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Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato
By Michael V. Cusenza
In easily the most shocking result of Tuesday night, Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach) went to bed in a virtual tie with GOP challenger Tom Sullivan.
With 105 of 105 districts reporting, Sullivan has 49.24 percent of the vote to Pheffer Amato’s 48.44 percent; Sullivan is up just a couple hundred tallies as of Wednesday afternoon.
Pheffer Amato, the daughter of former Assemblywoman and current Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheffer, succeeded Phil Goldfeder when she assumed office in January 2017. Born in Rockaway, Pheffer Amato worked as an education paraprofessional for the City Department of Education and as a procurement analyst for the City Fire Department and the City Department of Sanitation prior to her foray into politics. She lives in Rockaway Beach with her husband, Frank, and their two children.
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Tom Sullivan
As for Sullivan, this isn’t his first attempt at public office. In 2018, Sullivan campaigned against State Sen. Joe Addabbo, Jr. (D-Howard Beach) for the 15th Senatorial District seat. Addabbo handily defeated Sullivan, a veteran and Breezy Point resident, 64 percent to 36 percent.
Sullivan describes himself as “a political outsider with 27 years of experience in the financial service industry, and 28 years serving (and counting) our country in the United States Army Reserve with combat tours in Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I was a small business owner for 10 years, now helping keep an 82-year-old family business going for another generation. My basic belief is before you want to represent your community you should have walked in their shoes in some capacity.”
The 23rd Assembly District serves Howard Beach, Ozone Park, the Rockaway Peninsula, and Broad Channel.
