DANIEL DROMM, Democrat for City Council

From New York Daily News:
In surprising twist to Queens politics as usual, an upstart candidate went up against the borough's Democratic party machine and won.

Daniel Dromm, 53, an elementary school teacher and gay activist, beat out two-term City Councilwoman Helen Sears by 621 votes in Tuesday's 25th District Democratic primary.

Dromm also handily beat Stanley Kalathara, 64, who garnered 730 out of 6,473 total votes, according to the Board of Elections' unofficial tally.

Dromm will face off against Republican candidate Mujib Rahman, 51, on Nov. 3 for the Jackson Heights seat.

"We listened to what people told us," a triumphant Dromm said yesterday. Voters "wanted to relieve overcrowding in the schools and they wanted health care centers in the community, and we have a plan to address those issues."

Unseating an incumbent was no easy task.

"It's nearly impossible to beat an incumbent in this day and age," said Assemblyman Jose Peralta (D-Jackson Heights), who endorsed Dromm. Incumbents "have every resource available to them, from money to volunteers."

Peralta said he believes voter frustration with Sears helped Dromm win the primary.

"She was out of touch with her constituents," Peralta said. "Not only do people know who [Dromm] is, but people have seen his work."

Dromm grabbed headlines in the early 1990s for coming out of the closet to protest homophobia at the school where he worked. A year later, he co-founded the annual Queens gay pride parade.

During his campaign, Dromm had to contend with anonymous mailings detailing his arrest record going back almost 40 years.

He said he believes the mailings backfired.

"People said they're tired of these tactics," Dromm said.

Sears graciously conceded defeat in a statement Wednesday.

"I reached out to Danny and left a message congratulating him on his win," Sears said. "He fought an energetic campaign."

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