With petitioning around the corner for elections this fall, an image of the Queens political landscape has begun to take shape.

Two Assembly seats in Northern Queens will not have incumbents vying for their own seats, drawing attention from a host of candidates. Even longtime elected officials will face opposition from a few upstarts launching underdog campaigns.

Before this election season gets kicked off, the Queens Tribune wanted to provide a quick recap of all the contested races in the borough. Below you’ll find an overview of the races as we head into what promises to be a very interesting summer.

22nd Assembly Race

When Assemblyman Jimmy Meng (D-Flushing) announced he would retire at the end of his first term, it opened the door to a hotly contested race in the Democratic primary. With such a diverse district, the candidates – two Chinese, one Korean and a Caucasian – are fighting to solidify a base of support from their ethnic constituencies while broadening their appeal to a larger cross section of the population.

The two Chinese candidates – Ellen Young and Grace Meng – both have strong political clout outside their ethnic identities.

Young recently won support from the Democratic machine, picking up the endorsement of her former boss Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing) and the Queens County party. The endorsement puts campaign funds and volunteers instantly at her fingertips.

But Meng has an entrée into the business community established by her Assemblyman father, who can raise money and influence independent of traditional political avenues. Campaign manager Corey Bearak said recently that the campaign would have no problem raising enough funds to be competitive.

Terence Park, a district leader, said that his Korean heritage would not be the deciding factor in his campaign, but rather his ability to draw voters from other communities. Although he would not receive the Chinese vote, he believed the split between two popular candidates would minimize the influence of that block.

To be competitive, Park estimates a candidate will need roughly 3,000 votes out of the 25,000 registered Democrats, of which 8,750 are Asian, 6,250 are White, 5,000 are Hispanic and 3,750 are Black. Considering voter turnout, no single group likely will be influential enough to produce a victory.

“My goal is to meet every constituent. I’ll meet as many as possible to win 3,000 hearts,” Park said. “That will consist mainly of the mainstream non-Asian community, but I’ll also give my best ability to get Asian votes if possible.”

The wildcard in the race is former councilwoman Julia Harrison, who has made inroads in recent years to rehabilitate a political image once tarnished comments labeled as racist. A 1996 front-page article in the New York Times quoted several anti-Asian remarks from Harrison, forcing her to issue a public apology.

The only candidate in the field to have previously held public office, Harrison still commands respect among the old guard of the community and even some influential Asian leaders. District leader Ethel Chen, who belongs to the Democrats of Flushing, a club aligned with Harrison, said the former councilwoman was both qualified and committed to encouraging the diversity of the neighborhood. Those qualities could be enough to win an election, she said.

“We support her, because it doesn’t matter if you are black or white, a black cat or a white cat, as long as you can catch the mouse.”

25th Assembly District

Unlike Jimmy Meng, whose departure had been quietly expected for months, Brian McLaughlin’s (D-Flushing) decision to retire struck the political world by surprise – more surprising, some insiders said, than the subsequent FBI raid on his Assembly and Labor offices.

The names of a handful of successors circulated around the district, but months later, two candidates have emerged: District Leader Rory Lancman and community activist Morshed Alam.

Lancman’s campaign has been working on all cylinders, racking up endorsements and canvassing the district one door at a time. He became the official county candidate last week, winning support not only from the Queens Democrats but also former borough president Claire Shulman.

“I will out-work and out-hustle anyone else,” Lancman said of his campaign. “At the end of the day, you put together quality and quantity, and that’s a good combination.”

A member of Community Board 6 and Queens Hospital Center, Lancman said the contacts he established during years of civic service made it surprisingly easy to develop a campaign. It was simply a matter of reaching out and asking for support, he said.

But Alam, a former city employee and state Senate candidate, believes his support in the community exceeds Lancman’s. While both men have run against Republican state Sen. Frank Padavan, Alam likes to mention he received five more percentage points than Lancman during his race.

Since those races, Alam actually has developed a relationship with Padavan, which recently translated into an official nomination from the Queens Republican Party. If Alam loses to Lancman in the primary, therefore, he can run against him again in the general election on the Republican ballot line.

“I didn’t think about it yet. I’m thinking about it one race at a time,” Alam said. “My strength is people and getting their support. I have a technique to get them out to vote, and that’s more important than who supports you and who doesn’t.”

11th Senate District

Padavan will face his own challenge from the Democratic side of the ballot, with two candidates competing for the chance to take on the 34-year incumbent.

Tom Cooke, a disabled army veteran, had already declared his intention to take on Padavan two months ago, promising to run on a platform of fiscal conservativeness and government reform. Paralyzed from the chest down, Cooke believes voters will respond well to the courage it takes to deal with his condition.

But another candidate, Nora Marino, a member of the Jefferson Democratic Club, has decided to toss her name into the pool as well. She is a retired JAG officer in the Navy who has been involved in local politics for years, according to James Wrynn, president of the club.

Marino received the nod from the Queens Democrats last week, and she plans to kick off her campaign publicly sometime in the next two weeks, Wrynn said.

“Padavan is [beatable]. She’s a good alternative to the senator,” Wrynn said. “He’s been in there for quite a while, and she’s got a lot of new ideas. She’s an extremely capable individual.”

Wrynn added that Cooke and Marino might join forces to fight Padavan instead of wasting their resources on each other, but that agreement has yet to be confirmed.

23rd Assembly District

Republicans are planning their own challenge of a well-established incumbent, Audrey Pheffer (D-Rockaway Beach). Stu Mirsky, a former Giuliani operative and aspiring novelist, has put together an unlikely coalition of Republicans and Conservatives to mount an offensive against the 20-year incumbent.

The Republican Party had fractured in Southern Queens after an attempted leadership coup failed, but Mirsky has rallied the party to support him, gaining their official designation last week. He believes Pheffer could be vulnerable, despite having a 3:1 advantage in registered voters.

“I want to offer voters a real choice,” he said, “one that promises a restoration of fiscal responsibility in Albany while reducing the intrusiveness of government that hamstrings our economic vitality.”

The Race That Wasn’t

Queens Democratic Party sources said that City Councilman Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) would not take on Republican chairman Serf Maltese (R-Glendale) for his State Senate seat.

Mayor Bloomberg had promised Addabbo several million in campaign funds if he decided to run, presumably meant as a warning shot off the bow of Albany power brokers to provide more money to the City.

At the time, Addabbo said he was on the fence about the possibility – even setting up an exploratory committee to looking into it – but now it appears he has decided to stay in the Council. Addabbo did not return calls to confirm his decision.

The Race That Might Be

Rumors have been circulating for several weeks that City Councilman Hiram Monserrate (D-Corona) would challenge Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) in a Democratic primary. Some sources say Monserrate has committed to running, while others say he hasn’t.

When asked about the possibility, Monserrate said he was considering it, and he would make a decision shortly (just how shortly, he wouldn’t say). He said he was committed to helping his constituents no matter what office he holds.

Sabini’s office had little to say about the challenge. “No matter who the opponent is, we are confident that Sen. Sabini’s record in government and strong outreach to all groups in the district will be recognized by the voters and proved at the polls,” said spokesman Shams Tarek.