NYC-CC19: Benjamin Chou secures Democratic nod in District 19, takes on GOP incumbent Vickie Paladino this fall
Benjamin Chou, a 33-year-old active-duty firefighter and lifelong northeast Queens resident, secured the Democratic nomination in Tuesday’s primary for New York City Council’s 19th District, according to unofficial results from the Board of Elections.
With approximately 95% of scanners reporting, Chou earned 7,232 votes—67.12% of the total—while challenger Alexander J. Caruso garnered 3,479 votes (32.29%). A total of 64 write-in ballots were recorded.
Chou, born in Flushing to Chinese-Burmese immigrant parents and raised in Douglaston, is a Bronx Science and Queens College graduate who earned a master’s degree from Baruch College. He joined the FDNY in 2014 and currently serves as president of its Phoenix Society, an organization supporting AAPI firefighters. He campaigned as a community-first outsider motivated by faith and civic duty, with an emphasis on affordability, public safety, constituent services and rebuilding trust in City Hall.
“What inspired me to run was that after years of seeing people on their worst day, just seeing how you can affect policy and change, and you can do a lot more preventative [work], that’s kind of an avenue that I felt like I could do some good in to explore,” Chou said.
https://qns.com/2025/06/benjamin-chou-wins-primary-19th-council-district/