A CLOSE CALL FOR 3RD TERM

Days before the Nov. 3 general election, the Juniper Park Civic Association hosted a candidates night forum at their Oct. 29 meeting in Middle Village focused on the 30th Council District race between City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley (at right) and former City Council Member Thomas Ognibene (at left). The two candidates, who are pictured with JPCA President Robert Holden, answered questions from civic members and attendees regarding a litany of issues such as crime, overdevelopment and the economy. Crowley, a Democrat from Glendale, went on to defeat Ognibene, a Republican from Middle Village, in Tuesday’s election to win a four-year term in office. Tuesday’s general election in New York City may have been headlined by a surprisingly close finish in the mayoral race, but it ultimately proved to be an evening dominated by the incumbents in many local City Council races.

While recent polls suggested that Mayor Michael Bloomberg would win a third term by double-digit percentages, the vote proved closer than most pundits anticipated. After spending a reported $100 million of his own money on the campaign, the incumbent who ran on the Republican and Independent voting lines defeated Democratic Comptroller William Thompson by just over 50,000 votes.

According to the final tally, Bloomberg won 50.6 percent of the vote (557,059), while Thompson mustered 46 percent of the vote (506,717). In all, just over 1.1 million ballots were cast in the mayoral election, reflective of a low turnout reported at the polls on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, City Council Member John Liu cruised to victory to become comptroller and the first Asian-American ever to win a citywide elected office. The Flushing Democrat gained 76 percent of the vote, besting Republican nominee Joseph Mendola of Brooklyn (19 percent) and Conservative choice Stuart Avrick (two percent).

One of Liu’s colleagues in the City Council, Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn, coasted to an easy win in the race for public advocate. More than 76 percent of voters pulled the lever for de Blasio; his second-closest challenger, Republican Alex Zablocki of Staten Island, gained 17 percent of the vote.

Queens Borough President Helen Marshall won her third term in office in a landslide. The Democrat from East Elmhurst garnered the support of 76 percent of voters (166,703), de- feating Republican challenger Robert Hornak with 20 percent (44,769) and Conservative Robert Schwartz (9,002) with four percent.

Local City Council races

After three elections in 18 months, City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley won a full four-year term as the representative for the 30th Council District (Ridgewood, Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven). The Democrat from Glendale, who won the seat in a special election last November, gathered 59 percent of the vote (11,227), besting her Republican challenger, former City Council Member Thomas Ognibene of Middle Village, with 40 percent (7,686).

Also victorious Tuesday night was City Council Member Diana Reyna, who survived a third-party challenge by one of her rivals in September’s Democratic primary. The Democrat from Williamsburg won her third term in office in the 34th Council District (Ridgewood, Bushwick, East Williamsburg, Williamsburg), garnering 60 percent of the vote (9,830). Democratic District Leader Maritza Davila, who ran on the Working Families party line after losing to Reyna in the primary, finished second with 35 percent (5,674), while Republican Jacqueline Haro checked in third with six percent (916).

City Council Member Eric Ulrich, who won the 32nd Council District seat (Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, South Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park, Lindenwood, Howard Beach, Broad Channel and the Rockaways) in a February special election, secured a full four-year term in office. The Republican from Ozone Park gained 59 percent of the vote (12,177), defeating Democratic District Leader Frank Gulluscio of Howard Beach, who garnered 41 percent of the vote (8,430).

Former City Council Member Karen Koslowitz, will be returning to City Hall in January after winning back the 29th Council District seat (Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens, Maspeth, Elmhurst) currently held by the outgoing Melinda Katz on Tuesday night. Koslowitz, a Forest Hills Democrat who most recently served as deputy borough president, gained the support of 63 percent of voters (11,170); Republican Bartholomew Bruno finished second with 21 percent (3,752), while Work- ing Families nominee Lynn Schulman finished third with 15 percent (2,697).

Sunnyside resident James Van Bramer will succeed City Council Member Eric Gioia as the representative of the 26th Council District seat (Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth) in January. Seven in 10 voters in the district pulled the lever for Van Bramer (11,054), a Democrat who is member of Community Board 2 and chief communications officer for the Queens Borough Public Library. Republican Angelo Maragos finished second with 24 percent (3,725), while Working Families nominee Deirdre Feerick rounded out the field with six percent (922).

The 25th Council District (Corona, Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Woodside, Rego Park) will also have a new City Council representative starting in 2010. Democratic District Leader Daniel Dromm, a public school teacher from Jackson Heights, gained three-quarters of support from the voters (9,702), defeating Republican nominee Majib Rahman, who gained 25 percent (3,306). Dromm defeated the incumbent, Helen Sears, in the September primary.

Other Democratic winners in City Council races around Queens were incumbents Julissa Ferraras of the 21st Council District (Corona, East Elmhurst, Woodside), Peter Vallone Jr. (Astoria, Long Island City) and Thomas White (Richmond Hill, Jamaica, South Ozone Park).

Though most of the City Council races in Queens were dominated by Democrats, Republicans did pick up a pair of seats in eastern Queens. Peter Koo bested Democrat Yen Chou to win the 20th Council District seat (based in Flushing) held by Comptroller-elect Liu, while Daniel Halloran won a hotly-contested race over Kevin Kim for the 19th Council District seat (based in Bayside) held by the outgoing Tony Avella.

Judicial races, referendums

In judicial races, two Democrats— Richard Latin and Jodi Mackoff— were elected unopposed to two Queens Civil Court seats. Results of the race to elect three judges in the 11th Judicial District were unavailable as of press time.

Finally, voters across New York state approved two ballot questions. Two-thirds of the electorate voted to allow New York State to swap land with National Grid in upstate St. Lawrence County in order to allow the utility to build a new power line.

Voters also approved a referendum allowing prisoners in state and local correctional facilities to provide volunteer services to various nonprofit organizations.