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Tony Avella

Democratic Party

Prior offices:

New York State Senate District 11

Years in office: 2011 - 2019

Successor:John Liu (D)

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 7, 2023

Education

Bachelor's

Hunter College

Personal

Religion

Christian: Catholic

Profession

Public servant

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign X

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Tony Avella (Democratic Party) was a member of theNew York State Senate, representingDistrict 11. He assumed office in 2011. He left office on January 1, 2019.

Avella (Democratic Party, Taxpayers Unite Party) ran for election to theNew York City Council to representDistrict 19. He lost in the general election onNovember 7, 2023. He advanced from the Democratic primary onJune 27, 2023.

Biography

Avella earned his B.A. from Hunter College at the City University of New York in 1974. His professional experience includes working as an aide to various local and state officials and serving on the New York City Council to represent the 19th District in 2001, where he chaired the Zoning and Franchises Committee and founded and chaired the Italian-American Caucus.^[1]

Committee assignments

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Avella served on the following committees:

2013-2014

In the 2013-2014 legislative session, Avella served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Avella served on these committees:

Sponsored legislation

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according toBillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.

Elections

2023

See also: City elections in New York, New York (2023)

General election

General election for New York City Council District 19

IncumbentVickie Paladino defeatedTony Avella in the general election for New York City Council District 19 on November 7, 2023.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vickie Paladino (R / Conservative Party / Common Sense Party)	59.9	11,861
		Tony Avella (D / Taxpayers Unite Party)	39.7	7,860
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	70

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 19,791
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Paul Graziano (Public Safety Party)

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for New York City Council District 19

Select round:Round 3Round 2Round 1

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:Tony Avella in round 3 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	51.1	2,870	501	Advanced (3)
	Submit photo	Christopher Bae	48.9	2,746	557	3
		Paul Graziano	0.0	0	-1,440	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	39.5	2,369	6	Advanced (3)
	Submit photo	Christopher Bae	36.5	2,189	3	3
		Paul Graziano	24.0	1,440	4	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	39.3	2,363	0	Advanced (3)
	Submit photo	Christopher Bae	36.3	2,186	0	3
		Paul Graziano	23.9	1,436	0	2
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	0.6	34	0

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 6,019
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Republican primary election

Republican Primary for New York City Council District 19

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:Vickie Paladino in round 1 .

		Candidate
✔		Vickie Paladino

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Conservative Party primary election

Conservative Primary for New York City Council District 19

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:Vickie Paladino in round 1 .

		Candidate
✔		Vickie Paladino

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Endorsements

2021

See also: City elections in New York, New York (2021)

General election

General election for New York City Council District 19

Vickie Paladino defeatedTony Avella andJohn-Alexander Sakelos in the general election for New York City Council District 19 on November 2, 2021.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vickie Paladino (R / Independent Party)	47.2	12,790
		Tony Avella (D)	45.7	12,400
		John-Alexander Sakelos (Conservative Party / Save Our City Party)	6.8	1,857
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	71

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 27,118
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic Primary for New York City Council District 19

Select round:Round 4Round 3Round 2Round 1

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:Tony Avella in round 4 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	54.7	6,429	960	Advanced (4)
	Submit photo	Richard Lee	45.3	5,317	1,080	4
	Submit photo	Austin Shafran	0.0	0	-2,939	3
	Submit photo	Adriana Aviles	0.0	0	0	2
	Submit photo	Nabaraj KC	0.0	0	0	2
	Submit photo	Francis Spangenberg	0.0	0	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	43.3	5,469	463	Advanced (4)
	Submit photo	Richard Lee	33.5	4,237	408	4
	Submit photo	Austin Shafran	23.2	2,939	345	3
	Submit photo	Adriana Aviles	0.0	0	-1,058	2
	Submit photo	Francis Spangenberg	0.0	0	-378	2
	Submit photo	Nabaraj KC	0.0	0	-186	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	38.4	5,006	14	Advanced (4)
	Submit photo	Richard Lee	29.3	3,829	11	4
	Submit photo	Austin Shafran	19.9	2,594	2	3
	Submit photo	Adriana Aviles	8.1	1,058	5	2
	Submit photo	Francis Spangenberg	2.9	378	2	2
	Submit photo	Nabaraj KC	1.4	186	0	2

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Tony Avella	38.1	4,992	0	Advanced (4)
	Submit photo	Richard Lee	29.2	3,818	0	4
	Submit photo	Austin Shafran	19.8	2,592	0	3
	Submit photo	Adriana Aviles	8.0	1,053	0	2
	Submit photo	Francis Spangenberg	2.9	376	0	2
	Submit photo	Nabaraj KC	1.4	186	0	2
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	0.5	69	0

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 13,086
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Republican primary election

Republican Primary for New York City Council District 19

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:Vickie Paladino in round 1 .

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		Vickie Paladino	51.6	1,765	0	Advanced (1)
		John-Alexander Sakelos	47.0	1,608	0	1
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	1.4	47	0

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,420
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Conservative Party primary election

Conservative Primary for New York City Council District 19

The following candidates advanced in theranked-choice voting election:John-Alexander Sakelos in round 1 .

		Candidate	%	Total Votes	Transfer	Round eliminated
		John-Alexander Sakelos	88.4	107	0	Advanced (1)
	Submit photo	Dawn Anatra	8.3	10	0	1
		Undeclared Write-insUndeclared write-in candidates may advance past the first round in some ranked-choice elections. If the official source reports write-in votes by candidate name, Ballotpedia displays them alongside the ballot-qualified candidates. However, if write-in votes are reported without a name, they will instead be included in the total write-in votes figure in Round 1. Please consult the official elections source for more details about unnamed write-in candidate vote totals past Round 1.	3.3	4	0

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 121
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

2018

See also:New York State Senate elections, 2018

Avella was a part of the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference in theNew York State Senate until April 2018. He and five other former IDC members lost to progressive challengers in the September 13 Democratic primaries.Click here to learn more about the primaries.

General election

General election for New York State Senate District 11

John Liu defeatedVickie Paladino, incumbentTony Avella, andSimon Minching in the general election for New York State Senate District 11 on November 6, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Liu (D)	53.6	42,047
		Vickie Paladino (R)	24.3	19,062
		Tony Avella (Independence Party)	20.7	16,241
	Submit photo	Simon Minching (Conservative Party)	1.4	1,123
		Other/Write-in votes	0.1	41

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 78,514 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 11

John Liu defeated incumbentTony Avella in the Democratic primary for New York State Senate District 11 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Liu	52.3	12,578
		Tony Avella	47.7	11,489

---

	Incumbents arebolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 24,067 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for New York State Senate District 11

Vickie Paladino defeatedSimon Minching in the Republican primary for New York State Senate District 11 on September 13, 2018.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Vickie Paladino	56.7	1,735
	Submit photo	Simon Minching	43.3	1,323

---

	There were noincumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 3,058 (100.00% precincts reporting)
= candidate completed theBallotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you,complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data?Contact our sales team.

Conservative Party primary election

The Conservative Party primary election was canceled.Simon Minching advanced from the Conservative Party primary for New York State Senate District 11.

Independence Party primary election

The Independence Party primary election was canceled. IncumbentTony Avella advanced from the Independence Party primary for New York State Senate District 11.

2016

See also:New York State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for theNew York State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on September 13, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The filing deadline for major party candidates was July 14, 2016. The filing deadline for independent candidates was August 23, 2016.

IncumbentTony Avella defeatedMark Cipolla in the New York State Senate District 11 general election.^[2][3]

New York State Senate, District 11 General Election, 2016
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tony AvellaIncumbent	69.52%	72,520
	Republican	Mark Cipolla	30.48%	31,797
Total Votes				104,317
Source:New York Board of Elections

IncumbentTony Avella ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 11 Democratic primary.^[4][5]

New York State Senate, District 11 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Democratic	Tony AvellaIncumbent (unopposed)

Mark Cipolla ran unopposed in the New York State Senate District 11 Republican primary.^[4][5]

New York State Senate, District 11 Republican Primary, 2016
Party		Candidate
	Republican	Mark Cipolla (unopposed)

Cipolla also ran on the Conservative and Reform party tickets.

2014

See also:New York State Senate elections, 2014

Elections for theNew York State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on September 9, 2014. The general election took placeNovember 4, 2014. Thesignature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was July 10, 2014. IncumbentTony Avella defeatedJohn Liu in the Democratic primary.Paul Gilman ran as a Green Party candidate. Avella also ran on theIndependence Party of New York State ticket. Avella defeated Gilman in the general election.^[6][7][8]

New York State Senate District 11, General Election, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tony AvellaIncumbent	71.2%	29,359
	None	Blank	21.6%	8,888
	Green	Paul Gilman	6.8%	2,813
	None	Scattering	0.4%	164
Total Votes				41,224

New York State Senate, District 11 Democratic Primary, 2014

Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Tony AvellaIncumbent	53%	7,896
John Liu	47%	7,002
Total Votes		14,898

2012

See also:New York State Senate elections, 2012

Avella ran in the2012 election forNew York State Senate District 11. He ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on September 13, 2012. He also ran on theWorking Families Party andIndependence Party of New York State tickets. Avella defeatedJoseph R. Concannon (R) in the general election, which took place on November 6, 2012.^[9][10][11]

New York State Senate, District 11, General Election, 2012

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Democratic	Tony AvellaIncumbent	73.3%	64,775
	Republican	Joseph R. Concannon	26.7%	23,550
Total Votes				88,325

2010

See also:New York State Senate elections, 2010

Avella ran unopposed in the September 14 Democratic primary. Avella defeated incumbentFrank Padavan (R) in the general election on November 2. Avella ran as a member of the Democratic and Working Families parties. After a close race, Padvan conceded in defeat on November 10, 2010.^[12][13][14]

New York State Senate, General Election Results, District 11 (2010)
Candidates		Votes
Tony Avella (D)		31,573
Frank Padavan (R)		26,571

Campaign themes

2023

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Tony Avella did not completeBallotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.

2021

Tony Avella did not completeBallotpedia's 2021 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Avella's website highlighted the following five main issues:

• Fighting Overdevelopment: "Tony Avella believes that our local neighborhoods and communities are as unique as the people who live in them. In the State Senate, Avella will continue his legacy as an overdevelopment watchdog in order to protect the integrity of our communities."

• Protecting Taxpayers: "As a middle-class homeowner, Tony Avella understands the crippling impact that out-of-control taxes have on New Yorkers. For too long we have paid billions in taxes to Albany, but have failed to receive our fair share in return. Avella believes that the taxpayers of eastern Queens deserve better results, and he’ll deliver those results as our next State Senator."

• Ethics & Accountability: "Tony Avella believes that public office is a public trust and he knows that the politicians in Albany have broken that trust. A lifelong reformer, Avella is running for State Senate because he wants to change Albany so that it works for the people and not the political special interests."

• Creating Jobs & Strengthening Our Economy: "Tony Avella understands that small businesses are the backbone of New York’s economy, but Avella knows that business as usual in Albany isn’t cutting it for our working families here at home. That’s why Avella wants to go to Albany to make sure that small businesses can thrive in a prosperous economy once again."

• Improving Our Schools: "Education has always been a top priority for Tony Avella. While our education system remains strong, it has been forced to struggle to stay afloat without its fair share of equal funding from Albany. Avella is running for State Senate to even the playing field and provide our public schools and our children with the resources they deserve."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf.Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at theFEC website. Clickhere for more on federal campaign finance law andhere for more on state campaign finance law.

Scorecards

See also:State legislative scorecards andState legislative scorecards in New York

Ascorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of New York scorecards, email suggestions toeditor@ballotpedia.org.

2020

In 2020, theNew York State Legislature was in session from January 8 to December 31.

• Conservative Party of New York State:Assembly andSenate

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

• Environmental Advocates Action

Legislators are scored on their votes on environmental issues.

• National Federation of Independent Business

Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.

• The American Conservative Union

Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Endorsements

2014

In 2014, Avella's endorsements included the following:^[16]

2012

In 2012, Avella’s endorsements included the following:^[17]

• 32BJ/SEIU

Personal

Note: Pleasecontact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Avella has a wife, Judith.

See also

2023 Elections

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External links

Footnotes

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