Rep. Gregory Meeks endorses former councilmember Elizabeth Crowley in her run for the State Senate District 59 (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Crowley)
June 6, 2022 By Christian Murray
Elizabeth Crowley, a former Queens councilmember who lost a nailbiter in her run for borough president last year, has been endorsed by Rep. Gregory Meeks and the Queens County Democratic Organization in her quest to represent the 59th Senate District.
Crowley, a moderate Democrat, is running for the new senate seat that was created in mid-May by a court-appoint special master, which covers Long Island City, Astoria, Greenpoint, Williamsburg and parts of Manhattan—such Stuytown, Gramercy, Midtown and Tudor City.
“Elizabeth is the common sense experienced leader we need in our State Senate seat,” said Meeks, in a statement released Sunday. “As a City Council Member she championed women’s rights and justice reform and as state senator she will continue to fight for equity and fairness for all our communities.”
Crowley represents a moderate voice in the race, where she will compete against progressives such as Kristen Gonzalez—who is backed by the NYC Democratic Socialists of America—Nomiki Konst and Greenpoint resident Françoise Olivas.
Josh Bowen, a moderate, also announced that he is running.
Crowley, who got within a percentage point of unseating Queens Borough President Donovan Richards last year, ran as a moderate and criticized Richards for his efforts to reduce the NYPD budget when he was in the city council.
She also said she would have backed Amazon coming to Long Island City.
She has a great deal of support from unions as well as elected officials across Queens—including State Sen. Joe Addabbo and Assembly Members Jenifer Rajkumar, David Weprin, Andrew Hevesi as well as Councilmember Lynn Schulman and former councilmember Danny Dromm.
Crowley announced months ago that she was running for Senate District 17—a new district that would have included Long Island City, Woodside, Ridgewood, Maspeth, Glendale and Greenpoint.
The district, which was created by state Democrats, vanished when the court appointed special master drew new maps. The new district was replaced with District 59.
Senate District 59, created by a court appointed special master, is on the left. The proposed Senate District 17, on the right, was drafted by state Democrats and ruled unconstitutional (RedistrictingandYou)
The revised district is less advantageous for Crowley, who was the council member for District 30 from 2009 to 2017, which covered Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village and Ridgewood.
However, Queens still represents the plurality of the votes—and Crowley has strong name recognition throughout the borough. She won the Hunters Point section of Long Island City when she ran for borough president and fared well in northern Astoria.
Crowley is the only candidate in the race who has held elected office before and she has stressed the need for experience in Albany at this time.
“We are facing incredibly difficult and challenging times now,” she said, pointing to a volatile economy, and what she described as the Republican attacks on women’s rights and democracy in general.
“Leadership and experience matter more and more, and are more important than ever in our State Legislature.”
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