Who wants to become a judge in Queens?

There are three separate competitive races for Queens’ Civil Court in the upcoming Democratic primary election.  Eagle file photo by Walter Karling

By Jacob Kaye

When Queens’ voters head to the polls later this month, they won’t just be casting a vote for New York City mayor – they’ll also help decide several competitive judicial races in the World’s Borough.

There will be three Democratic primary races on the ballot in Queens in the upcoming election, including one for a boroughwide judicial seat.

In each race, a candidate selected earlier this year by the Queens County Democratic Party will face off against an insurgent.

While having the backing of the Queens Dems at one time almost guaranteed victory for a judicial candidate, party-backed candidates haven’t been as successful in recent years.

One of the two Civil Court candidates backed by the county party in last year’s primary lost to an insurgent. The same was true in 2022 and 2021.

With a trio of judicial primaries, this year’s election has the most competitive field for Civil Court the borough has seen in years.

Here’s more about the attorneys hoping to get one step closer to being elevated to the bench in Queens.

Civil Court – Boroughwide

Sheridan Chu, who is backed by the Queens County Democratic Party, will face off against notable Western Queens attorney John Ciafone in the only boroughwide Civil Court race in Queens this year.

Chu, who lives in Forest Hills, currently runs a private practice law firm. He previously worked as an attorney at Travelers Insurance and worked for a decade as a court attorney in several criminal courts across the city, including in Queens.

Chu, a St. John’s University graduate, also worked as a pro se attorney at the Red Hook Community Justice Center from 2012 until 2016.

In his private practice, the former community board member focuses on tenant rights cases and criminal defense.

He’ll face off against Ciafone, who has run for public office, including Civil Court, several times before.

Ciafone tried his hand at the City Council, running in the Democratic primary for District 22 in 2021 and finishing third in the six-way race won by Tiffany Cabán.

Like Chu, Ciafone also went to St. John's School of Law. He has managed his private practice in Astoria for years, working in personal injury law.

During his run for Civil Court in 2023, Ciafone was found to be “not approved” for the bench by the New York City Bar Association.

While most judicial candidates refrain from sharing their thoughts on any political issues that may come before them on the bench should they be elected, Ciafone hasn’t. Campaign literature for the candidate, which Ciafone said was approved by the Judicial Ethics Commission, says he supports “enforcement of bail laws…marriage equality… [and] pro choice and women’s reproductive rights.”

“Our neighborhoods are suffering from increased crime, drugs, marijuana stores, gambling outlets, prostitution and schools failing our children,” a campaign flier for Ciafone reads. “I will deliver justice to everyone – equally and fairly with the respect and dignity that you deserve.”

Civil Court candidates Sheridan Chu, Thomas Wright-Fernandez, John Ciafone Juliette-Noor Haji, Julie Milner and Eve Cho Guillergan.Photos via campaigns

Civil Court – 1st Municipal District

Two candidates will face off for the vacancy in the Civil Court’s 1st Municipal District, which will be decided by voters living in Astoria, Long Island City, Woodside and Sunnyside.

Thomas Wright-Fernandez, who is backed by the Queens Dems, will run against Juliette-Noor Haji, a public defender and law professor, for the vacancy.

Wright-Fernandez, who serves as a member of Community Board 1 in Astoria, currently works as the principal law clerk to the Queens Supreme Court Justice Jessica Earle-Gargan, who presides over the Queens Treatment Court.

He first came to New York in 2001, as a member of the National Red Cross working as a first responder following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Wright-Fernandez graduated from the Fordham School of Law, worked as a finance attorney for some time and then opened a community-based practice focusing on immigration defense and family law in Ridgewood.

Both Wright-Fernandez and Haji have been working in the legal world for around 15 years.

Haji, a career public defender with the Legal Aid Society, graduated from the CUNY School of Law in 2009.

She went to clerk for Judge Joseph C. Cassini III in New Jersey before joining the Legal Aid Society as a criminal defense attorney. About a decade later, Haji was promoted to work as a supervising attorney for the public defense firm.

She also recently began working as a professor at the CUNY School of Law, supervising third year law students as they represent indigent clients in Queens Criminal Court as part of the school’s Defenders’ Clinic.

Civil Court – 2nd Municipal Court District

The race for the vacancy in the 2nd Municipal District, which covers parts of Western Queens, including Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Jackson Heights, Corona, Sunnyside, Woodside and parts of Forest Hills, will be between Queens Dems candidate Eve Cho Guillergan and Julie Milner, who also ran for Civil Court last year.

Guillergan, who immigrated to the U.S. with her parents when she was 12, is a graduate of Rutgers School of Law and was the first in her family to attend law school. She would also be the first Korean American and Filipino woman elected to the Civil Court bench in Queens if she proves to be successful in her bid for the court.

Guillergan has run a private practice for around 20 years and also has held various leadership positions within several bar associations, including serving as president of the Network of Bar Leaders.

Her campaign website says her “guiding principle” is that judges “must uphold honesty, integrity, and fairness – values she embodies every day.”

Milner is a civil rights attorney from Western Queens. The CUNY School of Law graduate will be making her second attempt to make it onto the bench after an unsuccessful run last year.

The Eagle reported in 2024 that an X account under Milner’s name featured a number of posts supporting issues championed by the far-right, including bans on LGBTQ+ books – which she called “filthy, pornographic smut” – in school libraries.

On at least two occasions, Milner appeared to call for the execution of President Joe Biden on her X account.

“Impeach, remove, indict, execute,” Milner tweeted twice in January 2023 in response to posts about Biden’s alleged improper handling of classified documents.

Her X account has since been made private.

Milner’s campaign website says that she “envisions a judiciary characterized by fairness, impartiality, and inclusivity.”