Tony Simone Cruises to Easy Victory in Dem Primary Assembly Race

Incumbent NYS Assembly member Tony Simone, handily defeated a challenger in the Democratic primary on June 23as he seeks to get reelected for a third term.

The challenger was community activist Emily YueXin Miller, whose campaign followed her efforts as a community leader in improving elderly care and eliminating racial profiling and discrimination throughout the city.

Simone received 9,789 votes nearly 7,000 more votes than against Miller’s 2,884 in the diverse district that includes Chelsea, Hell’s Kitchen, Billionaires’ Row, parts of Midtown Manhattan and parts of the Upper West Side. The Empire State Building, Madison Square Garden, Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Bryant Park, and the southern portion of Central Park are included in this district.

His predecessor was Richard Gottfried, who when he stepped down in 2022 had served for 52 years and was the longest serving member of the assembly.

Simone was endorsed by labor as well Open New York, the controversial pro-development group that had tried to seize control of Community Board 5.

His landslide win in the latest race contrasts with hard fought battle when he first dipped into politics in 2022, when he pulled in with 38.8 percent of the vote to Layla Law-Gisiko’s 27 percent. In that year’s November election, Simone defeated Republican challenger Joseph Maffia by nearly 70%.

Things were a lot easier in the 2024 general election, Simone was re-elected with no opponents.

While the diverse district he represents includes a politically active LBGTQ+ community, Simone was the first openly-gay Assembly Member to represent the west side district. He had made housing, education and public safety key issues. He was also a big proponent of blocking ICE vehicles from using a city chartered parking garage in Hudson Yards. The contract ends June 30 and Hudson Yards said it was not going to be renewed.

Among one of the more hot button issues in race, Simone is a vociferous supporter of a city plan that would demolish and relocate residents of a NYCHA housing project known as the Fulton and Elliott housing while it rebuilds.

The city wants to hand over the project to the Related Co., a big real estate developer, to build a new $1.5 billion project that would house the NYCHA residents but also offer upscale market rate luxury apartments and retail outlets. His 2022 assembly opponent Law-Gisiko is one of the community activists leading the charge against the demolition of the public housing.

Matthew Tighe, the Chief of Staff for Simone, spoke with Straus News about the 2026 primary campaign.

“The main issues we’ve talked about have been Tony’s record on combating ICE up in Albany with his legislation that we passed this year to ban ICE from wearing masks; he passed a significant mental health care bill that’s going to allow people to access therapy across state lines. And I think the main top issue is affordability, which he will have a lot to be talking about as the campaign goes on through the summer.”

Tighe could not speak to areas of disagreement between Simone and Miller’s campaigns, noting, “I never saw any kind of platform for her. I really know very little about her beyond the website.”

A member of the Hell’s Kitchen Democrats, Tighe said Simone plans to continue his efforts towards housing affordability, mental health reforms, and LGBTQ+ activism.