Juan Ardila

From 2015 to 2017, Ardila served as the office manager and scheduler for City Councilman Brad Lander.^[3] He was also a youth tutor for the International Rescue Committee. From 2017 to 2019, he served as an expansion consultant for the New York City Department of Education. In 2019, he joined the Legal Aid Society as a program coordinator.^[4]

Ardila ran for New York City Council in the 30th district in 2021. He ran on a progressive platform and sought to represent the district's growing Latino population, earning him endorsements from Queens elected officials including Mike Gianaris, Jessica Ramos, Donovan Richards, Jimmy Van Bramer, and the Working Families Party.^[5] In April 2021, the New York Post published an article chronicling numerous homophobic and racist derogatory comments and slurs made by Ardila on Facebook while in high school from 2009 to 2011.^[6] Ardila apologized the next day and said he regretted making the comments.^[7]

He was defeated by incumbent Robert Holden, a conservative Democrat who originally won on the Republican ballot line, in the primary with 45% of the vote.^[8]

Ardila was elected to the New York State Assembly in 2022.^[9]

In March 2023, Ardila was accused of having sexually assaulted two women in 2015.^[10] Governor Kathy Hochul and others responded by calling on Ardila to resign from the Assembly.^[11][10] Ardila initially apologized for his conduct, but later released a 34-page report stating that his behavior on the evening in question had been entirely consensual.^[12][13][14]

In his bid for re-election in 2024, Ardila placed third in the Democratic primary with 9.7% of the vote behind eventual winner Claire Valdez and Johanna Carmona.^[1]