Forest Hills Election Guide: What To Know About Local Races

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — November is months away, but it's already election season in Forest Hills— and in historically Democratic New York City, the summer's primary elections tend to be more consequential than the general election.

A slew of local races are on the ballot in Tuesday's primary election — from statewide contests for governor and lieutenant governor all the way down to neighborhood-level offices like State Assembly, state committee and more.

The primary for Congress and State Senate will be held separately in August due to ongoing battles over redistricting maps.

Patch will bring you live coverage on Tuesday once the results start rolling in. (If you haven't voted yet, find your poll site or view a sample ballot here.)

In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Forest Hills' Democratic primaries, which include an incumbent facing a challenger for State Assembly and state committee races with some familiar names.

State Assembly

District 28 (Forest Hills and parts of Middle Village, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, and Glendale)

Most neighbors in Forest Hills vote in Assembly District 28, where labor lawyer Ethan Felder is facing off against longtime incumbent Andrew Hevesi, who's represented the district since 2005 and is also running on the Working Families Party line.

Felder, though, is no stranger to challenging incumbents, having mounted a successful campaign against then-incumbent Michael Cohen for Forest Hills district leader in 2020 (a volunteer position that he currently holds).

The primary winner will face off against the district's sole Republican candidate, Michael Conigliaro, who also ran to represent Forest Hills in the City Council last year, but was defeated by now Council Member Lynn Schulman.

Patch asked both Democratic State Assembly candidates about their positions on issues like affordable housing, public safety and more — learn more about each candidate by clicking on their names below:

• Ethan Felder
• Andrew Hevesi

State Committee

In the 28th District, Democratic voters will also be tasked with picking two candidates for state committee — an internal party position that nominates candidates and handles other party matters.

By law, the state committee is made up of one male and female from each of New York's Assembly districts, meaning Forest Hills voters will cast a ballot for one candidate of each gender.

In the race for State Committeewoman, Maria Kaufer, a progressive local leader endorsed by the New Reformers, a group supporting progressive candidates in Queens, is facing off against Ronnie Croce, Council Member Karen Koslowitz's former director of communications. Croce held the State Committeewoman role fro many years until 2020, when she was defeated by Virginia Ramos Rios (another progressive).

In the race for State Committeeman, incumbent Edwin Wong, who previously ran to represent Forest Hills in the City Council, is facing Dr. Raj Korpan, an assistant computer science professor and progressive leader who is running on the New Reformers Democratic slate alongside Kaufer.

Civil Court

Forest Hills neighbors get to cast a ballot in the more-obscured Queens Civil Court judge race alongside voters across Queens.

Civil Court judges serve 10-year terms, ruling on cases involving disputes of $50,000 or less.

In Queens, four candidates are running for two Civil Court seats in the county-wide primary race.
Here are the candidates:

• 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
• Thomas Medardo Oliva, a Bronx prosecutor turned private attorney

For more info on the Civil Court race, check out this guide from The City.

Delegate (and alternates) to Judicial Convention

Voters in District 28 will also be tasked with picking 10 candidates as delegates to the Judicial Convention, who choose the party's nominee for state Supreme Court judge (a name that voters will see on the general election ballot in November).

Voters will also cast ballots for 10 alternates, in case a Judicial Convention delegate can't make the convention.

In District 28, the delegates and alternates have been nominated in two groups — group one, which is a more establishment slate of candidates (including names like Karen Koslowitz and Croce, the aforementioned State Committeewoman candidate), and group two, endorsed by the New Reformers.

For more information about individual delegates, you can find their names on your sample ballot here.

For more info on statewide races for governor and lieutenant governor, check out this guide from The City.

Follow Forest Hills Patch on Election Night Tuesday for live coverage as the results roll in.