On June 25, 2014, longtime chairman Phil Ragusa died in office at the age of 74 from
Leukemia.
Scandals around George Santos, Eric Ulrich and Dan Halloran Malcolm Smith bribery scandal On April 2, 2013, the party's vice-chairman, Vincent Tabone, pleaded guilty to accepting a bribe for the Queens Republican Party to endorse Democrat
Malcolm Smith so that he could appear as a Republican on the ballot for the
2013 New York City mayoral election. Tabone was placed under additional scrutiny compared to the others arrested, due to the fact he was on the payroll of
John Catsimatidis, both as an attorney for his grocery store, and as a campaign advisor, earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from Catsimatidis. He was also caught on with a wiretap by the
FBI saying "I run the Queens County Republican Party," he told an undercover informant. "Nobody else runs the party."
2017 election During the
2017 New York City Council election, the Queens Republican party narrowly won an upset with
Robert Holden flipping a Democratic Seat during what
The New York Times assessed should've been a wave year for the Democratic party. Holden's victory, despite running on the behalf of the Queens Republican Party, and appearing as a Republican on the ballot, did not result in a change to the city council's composition, as Holden would caucus as a Democrat, the party for which he is personally registered as. This contributed to the growing distrust between the party's leadership and pro-Trump party members, who decried the nomination of Holden.
2018 election During the
2018 New York State Senate election there was an insurgency in the party over the candidacy for the
11th district. The party endorsed and supported Simon Minching over
Vickie Paladino, who decried the bias stating the party should not endorse a candidate until after the primaries. Paladino claimed that the party was scared of her over her publicity, which she gained by personally flying to
Germany to berate mayor
Bill De Blasio at a protest after a
NYPD cop was killed. Paladino would win the primary, but lose in the general election, due a split ballot with
Tony Avella.
2019 party infighting Since the election of
Donald Trump in the
2016 United States presidential election, the Queens Republican Party has had a dicey relationship with Trump and his policies. Most of the party's executives and committee members are part of the
Never Trump movement, which has allowed them to continue to count on the votes of moderate and centrist Democrats and independents in elections. However, the more active campaigners, district leaders, and neighborhood organizers, are adamantly pro-Trump, and have been leading an insurgency against party leadership which came to a head in 2019 when the sought to challenge chairwoman
Joann Ariola in a leadership election. The effort would fail as the
Republican Patriot faction failed to gather the 500 signatures needed for the vote, getting only 452.
2020 election During the 2020 election for Queens County District Attorney, and
Borough President, serious fractures would emerge in the party. The first would be between the more liberal party leadership, led by
Joann Ariola, who nominated Joe Murray, a registered Democrat, for DA. Ariola argued that if the party sought to win a significant number of seats in the future, they would need to attract more voters, and moderate Democrats uncomfortable with their party's progressive bent would be their prime demographic to shift. The party has also sought to improve their presence in the Boroughs Asian-American and Caribbean-American population as opposed to its largely white voter base. In order to mend the divide, Ariola promised to not run for Borough President, or
Eric Ulrich's sole republican seat in the city council. The Republicans would lose both the Borough President and DA race. During the
2020 United States presidential election, the party's sole elected official, Eric Ulrich, a member of the
Never Trump movement, gained headlines when he reversed on his position and stated that he would be voting for Trump in the election. His district, and the borough as a whole, has been a hotbed of the movement, and he stated that the fact he wasn't up for re-election was one of the factors for his reversal.
2021 election Going into the
2021 New York City Council election, the Queens County Republican Party had only a single seat,
the 32nd district, being held by
Eric Ulrich who was barred from running again due to term limits.
Joann Ariola, the Queens County Republican chairwoman announced that she would be running for the seat to keep it in Republican hands after previously promising not to do so, arguing that there was not suitable candidate besides herself. The 32nd district has been described as one of the "loneliest" in the city council by
The New York Times, due to it being one of just two held by Republicans that wasn't in
Staten Island. Ariola faced off against progressive candidate Felicia Singh, a middle school teacher, and Kenichi Wilson, an independent. During the election, the Queens County Republican Party maintained a
Socially Liberal party line, angering many of the more conservative members of the party. When the party establishment refused calls to back election reform to increase transparency, the insurgents split to form the
Queens County Republican Patriots, led by Daniel Maio, and ran their own slate of candidates. However, the
Queens Supreme Court would strike down their candidates, due to them filing past the deadline. The party's candidate for the
24th district, Philip Grillo, was arrested by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation due to his role in the
January 6 United States Capitol attack and was released on a $100,000 bond. The move shocked the party's leadership, as Grillo was an active member of the party's moderate wing, and worked with Eric Ulrich to “push back against the kooky wing of the party.”
2022 election During the
2022 United States House of Representatives elections in New York,
George Santos was elected to the
3rd district, representing parts of Queens, and
Nassau counties. However, it would be revealed after the election that Santos made
false biographical statements. Chairman Tony Nunziato would not join with his Nassau county counterparts to demand Santos' resignation, instead stating "Show me that he did something illegal", insisting that he will not call for Santos' resignation until criminal prosecution was brought against him. Nunziato recommended that Santos run for the seat, albeit "not enthusiastically." However, one of the party's councilwomen and former chairwomen,
Joann Ariola, would join the calls for his resignation, stating that "he should resign so that we can continue to move forward." Meanwhile,
Vickie Paladino, whose council district overlaps with Santos' section of Queens, has refrained from commenting on resignation, but stated the false biography was "disappointing."
2023 election Councilwoman
Vickie Paladino faced a concerted Democratic challenge for her seat, with the
Queens County Democratic Party sinking much of their camping resources in unseating her. One of the candidates was
Tony Avella, who split the ballot of Paladino's failed
2018 New York State Senate election bid, and hoped again to draw moderate Republicans away from her. ==Elected officials==