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Open Government

Queens 30th Assembly District: Running from a Flower Shop


Democratic Assemblymember Margaret Markey faces Tony Nunziato on Tuesday. Markey has held her Queens Assembly seat for a decade.

Markey has $34,619.13 in her campaign account, and she received more than $10,000 in contributions, according to her most recent filing. Nunziato has $14,327 and received $1,650 during his most recent campaign finance filing.

Markey chairs the Assembly's House Operations Committee and spearheaded legislation banning the sale of boxcutters to minors.

Nunziato, whose name will be on the Republican, Conservative and Independence party lines, owns Enchanted Florist & Greenhouse in Maspeth, which he converted into his campaign headquarters. He has pointed out in campaign literature that Markey voted to do away with the commuter tax. He was vice chair of the Maspeth Chambers of Commerce.

The district includes Maspeth, Woodside, and portions of Long Island City, Middle Village, Astoria and Sunnyside.

Queens 23rd Assembly District: Running Against Albany


Assemblywoman Audrey Pheffer, with the backing of the Democratic and Working Families parties, faces challenger Gerald Sullivan, who will appear on the Republican, Conservative and Independence line.

Pheffer has served in Albany for two decades, and in his challenge Sullivan has cast himself as the anti-establishment candidate, willing to stand up to the all-powerful Assembly speaker, Sheldon Silver.

She chairs the Consumer Affairs and Protection Committee and is one of the assembly's senior members. Before the City Council extended term limits, Pheffer was widely seen as the Democratic Party's choice for Queens borough president in the 2009 race. Now that the current borough president, Helen Marshall, could run again, Pheffer's plans are unclear.

Sullivan, 41, a businessman from Breezy Point, has $21,825 in his campaign account, according to the state Board of Elections. Pheffer has $96,732 in her campaign finance account.

The district includes the Rockaways.

Brooklyn/Staten Island 24th Senate: Red Borough, Blue District


The 23rd Senate District includes two boroughs, encompassing the north shore of Staten Island as well as parts of southwestern Brooklyn. Democrat Diane J. Savino was elected to represent the district when the seat became vacant in 2004. Savino won nearly twice as many votes as her Republican opponent in the 2004 race and ran unopposed in 2006.

A former city child-welfare caseworker, Savino became active in her union, rising to a leadership post. Now in the Senate Savino, who has been endorsed by the Working Families Party, said she continues to focus on employee's rights and the poor.

www.richardthomas4senate.com Richard Thomas, the Republican candidate, also has been endorsed by the Independence Party. Thomas is a member of the Staten Island Charter Commission.

By the end of September, Savino reported having $30,932 in campaign funds. In the time covered by the 32 Day Pre-General campaign finance report, Savino took in Savino reports having $25,000 in campaign funds. Thomas had $1,124.

 



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