By Ryan Schwach<\/p>\n
More than half a million was raised by candidates in four of Queens\u2019 most competitive races for the state legislature over the last two months, new campaign finance filings show. <\/p>\n
Candidates in two hotly contested Senate races and two Assembly races pulled in a combined $626,000 between Jan. 11 and March 12. The total is nearly double what all other candidates in all other state races raised in the same time period, according to finance data analyzed by the Eagle. <\/p>\n
In Western Queens, Senator Jessica Ramos is outraising her two challengers \u2013 Assemblymember Jessica Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas and former elected Hiram Monserrate \u2013 in the race most flush with cash in Queens. <\/p>\n
One district over, Democratic Socialists of America-backed Aber Kawas and Assemblymember Steven Raga are neck-and-neck in fundraising as they race to succeed Michael Gianaris in the State Senate. <\/p>\n
The race to fill Raga\u2019s seat has three candidates pulling in solid funding, including progressive Shamsul Haque who raised more in March than any other candidate in the World\u2019s Borough. <\/p>\n
In Southeast Queens, six candidates have raised significant sums to succeed retiring Assemblymember Vivan Cook, who has held the seat for 35 years. <\/p>\n
This week, candidates filed campaign donations given to them between Jan. 11 and March 12 as they hope to be approved for public matching funds with three months to go until the primary. Should they be approved, candidates will receive $12 for every $1 dollar of the first $50 of every eligible donation they receive, a $9 to $1 match for the next $100 of a donation, and an $8 to $1 match for the final $100. <\/p>\n
As a result, races where candidates have already begun to fill up their coffers, could see campaign accounts and spending soar in the coming months. <\/p>\n
13th Senate District<\/p>\n
No race in Queens has more money flowing per candidate than the 13th Senate District, which centers on the diverse communities of Jackson Heights, Corona, Elmhurst and the Ditmars side of Astoria. <\/p>\n
Ramos drew two challengers after a failed bid for the mayor\u2019s office left her on bad terms with the city\u2019s progressives. Her rejection of Mets owner Steve Cohen\u2019s $8 billion casino project had also previously soured her relationship with more moderate Democrats in the borough. <\/p>\n
However, her funding numbers are not reflecting the fall from grace that had been predicted for the once progressive insurgent. <\/p>\n
Ramos raised $103,000 in March, and still holds about that much on hand. <\/p>\n
The longtime chair of the Senate\u2019s Labor Committee, Ramos still holds strong support with the city\u2019s unions, which have donated thousands to her campaign. <\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday\u2019s filing shows something important, this campaign is building real momentum,\u201d Ramos said, highlighting labor contributions. \u201cWe didn\u2019t just compete, we were powered by thousands of working people across Queens who believe in the work we\u2019re doing together.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ramos outraised Monserrate, her former boss, who pulled in just under $75,000 in the last month but has only around $2,000 less on hand than Ramos. <\/p>\n
The former elected official who was expelled from office after a misdemeanor assault conviction is making another run for office, having focused his recent efforts on attempting to improve quality-of-life issues along Roosevelt Avenue. <\/p>\n
\u201cI am humbled and grateful to receive such support,\u201d he said in a statement on Tuesday. <\/p>\n
Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas is enjoying more institutional support than her opponents, with more high-level endorsements from people like Borough President Donovan Richards, but is currently falling behind in fundraising efforts. <\/p>\n
She raised $55,000 in the latest funding window and still has about $70,000 left on hand.<\/p>\n
Gonz\u00e1lez-Rojas\u2019 campaign did not respond to a request for comment before print time. <\/p>\n
12th Senate District <\/p>\n
In the neighboring District 13, two dues-paying DSA members are seeking to fill Gianaris\u2019 seat as the longtime deputy majority leader heads to retirement. <\/p>\n
Kawas, a Palestinian organizer who switched to run for the Senate seat after previously making a bid for the Assembly, and Raga, who currently represents a portion of Western Queens in the Assembly, have raised nearly identical sums. <\/p>\n
Both raised around $39,000 in the last period, with Raga pulling in just around $500 more. <\/p>\n
Kawas has $71,000 on hand to Raga\u2019s $50,000. <\/p>\n
Raga\u2019s campaign said they are projecting $163,000 in matching funds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn just two weeks after launching this grassroots campaign, and before holding a single fundraiser, we reached the threshold for public matching funds with support from more than 220 in-district donors across Senate District 12,\u201d said Raga\u2019s campaign. \u201cWe got there without special interest PAC money or corporate donations because this campaign is funded by and for the people of Western Queens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kawas\u2019 campaign did not respond before press time. <\/p>\n
A third candidate in the District 13 race, Sheryl Fetik, who ran for the City Council in 2021, has raised $1,226 and has $893 in the bank. <\/p>\n
30th Assembly District <\/p>\n
Raga\u2019s bid at the upper chamber has left his Assembly seat open, and three Democrats and a Republican are vying for the seat. <\/p>\n
Shamsul Haque, a former NYPD detective running on a progressive platform, has raised $117,000, more than any other candidate in Queens, and is expecting another $115,635 in matching funds, his campaign said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis campaign is being built by the people of our community,\u201d said Haque in a campaign statement. \u201cOur neighbors are stepping up because they want safer streets, stronger universal health care, and real opportunity for working-class people. This early momentum shows that our community is ready for leadership that will fight for everyday families and deliver real results.\u201d<\/p>\n
District Leader Patrick Martinez, who has the support of the Queens Democratic Party, and is the nephew of its former chairman, Joe Crowley, has raised $27,000 and has about that much left on hand. <\/p>\n
Somnath Ghimire, a Nepali organizer, raised just shy of $26,000, and has $17,000 left in the bank. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur filing reflects a strong and disciplined fundraising operation,\u201d Ghimire said. \u201cBased on our current numbers, we expect to maximize matching funds and significantly increase our total as those are disbursed, putting us in a competitive position moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
32nd Assembly District <\/p>\n
In Southeast Queens\u2019 District 32, seven candidates are currently filed to succeed the retiring Cook, and six of them have filed fundraising numbers for the last deadline. <\/p>\n
Tunisia Morrison, the former chief of staff to Assemblymember Alicia Hyndman and local organizer, has raised the most. <\/p>\n
She pulled in $54,000 in the latest period and has $40,000 left in the bank. <\/p>\n
Her campaign said she is also projecting $59,000 in additional public matching funds. <\/p>\n
\u201cOther candidates had been making calls for months, lining up commitments from the political class, their bosses, and special interests,\u201d she said in a statement. \u201cBut those are the same leaders who have been at the wheel while prices climb, rent keeps rising and wages remain stagnant. Southeast Queens has always shown that when we build from the bottom up and not the top down – progress happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not far behind her in fundraising is Nathaniel Hezekiah, a longtime staffer to Congressmember and party chair Greg Meeks. <\/p>\n
Hezekiah raised around $48,000, and has $38,000 left in the bank. <\/p>\n
Hezekiah said his campaign expects to reach around $111,000 raised when matching funds hit. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are only just beginning and I will continue to raise the resources necessary to run a robust campaign,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Cook\u2019s former staffer Latoya LeGrand, who ran for the City Council last year, raised just under $16,000, and has $14,000 in the bank. <\/p>\n
Those three candidates, Morrison, Hezekiah and LeGrand, are splitting most of the race’s funds and high-profile endorsements. <\/p>\n
Hezekiah, who was endorsed by the Queens County Democratic Party, has Meeks\u2019 support, and has also received donations from Hyndman, State Senator Leroy Comrie, Adrienne Adams and newly elected Councilmember Ty Hankerson. <\/p>\n
LeGrand has the endorsement of Assemblymember Khaleel Anderson, and a donation from State Senator James Sanders. <\/p>\n
Mohammad Molla, the first person to file in the race, has raised $14,500, and has around $11,000 left; Queen Johnson, who ran for Congress in Brooklyn, raised just over $5,000; LaToya Benjamin, who has run for the Council before, raised $4,425 and has not spent any money; and recently filed candidate Paul Nichols did not file any fundraising. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Ryan Schwach More than half a million was raised by candidates in four of Queens\u2019 most competitive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167368,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-167367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167367","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}