Queens Dem Loses Civil Court Race, Gets State Supreme Court Seat

QUEENS, NY — The Queens County Democratic Party's pick for civil court judge, who lost to an insurgent candidate in June, was nominated to the State Supreme Court at the party's judicial convention Thursday night.

Party leaders tapped defense attorney Wyatt Gibbons for a 14-year term in the New York Supreme Court, according to Gothamist. Gibbons is almost a shoe-in, since Supreme Court judges don't compete in open primaries and nominees rarely face a Republican opponent.

"One door closes and another door opens," Gibbons told Gothamist.

Pressed for more details, he added: "You’ll have to speak to county, they took care of me."

In a blow to the party machine, Gibbons lost to attorney Lumarie Maldonado Cruz in the June 25 Democratic primary for a civil court seat.

Typically the party chooses candidates for these openings and they run unopposed. But Maldonado Cruz, inspired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's upset victory last year, launched a bid to contest one of the borough's open slots.

"We were so focused on the district attorney’s race, and I think the voters will look at his record and what he did on the bench and say he was a quality jurist," Rep. Greg Meeks, the party leader, told Gothamist.

Gibbons lives in Flushing and runs a private practice in Kew Gardens. He previously worked as an assistant district attorney in the special victims bureau of the Queens District Attorney's Office.

He is a member of the Jefferson Democratic Club in Bayside, according to Gothamist.

Nearly 200 judicial delegates, who are elected in party primaries and face no term limits, went to the convention Thursday to vote for the party's nominees, Gothamist reported.