Padavan victory statement slams Parkside

"First and foremost, I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to the thousands who supported my re-election and to the countless residents in our community who expressed their unwavering support throughout the recount process. I look forward to returning to Albany and bringing some much needed energy and common sense to the deliberations and debates in the state Senate.

From Election Night and at every step of the recount, I remained in the lead. However, despite this crystal clear fact, Councilman James Gennaro and his political cohorts at the Parkside Group engaged in a shameful smear campaign intended to mislead residents of the 11th Senate District. Today, their constant claims and negative attacks have once again been proven erroneous and utterly baseless. In fact, ballots that were deemed invalided based on Election Law by the both the Queens Board of Elections and the New York City Board of Elections were examined twice providing an unprecedented level of scrutiny and due diligence for any recount in our state.

Councilman Gennaro, party bosses and the political operatives at the Parkside Group prolonged this process with endless delays and senseless legal wrangling in order to advance their own political agenda. Had it not been for the unmitigated greed and self-serving motives of Councilman Gennaro and the Parkside Group this election would have been resolved back in November and the residents of the 11th Senate District would not have been denied a voice in the State Senate at a critical time for our community and state.

The antics of Councilman Gennaro and his Parkside Group friends are a complete disservice to the community and lead to the disenfranchisement of the tens of thousands of Northeast Queens residents. As a result of their outrageous tactics, Gennaro and the Parkside Group are responsible for wasting thousands of taxpayers’ dollars.

We are facing a myriad of grave economic challenges at every level of government. Moving forward, I pledge to continue to fight on behalf of the all residents of Northeast Queens each and every day and help put our economy on the right path to recovery." - Frank Padavan

Then he told the NY Observer: "He spent over twice as much money as I spent, the registration is three to one in his favor, and president Obama received 70 percent of the vote in this Senate district. So despite all of those advantages, he lost," Padavan said. "That shows, I think, a very strong position in terms of our work for the last 36 years."