Phil Wong’s win was a shock to Republicans, who said they had felt the love for their candidate, Alicia Vaichunas, everywhere they went.

“I know the neighborhood,” Queens GOP Chair and Juniper Park Civic Association President Tony Nunziato said just before the votes came in on election night. “I feel so good about it, I really do. She’s the right person – she’s fourth generation from the neighborhood.”

But by the end of the night, Wong had 3,652 more votes than Vaichunas, besting her by 10 points. It was even surprising to him – the Democrat said that he had expected to win, but “not by this much.”

Both Wong and Vaichunas were staffers of outgoing Council Member Bob Holden, a conservative Democrat who ran on both party lines throughout his term. They ran as friends and ideological heirs

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