A Republican and a Democratic candidate have announced they will run for the 40th Assembly District seat.
The seat is now held by Grace Meng (D-Flushing), who is running for the newly created 6th Congressional District.
The Queens Democratic Party has endorsed Ron Kim, 33, for the seat; while Sunny Hahn, 60, said she will run as a Republican with or without the party’s endorsement.
Kim, who works for the Parkside Group, a political consulting firm and lobbyist, said Friday he is taking a leave of absence during the campaign. He previously worked in state and city government. Kim ran in 2009 for then-Councilman John Liu’s seat, who was running for comptroller, but he pulled out of the race citing party unity.
Hahn, a Flushing activist in the Korean community, had hoped to run for the 16th Senatorial seat, but was not endorsed by the county GOP, who selected J.D. Kim, a Flushing lawyer. At her announcement Thursday outside the historic Bowne House, Hahn said she wants to build on the “glorious past of Flushing” and to put it on the map.
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