‘Knives in my back:’ Alicia Vaichunas feels betrayed by Bob Holden

The apparently unbeatable Phil Wong has done it again. After a surprise primary victory over Democratic machine-backed Dermot Smyth, he defeated Republican Alicia Vaichunas by about 10 points in New York City Council District 30, covering a portion of Central Queens.

It’s a surprising margin, even to him.

“I expected to win, but maybe not by this much,” he said.

Vaichunas, meanwhile, is taking no prisoners. She gave a tearful and bitter concession speech in which she vowed to step away from public life and spoke out against her former boss publicly for the first time.

“I had somebody’s back for eight years who put knives in my back,” she said.

The crowd called out: “Say his name!” 

“Council Member Robert Holden,” Vaichunas said. “He’s not the man that you all think he is. … I will tell you guys right now, he walks through this door and my security will do that. I don’t want him in here.”

This was always an unorthodox race, but it was supposed to be close – and friendly.

Wong and Vaichunas both work for Holden: Vaichunas for eight years as his deputy chief of staff and Wong for about two years as his director of budget and constituent services. The two of them even worked together on Holden’s first election campaign.

The candidates started out as good friends. Holden endorsed Wong in the primary, and Vaichunas gave him her support, even helping him canvass on Election Day.

Since Wong won the Democratic nomination, Holden has said he would be happy to know that the district is in good hands regardless of who won. And Wong and Vaichunas, for months, said there was no awkwardness in the council member’s office. Both pledged that if they won, they’d hire the other.

That all changed in the final weeks before the election, when Vaichunas started to publicly criticize Wong and ran at least one negative ad. She retracted her hiring pledge last week, and expressed that she felt betrayed by multiple people – though she didn’t say by whom until election night.

Vaichunas, apparently, had expected more support from Holden after winning the Republican primary.

“I know she didn’t want me to endorse both,” Holden said. “(But) that was the agreement going in, and she knew that, but I think in the heat of the campaign – that’s what happens.”

Holden added that he was surprised by Vaichunas’ reaction to the loss, but that he felt for her. “I know she’s hurting now, and I know it’s devastating for her. So I’m not going to blame her,” he said.

Wong said his on-the-ground outreach to Asian voters, who comprise nearly 20% of the district, was a critical part of his campaign. Wong added that many Asian residents in the district hadn’t previously been frequent voters.

“I was at three train stations. I was at express bus stops,” Wong said. “Those are places where I could hear out what they want.”

He added that he had expected both Zohran Mamdani and Andrew Cuomo supporters to vote Democratic down the ballot, which it seems some of them did. “And I do get Republican support as well,” he added.

Wong got some unexpected last-minute support from progressive Council Members Lincoln Restler, Jennifer Gutiérrez and Julie Won. He posted videos with the representatives and told City & State they helped him canvass throughout Election Day.

Restler said he and Gutiérrez approached Holden and asked if they could help Wong; Holden said he responded by telling them to ask the Democrat directly.

Wong, of course, is a conservative Democrat in Holden’s mold, but Restler said in a text message that he offered his support because “Phil is committed to protecting the rights of immigrants” and that he would be “a partner for good governance.”

Holden said that this was simply a bad election for Republicans, pointing out Kristy Marmarato’s loss in a Bronx City Council seat and Sliwa’s fairly low numbers in what could have been a strong district for him.

“Even if I only endorsed her, it still wouldn’t matter,” he said.

During her concession speech, Vaichunas had a warning about electing Wong: “Just like they’re going to regret voting Mamdani in, everybody’s going to regret it.”