Queens Primary Election Guide 2018: What You Need To Know

QUEENS, NY — Let's earn that "I Voted" sticker. New Yorkers across the state will cast their votes on Thursday, Sept. 13 to decide who will represent their parties in the upcoming elections this November. Polls will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The race between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and challenger Cynthia Nixon has been making big headlines, but there are other fierce political battles happening at the local level as well.

Patch has created a guide for Queens residents heading to the voting booths tomorrow. Read on to find out who's who on the ballot and what issues matter most to each. Click here to find out where to vote in your neighborhood.

District 11 (Bayside, Little Neck, part of Flushing)

Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside)

Avella is a lifelong Queens resident who won his state Senate seat in 2010 after defeating a 38-year Republican candidate. He is a former New York City Council member for northeast Queens, served as a member of Queens Community Board 7 and as an aide to former New York City Mayor Ed Koch and David Dinkins.

He may be a self-proclaimed champion for the working and middle class of New York City, but Avella has received some serious flak for joining the now-disbanded Independent Democratic Conference, a group of Democrat senators who aligned with Republicans in state caucuses.

Here’s a look at his current campaign initiatives:

• Education: Increase funding for New York City public schools.
• Jobs: Create jobs through expansion and support of small businesses.
• The Elderly: Provide more funding for seniors, veterans and health care services.
• Community: Allocate more money for parks, libraries and street tree maintenance, and decrease airplane and helicopter noise.
• Safety: Implement more traffic safety measures.

John Liu

Liu, a Flushing resident, was the first Asian American elected to legislative office in New York City. During his time as city comptroller, Liu saved taxpayers $5 million and refinanced $20 million in outstanding city bond debt.

He will again go head to head with Avella this Thursday on Primary Day after an unsuccessful run against the eight-year incumbent in 2014. Liu had another unsuccessful run the year before in his mayoral campaign against current city Mayor Bill De Blasio.

Check out the top issues for the Liu campaign:

• Women’s Rights: Promote and support a woman’s right to choose.
• Education: Reform public schools.
• Government: “Restore integrity” to the state government.

District 13 (Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst)

Sen. Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights)

A lifelong Democrat and Queens resident for more than 30 years, incumbent Peralta became the first Dominican-American elected to the state Senate in 2010. He served in the New York State Assembly’s 39th District for eight years prior to his senatorial election.

Here’s a peek at the issues Peralta has attacked during his time as senator:

• Education: Improve public school quality and relieve overcrowding.
• Women’s Rights: Peralta said he is 100 percent pro-choice and was the co-sponsor of legislation that supports reproductive health, as well as guaranteed access to birth control and FDA-approved contraceptives.
• Immigrant Rights: Peralta established “Know Your Rights” immigration forums and an immigration help emergency hotline and secured $10 million for free legal counseling services focused on immigration and housing. He is the main sponsor of the DREAM Act, a legislative proposal that — if passed — would remove financial roadblocks for undocumented students pursuing a higher education.
• Elderly Rights: Fought to expand a program that helps seniors pay for needed prescription medications.
• LGBT Rights: Instated tougher human-trafficking penalties, including a ban on “Chica Cards” distributed by pimps to promote prostitution.
• Housing: “Renew and strengthen” rent regulations.

Jessica Ramos

Ramos might be a tough contender for Peralta. She recently received endorsements from The New York Times Editorial Board and Mayor de Blasio, who called her “a tireless advocate for her community and a progressive champion for working families. The Times agreed.

Now a Jackson Heights resident, this Elmhurst-born legislator has served as the former democratic district leader of the New York State Assembly 39th District and as a member of Queens Community Board 3. Her most recent acting position was as New York City’s Director of Latino Media, where she kept Spanish-speaking New Yorkers informed about government services and initiatives.

Check out her top campaign initiatives here:

• MTA: Increase transparency of MTA spending details and install elevators at every one of the city’s 472 subway stations.
• Housing: Keep apartments affordable for renters, ban the vacancy bonus for landlords who get a 20 percent rent increase each time the apartment turns over and strengthen rent laws.
• Education: Fight for the $4 million the state owes to New York City public schools.
• Immigrant Rights: Pass the Liberty Act, a policy that prohibits law enforcement officials from questioning civilians on their immigration status if they are arrested or call upon police for help — and the DREAM Act. Make all New Yorkers eligible to receive a driver’s license, regardless of immigration station. Provide increased support for those who apply for assistance under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
• Women’s Rights: Advocate for equal pay, pro-choice rights and justice for victims of sexual harassment and abuse.
• Health Care: Establish a single-payer health care system funded by taxes and paid for by a single government entity rather than insurance companies. Strengthen the health care system, advocate for unionized health care workers, provide more access to medical facilities and increase funding for public hospitals.

District 39 (Corona, Jackson Heights)

Sen. Ari Espinal (D-Corona)

Espinal, the daughter of two Dominican-American immigrants, served as an assemblywoman and deputy director of the 39th District. Like Ramos, she too served as democratic district leader.

After receiving her Bachelor’s degree, the incumbent worked as director of constituent services for then-Assemblyman Francisco Moya.

Here’s a peek at the top issues of her campaign:

• Education: Minimize overcrowding — especially in Corona. Build new schools, update existing buildings and remove school trailers so every child can have a permanent classroom.
• Immigrant Rights: Abolish Immigration Customs and Enforcement and use the money for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
• Employee Rights: Improve workplace safety through the passage of Carlos’s Law. Protect union member wages.
• Jobs: Create a state jobs guarantee that would secure paid positions for any New Yorker seeking one.
• Public Safety: Build a police precinct inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park to decrease crime activity. Support in-park recreational activities and sporting events.
• Housing: Protect New Yorkers from rising rents, especially families and the elderly. Increase affordable housing and transportation options within the Queens community and offer property tax relief for seniors.
• LGBT Rights: End housing discrimination, improves access to health care and create spaces for LGBT youth.
• Criminal Justice: Ban for-profit parole companies and prisons from operating within New York state.

Catalina Cruz

The main contender against incumbent Espinal, Cruz was born in Colombia and lived in Queens as an undocumented immigrant for 10 years after moving to New York City with her parents at the age of 9.

Now a Jackson Heights resident, Cruz is a housing attorney and president of the Latino Lawyers Association of Queens County. She has previously served as director of the Governor’s Exploited Workers Task Force.

Check out her top campaign initiatives here:

• Airport Impact Fund: Create a fund that would charge “$1 per airfare sold” to airlines that fly in and out of LaGuardia. Monies would be used to soundproof nearby schools and tree planting to improve air quality.
• MTA: Decrease repair time and concentrate on repairs that impact ridership over aesthetics.
• Education: Take back the money owed the city public schools by the state and use it to minimize overcrowding. End standardized testing, pass policies that allow schools to become better integrated, expand bilingual programming and increase STEM funding. Establish sex education standards in school curriculum.
• Housing: Establish a state-funded “Right to Counsel” program that would entitle all tenants to legal representation. Stop vacancy bonuses for landlords.
• Immigrant Rights: Pass the Liberty Act and DREAM Act, make all New Yorkers eligible to receive driver’s licenses, create new Immigrant Welcome & Integration Centers that provide legal assistance, know-your-rights information and social services.
• Health Care: Establish a single-payer health care system and increase holistic, community-based health services.
• LGBT Rights: Pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act to protect gender identity and ensure equal access to health care and insurance for all members of the LGBTQ community. Include LGBT history in school curriculum, restore state benefits to veterans discharged because of sexual orientation and fund social services aimed at senior members of the LGBT community.
• The Elderly: Cruz has a five-point plan to address elderly rights: Keep seniors in their homes, combat age discrimination, fund culturally competent senior programs, reform access-a-ride and modify traffic signal time near senior centers to minimize potential for elderly pedestrian fatalities.
• Criminal Justice: Legalize marijuana, end the cash bail bond system, increase funding for legal services. Repeal the Blindfold Law that allows prosecutors to release evidence to the defense right before the start of a trial. Create an independent prosecutor to address police misconduct and police-related civilian deaths.
• Women’s Rights: Decriminalize abortion, secure coverage for contraceptives and establish a police for handling sexual harassment and assault.
• Street Safety: Reinstate the city speed safety camera program near schools, parks and playgrounds. Increase penalties for hit-and-run incidents. Add time to pedestrian walk signals. Re-test drivers whose developing physical condition or age may make it unsafe for them to drive. More buses in “transportation deserts.”

Yonel E. Letellier Sosa

Without his own campaign website the day before the primaries, it is hard to determine Sosa’s campaign initiatives before voters cast their ballots.

What we do know is Sosa formerly worked as chief of staff for the New York State Assembly and has advocated for health services, housing, quality of life, immigration, police and safety, seniors and education throughout his 25-year public service career.

His parents hail from Peru and the Dominican Republic. They moved to Elmhurst more than 50 years ago.

Want a look at the state candidates vying for a spot in this November’s election? Click here for more.

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.