Just confirmed that Jeremiah Frei-Pearson of Astoria is dropping out of the three-way Democratic primary for state Assembly in District 36. "Because the dynamics of the race have recently changed and the only path to victory would contrast our shared values as Democrats, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson has decided to end his Assembly campaign. I commend him for putting the principles that unite us as Democrats ahead of one election. It has been my great honor to work on his campaign and I look forward to his continuing leadership in our community," spokesman Michael Murphy told me.
According to Frei-Pearson's website bio,
He works as an attorney for Children's Rights, where he helps get children out of broken foster systems into caring, safe, and healthy homes. He's well known in Astoria as part of the legal team who won a $63 million dollar settlement from ConEd to compensate the victims of the 2006 Queens Blackout and fund neighborhood Greening projects to improve the quality of life in our communities. Jeremiah rallied with the gay and lesbian community to fight for marriage rights and helped found Western Queens for Marriage Equality. He works with the Long Island City Alliance to keep poorly-planned development from disfiguring our neighborhoods.Frei-Pearson, a lawyer, has been competing against two other candidates for the Assembly seat being vacated by Michael Gianaris, who's looking to move up to the state Senate.
Aravella Simotas, a lawyer who seeks to become the first Greek-American woman elected to the Assembly, has the backing of Gianaris and Rep. Joe Crowley, the county chairman, as well as locking up a slew of institutiional and labor support, including Rep. Carolyn Maloney, state Sens. George Onorato and José Peralta, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Council Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr. and his son, Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., Councilmen James Van Bramer and Daniel Dromm and Assemblymembers Grace Meng and Micah Kellner. Also vying for the seat: John Ciafone, who has faced questions -- including from the Daily News -- about his legal residence.
