By Courtney Dentch
After being knocked off the ballot in April’s special election for the 31st Assembly District in southeast Queens, Charles Pringle Jr. was determined to try again.
Now less than two weeks before the primary election, the Democratic candidate is on the ballot again for the same seat.
A total of seven candidates has filed petitions with the city Board of Elections for the office held by state Assemblywoman Michele Titus (D-Far Rockaway). The district covers South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Springfield Gardens, Far Rockaway and Laurelton.
Titus, who won her seat in a special election in April, is expected to face former Community Board 13 member Bryan Block, Rockaways real estate agent Michael Duvalle, the Rev. Henrietta Fullard, Pringle, a former Bronx assistant district attorney, and Richmond Hill activist Taj Rajkumar for the Democratic nomination. A seventh candidate, Marina Rejas, is running on the Republican ticket.
Pringle, a 29-year-old Springfield Gardens resident, challenged Titus earlier this year, but the Board of Elections rejected his petition. Pringle’s interest in politics grew out of an internship in Rev. Floyd Flake’s congressional office, he said.
Education, employment, affordable housing, and economic development are among Pringle’s top priorities, he said.
“Everyone knew what the problems were and nothing was done to alleviate them,” he said.
Pringle would like to see greater incentives, like tax breaks, offered to businesses in the district in exchange for jobs for residents, he said. He also wants more four-year institutions in the district as well as an aeronautics school and more after-school programs for youth, he said.
