Lumarie Maldonado Cruz wins Civil Court Judge primary

THE CITY

Tuesday night brought an historic upset triggered by an insurgent candidate running against the Queens political establishment.

No, not Tiffany Cabán — this one was a landslide.

Lumarie Maldonado Cruz scored a resounding victory in the borough’s first primary for a civil court judge seat in over a decade, defeating the Queens Democratic Party’s pick, Wyatt Gibbons, by more than 17,000 votes.

Maldonado Cruz, 47, told THE CITY Wednesday she owed her victory to people that are “hungry for change.”

“From the very beginning, people realized that the communities all throughout Queens are being underserved, undermined and ignored,” Maldonado Cruz said. “Last night was another example as to how people will not sit on the sidelines anymore.”

With Cabán leading in the district attorney primary race and Maldonado Cruz’s resounding win, the Queens Democratic Party suffered a double blow.

Maldonado Cruz said she believes Tuesday’s results send “a clear message again that people are taking their power back.”

“Reform starts from within and it is about time that the legal system treats everyone with fairness regardless of race gender creed or other traits,” she said. “It’s about time that the people who bear that responsibility do so without bias or favor.”

Maldonado Cruz, a former Bronx resident who recently moved to Jackson Heights, is currently an attorney for the Character and Fitness Committee of the state Supreme Court’s Appellate Division in Manhattan, which conducts background checks on individuals seeking admission to the New York bar.