Kristin Gonzalez (Photo courtesy of Gonzalez)
Aug. 24, 2022 By Michael Dorgan
Kristen Gonzalez, a political novice and progressive candidate, has emphatically won the Democratic primary race to represent Senate District 59.
Gonzalez, a Long Island City resident who is backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, trounced the field by securing just over 58 percent of votes in Tuesday’s election, according to unofficial results from the city’s Board of Elections.
She beat out her nearest challenger Elizabeth Crowley, a former City Councilmember, by more than 25 percentage points with 99 percent of scanners reporting.
Gonzalez is now all but certain to secure the seat to represent Senate District 59, a newly-formed district that covers western Queens, north Brooklyn and parts of Manhattan.
“Today we really proved that socialism wins, we are not going anywhere, and we will not stop until we see a socialist slate across this city,” González said to her supporters at a Peruvian restaurant in Long Island City late last night, according to The City.
Gonzalez — a product manager for American Express — campaigned on left-wing issues such as climate change, increasing public school funding, canceling student debt, universal healthcare and taxing the rich to pay for affordable housing. She was also in favor of the state legislature’s “Good Cause” eviction bill, which would have prohibited most evictions and made it harder to raise rents.
Gonzalez had also garnered the support of the Working Families Party, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and a plethora of left-wing elected officials.
Senate District 59 includes Astoria, Long Island City, Greenpoint, Williamsburg and parts of Manhattan (redistrictingandyou)
Meanwhile, Crowley, a Democratic moderate, conceded at LIC Bar on Vernon Boulevard.
“I think we ran a very good campaign, we just couldn’t compete against the forces coming against us,” Crowley said.
Crowley had the backing of Mayor Eric Adams, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as well as congress members Ritchie Torres and Gregory Meeks.
It is the latest in a string of political defeats to Crowley, who lost a nailbiter in her run for Queens Borough president last year. She was also defeated for borough president in 2020 and lost her council seat in 2017 to Robert Holden.
Mike Corbett, a Murray Hill resident who had been endorsed by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, was third in the race with around 6.5 percent of the vote.
Unofficial results for Senate District 59 (Board of Elections)
Featured Events
