Campaigns & Elections

Here’s who won the three countywide judicial primaries in New York City

Judgeships for the Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, along with the Brooklyn and Queens Civil Courts were also on the ballot in Tuesday’s primary.

Witthaya Prasongsin

Tuesday’s primary election produced few surprises in the big races for lieutenant governor and governor, but in the three lesser-known races for countywide judgeships in New York City, the Democratic primary winners succeeded by comparably slimmer margins. While incumbent Gov. Kathy Hochul and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado spent most of election day conducting business-as-usual before soaking up their victories at a swanky Tribeca Rooftop party, judicial candidates were working poll sites hoping to lap up last-minute voters who may not have even known which candidates were on the ballot prior to casting their votes. In all three races, there were no Republican primaries, meaning the winners will likely go on to win the general election in November.

Hilary Gingold won the three-way primary race to fill retiring Judge Nora Anderson’s seat on Manhattan Surrogate’s Court, while Pat Hayes Torres clinched the nomination for Brooklyn Civil Court judge over Philip A. Grant. Voters chose Karen Lin and Maria T. Gonzalez out of four candidates running for two open seats in Queens Civil Court. 

Gingold, who currently holds a seat on the Manhattan Civil Court, won 43% of the vote, according to preliminary results from the New York City Board of Elections. Elba Rose Galvan, a surrogate’s court referee endorsed by the Daily News, came in second with 34%, followed by Metlzer Lippe attorney Verley A. Brown, 22%. Surrogate’s Court judges, which handle probate and estate proceedings, serve 14-year terms and must retire by age 70. Each county has one surrogate judge, except Brooklyn and Manhattan, which each have two.

A total of 110,700 voters cast ballots in the Surrogate Court’s race, compared to 136,112 in Manhattan for the Democratic gubernatorial primary. 

“I just want to thank the people of New York City,” Gingold said Wednesday. “Judges races – people don’t usually pay attention to them . . . but the fact that people came out and voted the way they did, gives me faith in the system and the Democratic process.”

Gingold said she hopes to address case backlogs in the court, in part by being ready to “make a decision from the bench.” She also highlighted her own experience with her elderly father, who has dementia, as an example of how she can relate to petitioners in her courtroom. 

“When (someone), God forbid, passes away, some things have to be done immediately,” she said. “What happens when that 92-year-old woman passes away and her Schnauzer, Snooki, is hanging out there at 8 years of age. Who takes care of that dog?”

Of the 132,884 votes cast in the Queens Civil Court race, 39% were for Lin (97,033 Queens Democrats voted in the gubernatorial primary, but voters could choose two candidates in the judicial race). Gonzalez received 24% of votes, Devian Daniels won 19% and 17% were for Thomas Medardo Oliva. 

Citywide, there are 21 Civil Court vacancies, but only two had countywide primaries with more than one candidate running. Civil Court judges serve 10-year terms handling lawsuits seeking damages up to $50,000, along with landlord-tenant issues. Most Civil Court judges, however, are assigned to other courts, such as criminal and family courts.

Lin, who was nursing a hoarse voice on Wednesday from campaigning at polling sites from 6:15 a.m. until polls closed at 9 p.m., described her “grassroots” campaign as one that involved attending community meetings and events to meet voters in person and running phone banks in an effort to “reach as many communities as possible . . . Queens is a big borough,” she said. 

“This is my first time running for elected office, and I can’t tell you the number of people who I met who said they have never met a judicial candidate before and they didn’t know that judges had to be elected,” said Lin, a former housing court judge.

Gonzalez, who could not be reached for comment, is a Queens-based lawyer who “has represented thousands of local Queens residents” in immigration, criminal and bankruptcy cases, according to her campaign website. She is also a cooperating attorney with 32BJ SEIU’s Legal Services Fund. The New York City Bar Association, which signs off on judicial candidates who “have affirmatively demonstrated qualifications necessary for the performance of the duties of the position for which they are being considered” did not approve Gonzalez.

In the Brooklyn Civil Court race, Torres won 56% of the 127,803 votes cast. In the Democratic gubernatorial primary, 150,683 registered Democrats voted. Grant, a principal law clerk at the state Supreme Court, received 43% of the vote. Torres, who could not be reached for comment, is a former Brooklyn assistant district attorney, who operates a Brooklyn-based law practice representing clients in grand jury presentations, along with criminal, personal injury, real estate and commercial matters, according to his campaign website.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.