Flushing activist announces bid for Grace Meng’s Assembly seat
Posted on June 1, 2012 by Joe Anuta in Assembly, District 40
Sunny Hahn. Photo by Christina Santucci
Sunny Hahn, a longtime Flushing activist, officially announced her campaign for the seat held by state Assemblywoman Grace Meng (D-Flushing) Thursday afternoon.
Hahn is running on the Republican ticket for the majority Asian seat centered around downtown Flushing.
But Hahn will have to campaign without the support of the Queens County GOP, which means a primary is possible depending on who collects enough signatures to get on the ballot.
Republican District Leader Mei Lin Tan said that after screening several hopefuls, the party would be going with another yet-to-be-named candidate set to be announced this weekend.
Tan did not, however, discourage Hahn from running.
Hahn had initially sought the GOP’s blessing to run in another race: the state Senate district currently represented by state Sen. Toby Stavisky (D-Whitestone), sources said. Instead, the Queens GOP endorsed J.D. Kim.
In this race, Hahn said that she would be running with or without the GOP’s backing.
“I don’t have much expectation for that now,” she said.
But several members of the Queens Village Republican Club did come out to support Hahn, who said she would not be making any empty campaign promises like other politicians.
“I’m not going to say what I’m going to do,” she said. “The only thing I can promise is the truth.”
In campaign literature distributed at the news conference, Hahn said the transportation infrastructure of Flushing needs an upgrade in order for the neighborhood to prosper, and the various cultural institutions need more funding.
Hahn, 60, immigrated to America from South Korea in 1979 and said new immigrants need to contribute to the country’s political discourse, which is one of the reasons why she decided to throw her hat into the ring.
