Courtesy the Law Office of Donna Furey
Political insiders in Queens are stirring about the upcoming election for the Surrogate judge, a spot that comes up for election every 16-years. Judge Peter Kelly is the outgoing judge and the court, with about 50 employees, takes care of the disposition of wills and estates. Donna Furey, the Astoria attorney and civic leader is considered the one candidate with experience in this type of law. This week she abruptly suspended her campaign for the post. No word on why, but insiders opine that votes for her would now go to Queens Democratic Party favorite Cassandra Johnson. “These kinds of things happen all the time,” said one judicial insider we spoke with Monday evening. “The party leaders need to continue to maintain control of that court. There was possibly some kind of agreement which made her and the ‘party’ happy,” the insider said.
Cassandra Johnson, a Supreme Court Judge since January, might just have an easy path to victory. Wendy Lee, a Manhattan judge, put up by Hiram Monserrate’s camp, has been working community boards this past month. She showed up at the Middle Village Community Board meeting to introduce herself. People at the meeting were certainly confused as to why she was allowed to speak as she did not say that she was running for any position. “ I just wanted to introduce myself,” she said.
Rules for running for a position of judge are quite different than what’s allowed when running for political office. But records show she has raised almost two hundred thousands of dollars. Johnson has about a tenth of that.
