Primary Result
What happened in the June 23 primary?
Aber Kawas defeated Steven Raga in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 12. This rundown preserves the pre-primary comparison as background on the open-seat race.
PrimaryState SenatorNY Senate District 012
NY Senate District 12 Democratic Primary
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Election Rundown
NY Senate District 12 2026 Primary: Steven Raga vs. Aber Kawas Results and Candidate Comparison
Aber Kawas defeated Steven Raga in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 12. This rundown preserves the pre-primary comparison as background on the open-seat race.
The comparison below is retained as post-primary reference material: it summarizes the candidates, positions, endorsements, and issues voters were weighing before the race was decided.
What is the background?
The June 23, 2026, Democratic primary in New York's 12th State Senate district was an open-seat contest to succeed retiring Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who has held the seat since 2010 13. The race featured Assembly Member Steven Raga and Palestinian-American organizer Aber Kawas 12.
When was the SD-12 Democratic primary?
What is the background?
Tuesday, June 23, 2026 1.
What neighborhoods make up SD-12?
What is the background?
SD-12 covers western Queens, including Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Maspeth, and parts of Elmhurst and Jackson Heights 13.
Why is the seat open?
What is the background?
Senate Deputy Majority Leader Michael Gianaris, who has represented the district since 2010 and served in the state legislature for 25 years, announced in February 2026 that he would not seek re-election 34.
Who is on the Democratic primary ballot?
What is the background?
Assembly Member Steven Raga and Aber Kawas 1.
Who is Steven Raga?
What is the background?
Steven Raga has represented the 30th Assembly District (Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Maspeth) since 2023. He is the first Filipino American elected to the New York State Legislature and a longtime western-Queens resident 12.
Is Raga a member of the DSA?
What is the background?
Raga is a dues-paying member of the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, according to City & State reporting 2.
Who is Aber Kawas?
What is the background?
Aber Kawas is a Palestinian-American organizer based in western Queens. She has worked with the Council on American-Islamic Relations and other civil-rights organizations on Muslim-community advocacy in post-9/11 New York 46.
What is Kawas's background?
What is the background?
Kawas's father was deported to Jordan when she was 16. She came to community organizing through anti-NYPD-surveillance work, the 2017 Khader El-Yateem City Council campaign in Bay Ridge (where she first met Zohran Mamdani), and through movements including Black Lives Matter and Standing Rock 4.
Why did Kawas switch from an Assembly race?
What is the background?
Kawas had been running for the 34th Assembly District (an overlapping district being vacated by Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas) but switched to the Senate race after Gianaris announced his retirement. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez had endorsed her Assembly opponent Brian Romero, opening the path for Kawas to pivot 457.
Would Kawas be a first?
What is the background?
Yes. If elected, Kawas would be the first Palestinian American to serve in the New York State Legislature 4.
What is Kawas's housing platform?
What is the background?
Kawas's campaign centers tenant protections, rent stabilization expansion, public-housing investment, and Good Cause eviction. Her campaign has been endorsed by Churches United for Fair Housing Action 47.
What is Raga's housing record in the Assembly?
What is the background?
Raga has supported tenant-protection legislation, rent-regulation expansion, and NYCHA appropriations. His campaign emphasizes rent-stabilized apartments, NYCHA, and small businesses as the foundation of western Queens 1.
Did both candidates support Good Cause eviction?
What is the background?
Yes. Both candidates support Good Cause eviction protections at the state level 14.
What is Kawas's signature foreign-policy issue?
What is the background?
Kawas helped craft the Not On Our Dime Act, a bill introduced in the Assembly in 2023 that would have targeted tax-exempt charities assisting Israeli settler organizations. The legislation was carried by Mamdani as an Assembly Member 4.
What is Raga's position on Israel and Gaza?
What is the background?
Raga has supported humanitarian pauses, ceasefire efforts, and increased humanitarian aid in Gaza, while aligning with the Assembly's progressive caucus on foreign-policy resolutions. He has not made Israel-Palestine policy the centerpiece of his campaign 12.
Has Kawas worked on Palestinian-rights organizing?
What is the background?
Yes. Kawas has organized in solidarity with Palestinian-rights causes throughout her career and has made anti-occupation work a defining feature of her political profile 46.
What is Kawas's position on ICE?
What is the background?
Kawas supports abolishing ICE, ending federal-local enforcement cooperation, and expanding state-funded immigration legal services. Her father's deportation is a recurring frame in her campaign 46.
What is Raga's position?
What is the background?
Raga has supported state-level sanctuary-city policies, expanded immigration legal-services funding, and the Safe Check-Ins for Immigrants policy framework. He has used his Assembly seat to advocate for the multi-ethnic immigrant communities of western Queens 1.
What is Raga's role on transit?
What is the background?
Raga has campaigned heavily on Western Queens transit issues. He is a member of the PSC-CUNY union and has highlighted education funding and labor advocacy as central legislative priorities 13.
What is Kawas's climate platform?
What is the background?
Kawas supports the New York Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) implementation, divestment from fossil-fuel infrastructure, and expanded public-transit investment 46.
Has Mayor Mamdani endorsed?
What is the background?
Coverage suggests Mamdani is closely aligned with Kawas (whom he met during the 2017 El-Yateem campaign and who helped craft Not On Our Dime), but as of mid-May 2026 he had not formally endorsed in the race 47.
Who has endorsed Kawas?
What is the background?
NYC-DSA, the New York Working Families Party (likely, based on early reporting), Make the Road Action, Churches United for Fair Housing Action, Assembly Members Claire Valdez and Diana Moreno, and other progressive electeds 456.
Who has endorsed Raga?
What is the background?
Raga has emphasized his Assembly record and labor-focused campaign but had not consolidated major institutional endorsements as of February 2026 reporting 23.
What is the framing of the race in NY political coverage?
What is the background?
City & State describes the race as a democratic-socialist-vs-democratic-socialist fight, given that both Raga and Kawas are DSA members. The contrast is between an established Assembly-member with progressive credentials and an insurgent organizer recruited by NYC-DSA's electoral apparatus 28.
Did former Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer consider running?
What is the background?
Yes. Van Bramer publicly considered a campaign for the seat after Gianaris's retirement announcement but pulled out of contention shortly after Kawas declared her interest 5.
How did SD-12 vote in the 2025 mayoral primary?
What is the background?
Western Queens, including all the major neighborhoods in SD-12, voted heavily for Mamdani in the 2025 mayoral primary 4.
Sources
Source 1
QNS, "AM Raga announces campaign to succeed Gianaris in Senate District 12," February 24, 2026
Source 2
City & State New York, "Steven Raga is ready to rumble," February 20, 2026
Source 3
Filipino Reporters, "Queens Senate Contest Takes Shape with Raga, Kawas in the Running," February 22, 2026
Source 4
The Indypendent, "Interview: State Senate Candidate Aber Kawas Touts Support for Affordability Agenda," March 25, 2026
Source 5
City & State New York, "DSA, WFP and Make the Road likely to back Kawas for Gianaris' state Senate seat," February 11, 2026
Source 6
The Indypendent, "Muslim Civil Rights Advocate Repositions Campaign for State Senate," February 14, 2026
Source 7
QNS, "Aber Kawas launches campaign to succeed Gianaris in 12th Senate District," February 16, 2026
Source 8
Queens Daily Eagle, "Another progressive vs socialist race brews in Queens as Raga throws hat into Senate race," February 23, 2026