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Rockaway Republicans
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| New blood in 32nd District 24-year-old GOP upstart grabs special election seat BY John Lauinger DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Thursday, February 26th 2009, 11:25 AM Related News Articles War of words, legal issues in 32nd Dist. Council race lineup solidifies: Election for Monserrate's seat on Feb. 24 ERIC ULRICH might be a political newcomer, but the fresh-faced 24-year-old has proven to be the young gun that Queens Republicans hoped he would be. The Ozone Park resident ran away with Tuesday's special election for the 32nd Council District seat - giving the Queens GOP control of just its second elected office in the borough. By campaigning with a confidence and political polish that belied his inexperience, the former Catholic seminary student became one of the youngest candidates ever to be elected to City Council. Despite being dogged by some detractors about his age, Ulrich garnered 3,329 votes in the nonpartisan contest, soundly defeating runnerup Lew Simon of Rockaway Park by 752 votes in unofficial results, according to the city Board of Elections. "At every step of the way, they tried to discredit my candidacy - first about my age, then about my political affiliation - so I proved them wrong," an overjoyed Ulrich said yesterday. "Now that I am elected, my job is to prove the people right." Ulrich came close to setting a record. Bronx City Councilman Joel Rivera, who was the youngest person elected to the Council in recent history, was 22 when he was first elected in 2001. Ulrich will represent the 32nd District through 2009 - the final year of the term formerly belonging to Joseph Addabbo Jr., who was elected to the state Senate in November. Democrat Julissa Ferreras of Corona won Tuesday's special election for the 21st Council District seat formerly held by Hiram Monserrate, who also was elected to the state Senate on Election Day. Ferreras, 32, who had served as Monserrate's chief of staff, got 2,216 votes, besting Democratic District Leader Francisco Moya by more than 1,000 votes to become the first Queens Latina elected to the Council - a distinction that she said aided her candidacy. "I think the fact that we were electing the first Latina ... from this area really energized other women," Ferreras said. Ulrich and Ferreras won't be in office for long before they have to gear up to defend their seats in November. Ulrich must avoid the fate of Republican Anthony Como, who won a special election in the 30th Council District in June only to lose to Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Middle Village) in November. With Lisa L. Colangelo jlauinger@nydailynews.com |
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