Queens state representatives Toby Ann Stavisky and David Weprin will now run unopposed in June’s primary after their last remaining opponents were struck from the ballot. Photos via New York State Senate/New York State Assembly
By Ryan Schwach
Two of Queens’ more tenured elected officials are now running unopposed in this year’s primaries after their opponents failed to get enough petition signatures to appear on the ballot.
Senator Toby Ann Stavisky and Assemblymember David Weprin will now coast through June, and likely the general election, as well, after their would-be opponents were struck from the ballot by the Board of Elections on Tuesday.
While neither Stavisky nor Weprin appeared to be facing a tough contest going into June, now they won’t have one at all.
Both officials are fixtures of the Queens Democratic Party, and both succeeded family members in their current seats. The two lawmakers were also both being challenged from the left in districts that Mayor Zohran Mamdani won in last year’s Democratic primary.
Stavisky’s last remaining Democratic opponent, Adam Azam, was struck from the ballot on Tuesday following the Board of Election’s determinations that Azam did not have enough valid petition signatures. Progressive Mahtab Khan was also struck from the ballot, leaving Weprin without a primary opponent.
Azam, a Democrat who had founded a group called “Muslims Against Mamdani” during last year’s mayoral election, said on Facebook he intends to run in November as an independent.
“I have made the decision to move forward and run as an Independent Candidate because this campaign was never about party insiders, political games, or backroom deals,” he said in a post. “This campaign is about you — the hardworking families, immigrants, small business owners, seniors, parents, and young people of District 11 who deserve real representation. I am not backing down. I am not going anywhere.”
Azam was 255 signatures short of the 1,000 needed, according to BOE documents obtained by the Eagle.
Going into the petition process, Stavisky – who has represented Queens since 1999 when she succeeded her late husband – had three Democratic challengers, two coming at her from the left.
Sean Henry Miller, a member of the Queens County Young Democrats and progressive-aligned Andrew Engel were also filed to run.
Miller chose to not petition and ultimately bowed out of the race, but Engel was struck from the ballot because he could not tally enough petitions to withstand legal challenges to his signatures.
“I got the challenges, I can’t overcome them,” Engel told the Eagle last week. “This is just a numbers game and at the end of the day, we didn’t have enough help to ensure we got the number of signatures to buffer us.”
Stavisky has not had a primary opponent since 2016, and has repeatedly staved off Republican challengers.
This year, she has a general election opponent in Pamela Michos, a Greek-American business leader who has been endorsed by the Queens GOP as well as the Young Republican Club of New York.
“I refuse to sit idly by while socialist lunatics and extremists try to take over the city my grandparents built and destroy the future our families worked for,” she said in an Instagram post announcing her candidacy.
In a statement, a campaign spokesperson said that the senator is now focused on the general election.
“More than four thousand Democrats signed Senator Stavisky’s petition to run as a Democrat in this year’s election and she’s gratified by their support and trust,” said Joe Reubens, spokesperson for Stavisky’s campaign. “The Board of Elections ruled that two candidates who wanted to run in the Democratic Primary failed to collect sufficient eligible signatures to appear on the ballot – so the Senator is focused on November’s general election and looks forward to a spirited campaign.”
Heading into petitioning, Weprin’s only challenger was Khan.
Khan is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, but was not formally endorsed by the progressive organization.
He had struggled to gain support in the district, and recent public disclosures showed he had less than $2,000 left in his campaign account.
In a message to the Eagle, Khan took issue with the borders of District Assembly 24.
For years, South Asian leaders in Central Queens have sought to redraw both the state and city district boundaries so they better represent that demographic. Currently, the heavily South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities of South Ozone Park and Richmond Hill are split among several districts that also group in Black communities in Jamaica and more historically white communities to the north and south.
“My understanding was that the signatures were within the district but it seems the redistricting process which the establishment/legislators have influence on removed parts of our BIPOC Immigrant community’s voting bloc,” Khan said. “They don’t want these communities to have a voice unfortunately.”
Weprin did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Like Stavisky, Weprin still has a Republican opponent set for November.
His challenger, Welson Chang, is a member of the Queens Village Republican Club, but is not formally endorsed by the county party.
The only other Queens candidate that was knocked off the ballot by the BOE on Tuesday was Sheryl Fetik, who was running for State Senate District 12. That race is now a one-on-one battle between DSA-backed Aber Kawas, and State Assemblymember Steven Raga.
With Weprin and Stavisky now running unopposed for June, Queens is set for – as of Wednesday afternoon – 14 Democratic primaries and one Republican primary.
