There’s going to be a changing of the guard in Assembly District 34.
Progressive insurgent Jessica González-Rojas won the Democratic primary for the 34th Assembly District in the June elections, according to preliminary results from the absentee ballot count.
González-Rojas, who was in the lead after in-person voting ended on June 23, won the election with over 40% of the vote once absentee ballots were counted. She unseated previously unchallenged six-term Queens Assemblymember Michael DenDekker (D-Jackson Heights, Woodside, East Elmhurst) who came in second in the race.
“I am both humbled and thrilled by the trust placed in me by the people of Corona, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, and Woodside,” said González-Rojas. “This victory is the culmination and sum total of a broad and diverse coalition that set out to build a grassroots campaign on people-powered solutions to the challenges facing our communities.”
Assemblymember DenDekker, who’s held the office since January 2009 and had never been challenged in a primary before, gracefully congratulated González-Rojas on her win.
“Congratulations Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas @votejgr on your victory in the Democratic Primary for the 34th AD. I wish you all the best as you represent our community in Albany!” he wrote on Twitter.
Voters in the district waited nearly a month for results from the June 23 election because of a historic number of absentee ballots submitted due to the coronavirus pandemic. The New York City Board of Elections did not start counting the ballots until July 8.
The final tally for the 34 Assembly District race has not yet been released.
González-Rojas is an activist and the former director of the Executive Director of the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice.
She will have to run in the November general election but as a Democratic candidate in a largely Democratic district, she is likely to win.
“I look forward to getting to work right away on a progressive agenda that protects and lifts up our most vulnerable communities,” she said.
