Op-Ed: The Return of Democracy

By Mike Scala
Candidate, Assembly District 23

Pop quiz: When was the last time there was a competitive primary for the New York State Assembly seat in the current District 23?

The answer, according to our research: 1966, when reformer candidate Herbert Posner defeated party insider Milton Jacobowitz. Mr. Posner would go on to win the general election and hold the position until 1976, when he stepped down to become a civil court judge. This triggered a special election, which was won by Gerdi Lipschutz. In 1987, Audrey Pheffer won the district in another special election after Ms. Lipschutz resigned. She was a longtime Assemblymember, finally vacating the office in 2011 to serve as Queens County Clerk — a role she still holds. That led to yet another special election, which was won by Phil Goldfeder.

For the uninitiated, a special election for a state-level seat in New York is triggered when someone leaves office in the middle of their term. Instead of voters choosing the nominees like they do in a primary, the parties make the selections themselves. This deprives voters of a meaningful choice and keeps the process controlled by the political establishment.

When Mr. Goldfeder decided not to seek reelection in 2016, Mrs. Pheffer’s daughter Stacey Pheffer Amato petitioned to replace him with party backing. While another candidate could have theoretically run in that primary, the news of the open seat did not break until it was effectively too late for a challenger to emerge. For context, that story came out the same week the petitioning period began that year, and a grassroots campaign not supported by the machine would have needed more time to get off the ground. When I pointed out a decade ago that Mr. Goldfeder’s late exit did not create the opportunity for a hotly contested race, a well-connected Democratic consultant sneered, “That’s why we do it.”

To put it all together, voters of our community have effectively not had the chance to choose a nominee for the November election for the past 60 years. It almost happened again this year, as the Queens Democratic Party would have loved to coronate their handpicked successor to Mrs. Pheffer Amato. Instead, we successfully made the ballot to present a real choice. The people should pick the candidates to represent the parties, not have that decision made for us. That’s especially true during a period when dissatisfaction with party leadership is so high.

It should be no surprise, then, to feel the nervous energy radiating from the opposition. Lies are being spread. Sitting elected officials are using their government platforms to weigh in the race. Special interests are putting their thumbs on the scale. But they can’t do anything about the fact that next month, the voters get to decide.

The choice in this Democratic primary could not be more clear. Our campaign is responsive to the people of Rockaway, Broad Channel, Howard Beach and Ozone Park. The other side is beholden to politicians and party bosses. Which is your preferred direction?