The Full Record

NY State Senate · District 12

Western and Northwestern Queens, including Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights and parts of Elmhurst.

General election · Tuesday, November 3, 2026

✓ Fact-checked 2026-09-25: 27 claims re-checked against their sources · 2 corrected · 0 removed

A second, independent research pass re-opened every cited source for this race and corrected or removed anything the source didn’t support.

  • Fixed mis-citation: the priority and position claiming Kawas supports creating a New York State Social Housing Development Authority cited the Democracy Now interview (s3), which never mentions housing; corrected the citation to her campaign platform page (s2), which does.
  • Corrected background item: Kawas co-developed the 'Not On Our Dime' campaign/bill with Zohran Mamdani when he was 'then-Assemblymember' (per the Democracy Now interview transcript), not 'then-mayoral candidate' as previously written; added the Democracy Now source alongside the campaign site.
  • Added a corroborating source (QNS 2024 forum article) to Han Khon To's phlebotomist and prior-races background claims, which were previously sourced only to an Our Campaigns page that could not be loaded (Cloudflare/garbled response) to verify directly.
  • All other claims (background, priorities, positions, quotes, primary vote totals, ballot slate) verified verbatim against their cited sources.

On the ballot · 2 candidates

Aber KawasDHan Khon ToR

Where they stand — side by side

Only positions documented in a cited source are shown. Where an officeholder’s recorded votes speak to an issue, the votes set the position (marked “votes”). A dash means we found no clear public position — not that the candidate has none.

ISSUEAber Kawas
D
Han Khon To
R
Expand immigration enforcement and deportationsOpposes[2][3]Supports[5]
Loosen zoning rules to build more housingSupports[2]—
Raise taxes on high earners or corporationsSupports[2]—
Expand public health coverageSupports[3]—
Faster transition away from fossil fuelsSupports[2]Opposes[5]
Increase police funding and staffing—Supports[5]
Continue U.S. military aid to IsraelOpposes[2]—

The candidates, in full

Aber Kawas

D

Won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary

Aber Kawas is a longtime Queens community organizer and the Democratic nominee for the open NY State Senate District 12 seat, running on a platform of affordable housing, universal healthcare, immigration reform and public transit expansion.[2][3]

Positions on the issues

  • SupportsLoosen zoning rules to build more housing

    Supports creating a New York State Social Housing Development Authority to build more low- and moderate-income housing.[2]

  • SupportsExpand public health coverage

    Campaigns on universal healthcare as a core priority.[3]

  • OpposesExpand immigration enforcement and deportations

    Campaigns on protecting immigrants and immigration reform, drawing on her own family's experience with ICE detention and deportation.[2][3]

  • SupportsFaster transition away from fossil fuels

    Lists stopping climate change among her campaign's core priorities.[2]

  • SupportsRaise taxes on high earners or corporations

    Supports taxing the wealthy as part of her campaign platform.[2]

  • OpposesContinue U.S. military aid to Israel

    Co-developed a campaign opposing nonprofit funding of Israeli military operations and campaigns on ending war funding.[2]

In their words — priorities

  • Supports establishing a New York State Social Housing Development Authority as her primary legislative vehicle for building more low- and moderate-income housing statewide.[2]
  • Campaigns on affordable housing, universal healthcare, immigration reform, expanded public transit and climate action.[3]
  • Campaign platform names "Fund Dignity" priorities of healthcare for all, fast and reliable transit, and affordable housing.[2]
  • Campaign platform names "Fight Destruction" priorities of stopping climate change, ending war funding, and protecting immigrants.[2]
  • Supports raising taxes on the wealthy to fund state programs, describing this as central to her legislative agenda.[2]

Background

  • Daughter of Palestinian refugees, born and raised in a working-class family in New York City; her father was detained and deported by ICE during her childhood.[2][3]
  • Has over 15 years of community organizing experience, including work on the Fight for $15 minimum-wage campaign, police-surveillance accountability efforts, and immigration reform.[2]
  • Co-developed the "Not On Our Dime" campaign, which opposes nonprofit funding of Israeli military operations, alongside then-Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani.[2][3]
  • This is her first campaign for elected office.[2]
Shareable profile page

Han Khon To

R

Han Khon To is the Republican candidate for the open NY State Senate District 12 seat. A Vietnamese-born refugee and phlebotomist, he previously ran for this seat in 2024, losing to Michael Gianaris, and for State Assembly District 35 in 2020.[4][1][5]

Basic profile — the most important sourced facts we found.

Positions on the issues

  • OpposesFaster transition away from fossil fuels

    Opposes a transition that relies solely on solar energy, favoring continued reliance on gas-powered energy alongside it.[5]

    “I will issue more licenses for gas stations, and we need more power than to only depend on solar systems in your house or in the car. I want to maintain the balance.”
  • SupportsExpand immigration enforcement and deportations

    Supports deportation of undocumented immigrants, per campaign materials distributed at a 2024 forum.[5]

  • SupportsIncrease police funding and staffing

    Supports increased funding for law enforcement, per campaign materials distributed at a 2024 forum.[5]

In their words — priorities

  • Opposes relying solely on solar energy for power and supports continued availability of gas stations, saying at a candidate forum: "I will issue more licenses for gas stations, and we need more power than to only depend on solar systems in your house or in the car. I want to maintain the balance."[5]
  • Supports increased funding for law enforcement and deportation of undocumented immigrants, according to campaign materials distributed at a 2024 candidate forum.[5]

Background

  • Arrived in New York City as a refugee from Vietnam in 1980.[4]
  • Works as a phlebotomist at Kings County Hospital.[4][5]
  • Previously ran for NY State Senate District 12 in 2024, losing to incumbent Michael Gianaris, and for NY State Assembly District 35 in 2020.[1][5]
Shareable profile page

Research notes & limits

Han Khon To has no known campaign website or Ballotpedia Candidate Connection response for 2026; his positions here are drawn from a 2024 candidate forum (same seat) and background from a candidate-tracking site, the best sources found.

Sources · 5

Researched 2026-09-25. Green citations are official government records.

  1. 1.New York State Senate District 12 · Ballotpedia · 2026-09-25 Reference
  2. 2.Aber Kawas for State Senate | District 12 · Aber Kawas campaign Candidate's own words
  3. 3.Meet Aber Kawas, DSA-Backed Palestinian American Who Won New York State Senate Primary · Democracy Now! · 2026-06-30 News report
  4. 4.Candidate - Han-Khon To · Our Campaigns Reference
  5. 5.Republican candidates vie against Democratic incumbents at Ridgewood election forum · QNS · 2024-10 News report