Candidates for NYS Senate District 12 Steven Raga and Aber Kawas | Photos via Facebook
NEW YORK — In western Queens, politics doesn’t arrive all at once. It builds slowly—through relationships, through institutions, through the kind of familiarity that only comes from years of showing up. The race between Assemblymember Steven Raga, a Filipino American lawmaker, and challenger Aber Kawas is unfolding inside that reality. It’s not a loud race, but it’s a meaningful one, because it turns on a deeper question: how power actually works in a district shaped by immigration.
On paper, the contrast is clear. Raga is an incumbent with ties to local organizations and government. The Democratic Socialists of America backs Kawas and represents a newer, more movement-driven approach. But the real story sits underneath that contrast—in how each candidate’s support is built.
Before running for office, Raga led Woodside on the Move, a nonprofit focused on housing and immigrant services. The work wasn’t high-profile, but it was constant: helping tenants deal with rent increases, navigating language barriers, and connecting people to public programs. That kind of work doesn’t just solve problems—it creates relationships. By the time Raga ran for office, many voters already knew him through those interactions. His campaign didn’t begin from zero.
Kawas came up differently. Her background is in organizing—tenant outreach, canvassing, working on affordability issues alongside groups aligned with DSA. Her political entry point wasn’t through managing programs or working inside institutions, but through trying to change them. That shows up in how her campaign operates: more volunteer-driven, more focused on direct engagement, more reliant on energy than existing structure.
Kawas’ candidacy has also drawn criticism from conservative media and local officials. A December 27, 2025, report in the New York Post highlighted past writings in which she questioned the meaning of federal holidays, including Independence Day and Labor Day. In a 2015 online journal entry cited in the report, Kawas wrote that such holidays “represent the silencing & destruction of our movements”. They framed them as insufficient markers of justice compared with broader struggles for “dignity, justice & equality.” Critics have cited those statements as evidence of a rejection of traditional civic narratives. At the same time, supporters view them as consistent with a political framework that prioritizes global labor and liberation movements over national symbolism.
Their campaign promises reflect those different paths. Raga’s platform centers on expanding tenant protections, securing funding for affordable housing, improving access to government services for immigrants, and strengthening support for working families through partnerships with labor and community organizations. Kawas emphasizes broader structural change: stronger tenant protections, expanded public investment in housing, and a more confrontational approach to economic inequality. One approach leans toward delivery through existing systems; the other toward reshaping those systems.
These paths shape expectations. Raga’s experience suggests he knows how to work within the system—how to move resources, navigate agencies, and maintain continuity. Kawas’s suggests a different approach—pressuring systems, expanding participation, pushing for structural change. Voters aren’t just choosing between candidates; they’re choosing between those approaches.
Raga’s strongest base is in the Filipino diaspora, especially in neighborhoods like Woodside and Elmhurst. Filipino Americans have long been a major part of the city’s healthcare workforce—nurses, aides, and hospital staff. That has created not just economic stability, but connections to unions and institutions that still matter in local politics. Over time, those connections have formed a network: churches, professional groups, and community organizations that share information and, when needed, mobilize.
That network doesn’t switch on only during elections. It’s already there. A church announcement, a community event, a conversation between coworkers—these become ways that political support moves. Raga benefits from that kind of built-in structure. People don’t need to be introduced to him; they already know where he fits.
But that support isn’t automatic or uniform. Younger Filipino American voters don’t always move the same way as older ones. Some are more drawn to broader progressive politics, especially around housing and the cost of living. Kawas has some traction there, particularly among voters who see policy as more important than background.
Outside the Filipino community, Raga’s support overlaps with other immigrant groups with similar ties to local institutions—parts of the South Asian and Latino electorates, especially where unions or community organizations play a role —for voters who want someone who can navigate government and deliver resources; that matters.
Kawas’ coalition looks different. It’s less tied to one community and more spread across groups, especially younger voters and renters. Her campaign shows up in the day-to-day mechanics—people knocking on doors, organizing building by building, having repeated conversations about rent and wages. It’s less about long-standing relationships and more about building new ones quickly.
Whether western Queens is ready for a democratic socialist depends less on ideology than on turnout and alignment. In parts of the district—particularly among younger renters and second-generation voters—there is clear openness to the platform Kawas is running on, shaped by housing costs and economic pressures. In others—especially among older immigrant communities and voters tied to unions or small-business networks—there is greater skepticism, rooted in a preference for stability and familiarity with how government works. The divide is not cleanly ideological. It reflects different experiences with institutions: whether they are seen as accessible and functional, or distant and insufficient.
That kind of support can grow fast, but it depends on momentum. It has to be maintained. Raga’s support, by contrast, is steadier, but not necessarily expandable in the same way. One is dense, the other is flexible.
Campaign finance filings with the New York State Board of Elections show that both campaigns raised similar amounts during the same reporting period. On paper, neither has a clear edge. But money alone doesn’t explain much here. Where that money comes from—and how stable those sources are—matters more. Raga’s likely comes from networks that exist beyond the campaign. Kawas depends more on continued engagement.
For voters, the timeline is straightforward but decisive. The Democratic primary is scheduled for June 23, 2026, and under New York’s closed primary system, only registered Democrats can participate. Voters must confirm their registration in advance through the state’s voter lookup system (https://voterlookup.elections.ny.gov/). In districts like this one, the primary often determines the eventual officeholder. The general election, set for November 3, 2026, opens participation to all voters, including Republicans and independents, creating a second phase in which broader coalitions can form.
What’s happening in this race isn’t unique to Queens, but it’s especially visible here. It reflects a broader shift in how political power is built—whether through long-standing community networks or newer forms of organizing. Raga’s campaign shows how a diaspora can turn presence into influence over time. Kawas’s shows how a campaign can build power through participation and alignment.
The outcome will come down to which model holds. Not which one is louder, or even which one raises more money, but which one is better at turning support into actual votes. In a race this close, that difference is everything.
All campaign finance information referenced in this article is based on official disclosures filed with the New York State Board of Elections and available through its Public Reporting System at https://publicreporting.elections.ny.gov/.
