astoria to Williamsburg — plus a chunk of Midtown East in Manhattan. Michael Corbett, a political aide from Manhattan, is also running.

The race has featured heavy spending, with Crowley coming under scrutiny for getting boosted by real estate-aligned super PACs.

Early voting began Saturday and runs through Aug. 21, with Election Day on Aug. 23.

Find your poll site and view a sample ballot here.

Related coverage:

• Queens Senate Race: Nomiki Konst Drops Out, Endorses Kristen Gonzalez
• Astoria-LIC Election Guide: Fraught Senate Race, Congressional Primary
• Astoria, LIC's Political Landscapes Are Shaken Up By New Maps