Queens has one competitive judicial race on the ballot in June — a unique event in New York City, where judicial races often don’t offer voters more candidates than seats.

Four candidates are running for two open spots on the Queens Civil Court bench in the Democratic primary election on June 23. Early voting begins this Saturday, June 13.

John Ciafone, Edward Irizarry, Julie Milner and Edmond Wong will appear on the ballot to win the nomination for the part of the New York City Civil Court system that handles everyday legal battles to recover money and assets of less than $25,000 from housing and property disputes to consumer debt and personal injury claims.

All four candidates work in the courts or as court attorneys. Wong and Irizarry were endorsed in February by the Queens County Democratic Party. The New York City Bar Association also approved Wong and Irizarry’s candidacy, but not Ciafone and Milner’s. 

Though the nomination for these two races is for city court, voters should be aware that it’s common for judges to appointed to the Queens Supreme Court. The state’s Office of Court Administration will often uses its authority to transfer civil court judges to serve in other courts depending on the overarching needs of the court system.

amNewYork Law has compiled a voter guide on the candidates below.

John Ciafone

Ciafone is a trial attorney from Astoria who has run his law practice for several decades and has been serving as an administrative law judge and hearing officer for the city Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings and a court referee in the Supreme Court for a Foreclosure Proceeding.

After graduating from the St. John’s School of Law, Ciafone began managing a private practice focusing on personal injury and criminal law. He’s run for Civil Court multiple times in recent years and came within 600 votes of winning the primary in 2025.

“The ideal Judge is an Attorney who had their own office in a Community serving thousands off families and disadvantaged persons against Corporate elites and big Law firms,” he said in a statement to amNew York Law.

Edward Irizarry

Irizarry has been practicing law for over 30 years, according to his campaign website. He currently serves as an associate court attorney to Queens Civil Court Judge Maria Gonzalez.

In that capacity, Irizarry oversees evidentiary hearings and drafts decisions. 

His career has touched on various parts of the court system. He graduated from the University of Michigan Law School and has served both as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens and a defense attorney, according to his campaign website. 

In his campaign, he has underscored his commitment to public service, adding that he has also worked as counsel to both the New York State Senate and the New York City Council. Having navigated the foster care system in his youth, Irizarry wrote that he brings a personal perspective to his campaign.

“I am committed to ensuring our courts remain a sanctuary for fairness, precision, and integrity for all in our community, including the most vulnerable amongst us,” he wrote in his campaign materials.

Julie Milner

Milner has managed her own law office, focusing on constitutional and civil rights litigation, since graduating from CUNY School of Law in 2008. 

For over a decade, she has also served as an arbitrator in the Queens Civil Court’s attorney-client fee dispute program. She has served as secretary of the New York State Bar Association’s professional disciplinary committee and on the National Moot Court Judges’ Committee for the New York City Bar Association. 

In addition to her law degree, she holds a doctorate in education and has experience as a high school teacher and college professor. Milner said she views the courtroom as the place where the Constitution must live up to its highest ideals.

“I pledge to be that judge who guarantees every litigant, whether rich or poor, powerful or powerless, will have a fair hearing grounded in equality for all, Trust earned through unwavering integrity, and Justice that is blind to status yet open to truth,” she wrote to amNew York Law.

Edmond Wong

Wong currently serves as a Court Attorney Referee in Queens County Surrogate’s Court, a part of the system that handles estates and wills of the dead.

He previously served as an Associate Court Attorney in the very court he is running for—Queens County Civil Court—giving him direct knowledge of its operations. Before public service, he worked as a real property and guardianship attorney, where he litigated cases in both state and federal courts

Wong, a first-generation American and son of immigrants from Hong Kong, graduated from St. John’s University School of Law.