Council Member Tiffany Cabán Endorses Juan Ardila for Queens Assembly Seat

District Candidate Juan Ardila (Courtesy of Juan Ardila)

April 7, 2022 By Allie Griffin

Council Member Tiffany Cabán, a leading progressive within the City Council, announced Thursday that she has endorsed Juan Ardila for the 37th Assembly seat.

Cabán, who represents Astoria and East Elmhurst in the council, is backing the 28-year-old progressive for the seat, which represents Long Island City, Maspeth, Ridgewood, Sunnyside and Woodside.

“I’m excited to support Juan Ardila,” she said in a statement. “Western Queens needs a fighter up in Albany: someone who will expand protections for tenants, deliver investments in resilient, green infrastructure, support gig workers and low-wage laborers, and better our public schools.”

Ardila, a Maspeth native who works at the Legal Aid Society, previously ran for City Council and has prior government experience.

He ran unsuccessfully for the District 30 Council seat against incumbent Council Member Robert Holden last year, generating about 45 percent of the vote.

Before running for office, Ardila was a staffer in Brad Lander’s council office. He also worked as a consultant for the NYC Department of Education, where he supported the expansion of universal pre-K and 3-K for All program.

“I have no doubt that Juan has the experience, vision, and passion to make Queens a safer, more equitable, more just borough for all of our neighbors,” Cabán said.

Ardila is a first-generation New Yorker and the son of Colombian and Honduran-Cuban immigrants. He has vowed to fight for immigrants, working New Yorkers, renters, and all struggling to establish a proper life.

“I am running for Assembly because it’s time for a change. I know how hard it is today for New Yorkers to make ends meet,” he said. “I’m going to fight tooth and nail on behalf of tenants, seniors, working families, and our immigrant neighbors.”

Ardila has racked up more than a dozen endorsements in addition to Cabán’s. He has the backing of State Senator Jessica Ramos, State Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, City Council Member Jennifer Gutiérrez, former Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, the Working Families Party, DC37, New York Immigration Action, Make the Road Action, Open New York, Community Voices Heard (CVH), Churches United For Fair Housing Action (CUFFH) and local Democratic leaders including Émilia Decaudin, Jesse Laymon, and Derek Evers.

“Having Council Member Caban’s support is a tremendous vote of confidence in our campaign’s vision of a more equitable New York,” Ardila said. “I know that working together we will help bring about the progressive change our communities need and deserve.”

Ardila is one of several candidates running for the District 37 seat, which was left wide open when Assembly Member Cathy Nolan announced her retirement in February.

Brent O’Leary, a community organizer and attorney who unsuccessfully ran for the District 26 city council seat last year, is also vying for the Assembly seat. He has been endorsed by the 504 Democratic Club, which represents Democrats with disabilities.

Meanwhile, Johanna Carmona, a lifelong Sunnysider, is also running for the seat. Carmona, a lawyer who previously worked as an assistant district attorney in the special victims bureau with the Kings County District Attorney’s office, has been endorsed by Nolan and the Ridgewood Democratic Club.

Jim Magee, a private practice attorney and lifelong Sunnyside/Woodside resident, is also running for the seat and he has been endorsed by the New York State Court Officer’s Union.

Meanwhile, a fifth candidate, Vlad Pavlyuk, who had previously announced he is running for the assembly district has dropped out of the race. Instead, he is petitioning a run for the State Committee seat.