Queens Dems nominate DSA-backed Diana Moreno to succeed Mamdani

On Monday, the Queens Democratic Party formally nominated democratic socialist Assembly candidate Diana Moreno to be the party’s nominee in the upcoming special election for Assembly District 36. The district was previously represented by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and the special election to fill his seat has been scheduled for Feb. 3. 

In a statement, Moreno called the nomination “the honor of a lifetime.” “Thank you to our local Democratic District Leaders and Congressmember Gregory Meeks for entrusting me with the immense responsibility of succeeding Mayor Zohran Mamdani.”

A proud member of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and immigrant from Ecuador, Moreno launched her campaign in October and has since been endorsed by both Mamdani and the NYC-DSA. Before running for office, she worked at the nonprofit immigrant advocacy group New Immigrant Community Empowerment and New York State Nurses Association, and she also served as co-chair of NYC-DSA’s Queens branch.

“I can’t imagine anyone more capable of carrying our movement forward than Diana, who has fought tirelessly for union workers, immigrant communities, and our neighbors across this district,” Mamdani said in a statement. 

Since there’s no Democratic primary election to choose the party’s nominee for a special election, Moreno was selected as the nominee following a vote of Meeks, who is the county chair, and the four Democratic district leaders for Assembly District 36. The vote took place on Monday at 9 a.m.

“By working alongside Mayor Mamdani in nominating Diana Moreno, we are putting forward a leader who understands the urgency of making New York more affordable for working families and is ready to deliver results,” Meeks said in a statement

After this story was originally published, District Leader Maria Markou said on X that she had voted against nominating Moreno, due to concerns about her affiliation with DSA. According to Markou, the other three district leaders and Meeks all voted in favor of Moreno’s nomination.

Moreno is not the type of candidate that the Queens county party would usually support. The county machine’s stronghold is made up of moderate Black and brown homeowners in southeast Queens. In recent years, it has fought a mostly losing battle against the rising tide of DSA-aligned candidates in western Queens. Meeks notably refused to endorse Mamdani even after he became the Democratic mayoral nominee.

But Mamdani’s ascendancy has rewritten the rules of New York City politics and left the Queens machine with few good options in Astoria. 

The Queens Democratic Party could have ignored Moreno and nominated a loyalist to run in Assembly District 36. But Moreno might still have been able to run in the special election as a third-party candidate. In many parts of the city, a third-party candidate would have no hope of beating the Democratic nominee. But this is “The People’s Republic of Astoria,” represented in the City Council, state Legislature and Congress by democratic socialists. There, support from Mamdani and DSA could have allowed Moreno to actually beat the Democratic nominee – a nightmare scenario for the Queens Democrats.

Rather than fight a likely futile battle against a candidate backed by the popular new mayor, the county party decided to throw its support behind Moreno. 

Three other candidates are running – Rana Abdelhamid, Mary Jobaida and Shivani Dhir – but only Moreno will appear on the Feb. 3 special election ballot as the Democratic nominee. With the combined support of Mamdani, DSA and the county party, there is little doubt that Moreno will be Astoria’s next Assembly member.