In CD-30 Alicia has had it with Phil

It’s no longer all sunshine and roses between Council District 30 candidates Alicia Vaichunas and Phil Wong – according to Vaichunas, at least.

“I see him, but I won’t communicate,” Vaichunas said last Tuesday. “I don’t want people to think we’re a duo anymore. We’re not. We’re separate ways.”

Vaichunas is a Republican, and Wong is a Democrat, but they’re ideologically almost identical. Whoever wins on Tuesday will carry on term-limited Council Member Bob Holden’s conservative legacy in the suburban district in central Queens. Both candidates work in his office, Vaichunas as deputy chief of staff and Wong as his director of budget and constituent services. It's a fitting race to replace a representative who himself has run on both major parties’ ballot lines. Holden has declined to support one candidate over the other. 

The two potential heirs are (were?) friends. They have long been remarkably cordial. Vaichunas helped Wong canvass during a tight primary and celebrated when he won. And Wong, along with Holden, still maintains that there is no bad blood between the two. 

But Vaichunas begs to differ. The two opponents previously vowed that if they won, they would hire the other. Now, when asked what happens after Election Day, Vaichunas said she won’t hire Wong if she comes out victorious, nor accept a job on his staff.

“I know if you talk to Phil, Phil will say he’ll still hire me,” she said in a phone call on Thursday. 

“There is always the commitment. That does not change,” Wong said, sure enough. When asked about Vaichunas’ change of heart, Wong said “I’ve not heard about that.”

One of Vaichunas’ complaints is that Wong’s social media manager, area civic leader Christina Wilkinson, blocked her and her volunteers from Wong’s Facebook page. She holds this against both Wilkinson and Wong, adding that things with her opponent were fine until “this one person came along on his campaign.” 

“Don’t leave me out on things. I always included Phil on things – ‘Hey, Phil, there’s a meeting here,’” she said. “And then (you) start doing things behind my back? Oh, that’s fine. I’ll do my own things, you know. I thought we were friends. I guess not.”

Asked about whether she blocked the Republican and her fans, Wilkinson texted City & State that Vaichunas’ “supporters went so far as to create burner accounts to attack (Wong). I am not wasting my time playing that game.”

Wilkinson, Vaichunas and Wong all worked together on Holden’s first campaign for office. In a Thursday phone call, the council member sang all three of their praises. 

“I have a good relationship with all of them,” said Holden, who has insisted on staying out of the drama and said he advised both candidates to do the same. 

Last Tuesday, Holden and Vaichunas canvassed together with their preferred mayoral candidate, Republican Curtis Sliwa, in Middle Village. (Wong said he is supporting Sliwa and Andrew Cuomo equally.)

“Everybody knows I’ve been with Bob for eight years, everybody knows what I’ve done for the community, and that gives me a leg up,” Vaichunas told City & State between photo ops. 

“Whereas Phil, he’s only been there for a year and a half, and he’s budget director. How good he is on that – hm,” she said, shrugging pointedly. 

If any tension was growing throughout the fall – through Facebook tiffs or otherwise – Wong getting tossed from his campaign office could not have helped. Both candidates rented spaces on the ground floor of the same Maspeth building on a month-to-month lease, but when the building’s landlord found a permanent tenant, Wong was the one to get the boot. A subsequent New York Post article about Wong taking his campaign mobile featured photos of the building with “Alicia” signs in the window. 

The Republican said she has strong support in Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale. Wong said his support is strongest in Elmhurst.

“I have my grassroots support out there,” Wong said. “But the others I have to work, get support one door at a time.”