Incumbent Assemblymember Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Queens) is once again facing off against Republican challenger Tom Sullivan after holding onto her seat by just 15 votes two years ago.
Many local early voters, though, said on Thursday they’ve paid little mind to what’s expected to be a tight rematch, instead letting the names at the top of the ticket carry the rest of their ballots.
“I really, really haven’t paid attention to it, to be honest,” said 78-year-old Emilia, a 45-year Howard Beach resident who declined to provide her last name, of the Assembly race as she spoke to THE CITY after casting her ballot at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy in Howard Beach, Queens.
“It never even came up in conversation.”
The 2022 nail-biter in a district covering Ozone Park, Howard Beach and large swaths of the Rockaways took two months to re-count and certify last time around — with Pheffer Amato leading at one time in December by just one vote of the approximately 32,000 cast.
At the Howard Beach polling site Thursday, both campaigns sought to make a final effort to appeal to voters.
“Please re-elect Stacey for New York Assembly,” campaign volunteer Barbara Gropper, 80, whose family has lived in the area for more than eight decades, shouted as cars pulled into the parking lot of the polling site and voters headed for the entrance. One of her hands gripped a campaign sign; the other a handful of flyers that ticked off the incumbent’s support for the police, protection for reproductive rights and opposition to migrant housing at Floyd Bennett Field.
“This area has been red for forever,” Gropper added. “But I’m out here because your local candidates are what really matters.”
Sullivan also stopped at the polling site to talk to voters Thursday afternoon, and told THE CITY he’s feeling more confident that more voters will recognize his name on the ballot this time around.
“What’s changed dramatically is that people have gotten to know me … and they’ve seen that I didn’t give up and I didn’t just run once,” Sullivan said. “Because that was one of the challenges we had to overcome with limited resources — knowability.”
The Pheffer Amato campaign did not return THE CITY’s request to speak with the incumbent Thursday.
‘Not Bad Neither’
James Anzalone, 58, took notice of the challenger’s presence as he exited the polling station.
“Mr. Sullivan, you just got my vote,” Anzalone said. “Good luck, really, good luck — I wish you all the best.”
Anzalone said he is particularly concerned about the economy and safety in the neighborhood, especially with the influx of migrants, and was compelled by Sullivan’s background as a military veteran and small business owner.
Asked if that’s why he casted his vote for Sullivan, though, Anzalone said: “It’s just Republican — anybody who’s voting for Kamala Harris, I think half the world has gone bananas.”
Steve, a 64-year-old retired fireman who declined to provide his last name, also said he casted his vote for Sullivan, even though his union has been encouraging him to vote for the incumbent.
“Amato — she’s not bad neither. But I think a lot of people are voting along party lines because of the president and the vice president and all of that. Everybody around here is very upset with them,” Steve said, referring to President Joe Biden and Harris. “At least for me, that’s the case.”
The party-line vote helped carry some tickets for Pheffer Amato, too, including a vote from 50-year-old Ozone Park resident Murad Iqbal-Chowdhury, even though he was not too familiar with the Democrat.
“When I vote, I vote to keep the rights of the immigrants — this is very important — at the same time maintain a law and order solution,” said the 50-year-old Bangladeshi gas station worker, who had come to the polling station with his wife, who cannot vote because she is not a citizen.
Aubrey Manning, a 35-year-old hospital worker who moved to Howard Beach just a year ago, said he also voted all blue, including for Pheffer Amato, although he hasn’t really paid much attention to this year’s Assembly race.
“The top of the ticket is why I voted today,” said Manning, who identifies as an independent and said he’s voted for local candidates from both parties in previous elections. “We’re brand new to Howard Beach, so locally there just aren’t too many things that are going to affect us personally at the moment.”
Maria Calabrese, 88, on the other hand, voted for Pheffer Amato largely due to how her name sounded.
“She has no idea what anything is,” Calabrese’s granddaughter Bianca Guarrasi said, chuckling. “Because before she voted she asked me, ‘Who is this Amato I see?’ Is she Democrat or Republican?’ Because if she sees an Italian name, she is more interested — it’s an old-school thing.”
Calabrese chimed in: “Because she’s Italian, I voted for her.”
Inside the polling site, Board of Election employee and Howard Beach resident Helen Marino recalled being at the recount for the Pheffer Amato-Sullivan race last time around.
“That was insane. The pressure was crazy, and it was tedious and it was long,” Marino said. “So I hope we don’t have to do it again.”
