Vickie Paladino: Campaigns and Elections
2018 New York State Senate Race (District 11)
Paladino's first campaign for elected office was her 2018 bid for the State Senate District 11 seat in northeast Queens. The district covered Bayside, College Point, Auburndale, Beechhurst, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, and parts of Flushing, Douglaston, Little Neck, and Glen Oaks .
She entered the Republican primary against Simon Minching, who had the endorsement of the Queens County Republican Party. Despite lacking party support, Paladino ran a grassroots, door-knocking campaign that targeted first-time voters and infrequent participants in primaries. She won the September 2018 primary with 1,640 votes to Minching's 1,220 .
In the November general election, the race became a four-way contest. Democrat John Liu, a former New York City Comptroller who had defeated incumbent Tony Avella in the Democratic primary, won decisively with 54 percent of the vote. Paladino finished second with 24 percent. Avella, running on the Independence and Women's Equality party lines after refusing to concede following his primary loss, received 21 percent. Minching, on the Conservative Party line, took 1 percent . The result was never competitive, but Paladino's showing exceeded typical Republican performance in the district .
Her son Thomas Paladino Jr. served as her chief strategist for the race . The campaign drew negative attention when Gothamist reported on Thomas's activity on the far-right social media platform Gab, including posts containing inflammatory racial content and engagement with users promoting white supremacist ideology .
2021 New York City Council Race (District 19)
Paladino ran for the City Council District 19 seat in northeast Queens in 2021. As in 2018, the Queens County Republican Party endorsed a different candidate in the primary, but Paladino again prevailed, winning the Republican nomination .
The general election pitted Paladino against Democrat Tony Avella, a former state senator and former council member who had previously held the District 19 seat. The race was one of the closest in the city. Paladino won with approximately 47.2 percent of the vote, defeating Avella by roughly 390 votes . A third candidate, John-Alexander Sakelos, also appeared on the ballot . Avella conceded the race on November 17, 2021 .
The victory was notable for several reasons: It was one of a small number of seats that Republicans flipped from Democrats in the 2021 cycle, and it came in a district with a significant and growing Asian American population that had been trending more conservative . Paladino's confrontational style and pro-NYPD messaging resonated with voters concerned about public safety, quality of life, and pandemic-related government mandates .
2023 New York City Council Race (District 19)
Due to redistricting following the 2020 census, council members elected in 2021 served abbreviated two-year terms rather than the standard four-year terms. Paladino faced Avella again in a November 2023 rematch .
This time the result was not close. Paladino won with approximately 54 percent of the vote (some sources report as high as 59.9 percent), defeating Avella by more than 3,000 votes . On election night, Paladino's supporters celebrated at her Bay Terrace campaign headquarters as results came in quickly . Thomas Paladino Jr. declared that the results demonstrated there was no real competition for his mother in the district .
During the campaign, Avella characterized Paladino as a far-right extremist with ties to racist elements and white supremacist organizations. Paladino dismissed the accusations as lies and labeled Avella a socialist . The widened margin of victory indicated that Paladino had consolidated support in the district beyond her initial narrow win.
2025 New York City Council Race (District 19)
The 2025 race was the first to offer a full four-year term following the redistricting-related scheduling adjustments. Paladino faced Democrat Ben Chou, an NYC firefighter who grew up in Douglaston and ran on a platform emphasizing public service and integrity .
Paladino won with 57.8 percent of the vote according to unofficial Board of Elections results, securing her third consecutive term and her most decisive victory . The win was powered by what observers described as a coalition of conservative voters and Asian American residents in northeast Queens .
The campaign was contentious in its final days. Chou's campaign raised questions about donations Paladino received from developers associated with a proposed eight-story, 200-unit apartment building on 24th Avenue in Bay Terrace, arguing that the contributions could influence her land-use decisions . In the closing weeks, Paladino mailed a newsletter to constituents criticizing Chou's support for mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani and accusing Chou of backing what she described as radical immigration policies . Thomas Paladino Jr. was filmed confronting Chou campaign volunteers at a polling site the day before the election .
Electoral Coalition and Campaign Style
Across her four campaigns, Paladino has built her electoral identity around several consistent themes: Support for law enforcement, opposition to pandemic mandates and progressive policy initiatives, direct constituent engagement through community events, and a confrontational social media presence that generates both support and criticism . Her ability to win the Republican primary against party-backed opponents in 2018 and 2021 reflected an anti-establishment appeal that parallels broader trends in Republican politics during the Trump era . Her growing margins of victory in successive council races suggest that she has built a durable political base in District 19 .