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Incumbent City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) staved off a serious challenge from Republican Tom Ognibene, who once held the same seat, to win her first full term representing Glendale, Maspeth, Middle Village, Ridgewood and parts of Richmond Hill.
In winning, Crowley, 31, has reinforced her hold in a district that has had a Republican in the Council for nearly two decades.
She took in 11,227 votes, or 59.4 percent of the turnout, compared with Ognibene’s 7,686, or 40.6 percent, according to preliminary figures from NY1.
Crowley’s office did not respond to requests for comment by press time Tuesday night.
Ognibene, 65, who held the Council seat from 1991 until 2001, was gracious in defeat.
“The people said, ‘Ognibene, you’ve done a nice job, but it’s time to move on,’” he said. “I just think that there was no rationale to put Ms. Crowley out of office. I just get the sense talking to people that there was no rationale to vote for me.”
The race was quieter than others, but had its fair share of barbs and arrows.
Ognibene accused Crowley of being in the pocket of construction unions. Crowley accused Ognibene of accepting bribes from developer Robert Lattanzio while in the Council.
After agreeing to cooperate with investigators in 1998, Lattanzio said he bribed Ognibene in return for calling the city Department of Buildings to advance certain projects. Ognibene was never charged with any crime in the incident.
“I know it was nonsense, the DA knows it was nonsense,” Ognibene said. “It’s kind of sad that it comes up again.”
The pair were well-matched in fund-raising. Ognibene spent a good deal of his funds on billboards overlooking Maspeth and Middle Village. Ognibene also got a boost from Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who endorsed him in September.
He pledged to pass bills that would require a two-thirds majority vote to raise taxes and put term limits to a voter referendum. He also said he would help orchestrate a city takeover of St. John’s Queens and Mary Immaculate hospitals, which closed early this year.
Crowley said Democrats were less likely to be motivated to come to the polls with the mayoral race atop the ticket instead of the presidential race of 2008.
She ran on a platform of pushing for more community centers for after-school programs and working to ensure the now-closed St. John’s Hospital in Elmhurst is replaced by another hospital.
©2009 Community Newspaper Group
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