Robert Holden’s divisive record
For those of you not getting the monthly Democratic District Leader emails that Melissa and I have been sending (you can sign up here), this update is probably long overdue. There’s a reason for that.
District Leader is an unpaid elected position, which means — aside from the obvious — that many District Leaders are earning a living working for one of the hundreds of political campaigns going on throughout the city at the moment. I am no exception. As of writing this, I am actively employed by Juan Ardila’s City Council campaign in District 30.
I raise this point to be completely transparent with you, and to emphasize that I am a Democratic District Leader for the same reason I am working on Juan’s campaign — because my current Council Member, Robert Holden, won as a right-leaning Republican despite being registered as a Democrat.
As someone whose responsibility it is to inform and engage Democratic voters, Holden winning as a Republican is problematic for many reasons. Most glaringly because of his consistent anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQIA+ record, but maybe more importantly for members of his district, it leaves him without an obvious alliance within the City Council, making it that much harder to get his own legislation passed.
Because of Robert Holden’s extremely divisive record, I was compelled to write a private email to four elected Assembly and State Senate leaders whose districts overlap with City Council District 30. Since then, a coalition of six other Democratic District Leaders in CD30 have come to lend their efforts to reiterate one basic fact: Robert Holden is not a Democrat.
As we head into early voting and election day (find your polling location here), I wanted to share with you an edited version of the letter I sent to those elected officials, with the support of the District Leaders who signed-on.
If you take anything from this, please pay special attention to his record since being elected to the Council. And regardless of who you support, please vote.
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Dear Democrats of City Council District 30,
We are writing this letter to express our concern with the way Robert Holden has carried himself since being elected to the City Council on the Republican line in 2017.
It is our opinion that Robert Holden does not represent District 30 in a manner befitting of our community, regardless of what political party he wants to align with, and certainly not for an inclusive Queens Democratic Party we want to be a part of. At his core, he’s a divider who weaponizes diversity to create a “path to victory” in local political matters.
He did it in his 2017 race against Elizabeth Crowley, drumming up hatred for homeless shelters in Maspeth and Glendale. Yet, despite his own failures to address the homeless crisis in our district, he continues to lean into the shelters with hate-filled rhetoric, saying the people who live there “will never assimilate into the neighborhood, they’ll never blend in.”
Even before he ran for city council, Robert Holden used his position as managing editor of the Juniper Berry to repeatedly run editorials condemning immigrants, women of color, same-sex marriage, even parroting the President Barack Obama birther conspiracy well into his second term.
And now that he’s running for re-election he’s trying to pull the same “divide and conquer” strategy. So we implore you, do not look at the Robert Holden who is running for re-election, look at his voting record since being elected to see what kind of man he really is.
Robert Holden wasn’t running for re-election when he voted against requiring city employers to provide earned safe and sick time to employees during the pandemic.
Or when he voted against a bill that would prohibit employment discrimination based on an individual’s sexual and reproductive health decisions.
Or when he rejected two resolutions to repeal the “Walking While Trans” loitering law used by police to target transgender women of color.
Or when he voted against a bill that would allow individuals to change their sex designation on their birth certificate to conform with their gender identity.
Or when he introduced a bill that would make it legal again for the NYPD to use a chokehold like the one that killed Eric Garner.
Or when he appeared on FOX News to say NYC should not be a sanctuary city.
Or when he voted against creating an Office of Diversity and Inclusion within the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.
Or when he voted against a bill that would establish diversity working groups in each community school district.
Or when he quit the Immigration Committee because he thinks ICE agents should be allowed in New York state courthouses without a warrant.
Or when he repeatedly voted against any legislation that would treat immigrant lives in a more dignified and humane manner.
So we ask you, as fellow Democrats, should we buy into his election-cycle rhetoric or heed the warnings of his actions?
Robert Holden has proven he is not the leader our community needs at this critical moment for our city and for District 30. We hope you remember that when you head to the polls to vote in this year’s Democratic primary.
Thank you,
Melissa Sklarz
Democratic District Leader in AD30B
Andres Vargas
Democratic District Leader in AD34B
Monica Valdes
Democratic District Leader in AD34B
Emilia Decaudin
Democratic District Leader in AD37A, Democratic State Committee Member AD37
Derek Evers
Democratic District Leader in AD37B
Melissa Bieri
Democratic District Leader in AD37B
Mufazzal Hossein
Democratic District Leader in AD38B
