Politics & Government

Reyes, Ulrich Press for Votes in Final Primary Hours

Quiet turnout in Forest Hills for intra-party elections.

You've still got some time to vote in Forest Hills before the primary polls close, but you'll have to hurry. 

Today's races, , are pretty sleepy. Staking out some polling places looking for voters proved difficult, as turnout has been low.

Things got a little heavy yesterday in the Republican primary after candidate Juan Reyes came under fire for a homophobic mailer sent out bashing opponent Eric Ulrich for lunching with gay City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer.

Find out what's happening in Forest Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Hours later, Ulrich collected the endorsement of Reyes' old boss, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"I urge all of my fellow Republicans to vote for Eric [Thursday] and make him one step closer to becoming the next state senator for the people of Queens," Giuliani said in a statement. Giuliani also scolded Reyes for "scorched-earth tactics."

Find out what's happening in Forest Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The young city councilman thanked the former Mayor for his support. "New York City became a stronger, safer city under his leadership and we are still seeing the benefits of his policies today," he said. "As senator, I look forward to working on many of these issues at the state level and continuing to build on those successes."

At Reyes Headquarters in Forest Hills on Thursday, the candidate himself tried to take things in stride, but when asked if he felt confident going into the final hours of voting, he demurred.

"Everyone has worked really hard, and we've tried to do our best," Reyes. said. "We've gone door to door, we've talked to people."

Reyes said that he tried to campaign on issues of the economy and improving people's lives in the long term.

In his campaign office window, facing the street, was a poster and a quote from Giuliani himself, despite his endorsement of the opposition.


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