George Santana

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

George Santana

Democratic Party

Elections and appointments

Last election

June 24, 2025

Personal

Birthplace

New York, N.Y.

Religion

Roman Catholic

Profession

Attorney

Contact

Campaign website

George Santana (Democratic Party) ran in a special election for the Countywide District judge of the New York City Civil Court Bronx County. He lost in the special Democratic primary on June 24, 2025.

Elections

2025

See also: Municipal elections in Bronx County, New York (2025)

General election

Special general election for New York City Civil Court Bronx County

Shekera Algarin is running in the special general election for New York City Civil Court Bronx County on November 4, 2025.

		Candidate
		Shekera Algarin (D)

---

	There are no incumbents in this race.
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Special Democratic primary for New York City Civil Court Bronx County

Shekera Algarin defeated George Santana in the special Democratic primary for New York City Civil Court Bronx County on June 24, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Shekera Algarin	56.8	45,908
		George Santana	42.8	34,547
		Other/Write-in votes	0.4	318

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. Source	Total votes: 80,773
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.

2020

See also: Municipal elections in New York County, New York (2020)

General election

General election for New York City Civil Court New York County 1st Municipal Court District (2 seats)

Incumbent Carol Feinman and John Zhuo Wang won election in the general election for New York City Civil Court New York County 1st Municipal Court District on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔	Submit photo	Carol Feinman (D)	50.4	44,011
✔		John Zhuo Wang (D)	48.8	42,581
		Other/Write-in votes	0.8	676

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 87,268
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for New York City Civil Court New York County 1st Municipal Court District (2 seats)

John Zhuo Wang defeated Eric Schumacher and George Santana in the Democratic primary for New York City Civil Court New York County 1st Municipal Court District on June 23, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		John Zhuo Wang	47.0	7,473
	Submit photo	Eric Schumacher	39.6	6,292
		George Santana	13.2	2,100
		Other/Write-in votes	0.3	42

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 15,907
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Incumbent Carol Feinman advanced from the Democratic primary for New York City Civil Court New York County 1st Municipal Court District.

Endorsements

To view Santana's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

George Santana did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

George Santana completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Santana's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I am the proud son of a single mother who immigrated from Cuba, Currently, I am the Principal Court Attorney to the Supervising Judge of the New York County Civil Court. My duties include assisting the court in providing advice on a variety of issues, including both administrative and complex legal matters.

I received my bachelor's degree from the New School for Social Research and then attended CUNY Law School. After graduating from law school, I almost abandoned pursing a legal career because I went to work in non-legal jobs that gave me the flexibility of taking care of my family. After being completely away from the law for nearly nine years, I self-taught; and passed the New York State bar examination; going on to open my own law office practicing landlord/tenant law, matrimonial/family law and immigration law.

In 2013, I left my law practice when I was appointed to Governor Cuomo's then newly created Tenant Protection Unit at the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).

Being raised by a single immigrant mother has provided me a strong work ethic, the tolerance, and judgment to deal with many setbacks and adversities. These experiences and principles have allowed me to serve my community with sharpness and tact legal knowledge, coupled with fairness and understanding of New York City.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• He will brings not only honed skills, but a very distinct perspective to the bench - one with a particular understanding of the ordinary citizens that come before the courts, who need to be heard, and who depend on the court to dispense justice fairly
• he has a wonderful ability to analyze complicated legal issues and apply the law appropriately.
• He is devoted to the law and to justice.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am passionate about diversity on the bench. The Civil Court of the City of New York is commonly referred to as "The People's Court" because it is frequented and used primarily by those who do not have legal representation, usually people of color and the disenfranchised. The Manhattan Civil Court bench is composed of 50 elected judges, of which, only 4 are Latinos; despite the fact that Latinos account for approximately 27% of Manhattan's population of approximately 1.8 million inhabitants.

It is crucial to the City's long term viability to have a culturally diverse bench which can understand different perspectives.

Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow, and why?

As a person who was raised and exposed to strong resilient women, I appreciate and respect what women have and continue to accomplish. They are the ones who raise us, care for us, discipline us, show us love and lay the foundation of who and what we are to become.

While I generally do not look up to one specific person, within the larger group of women I look up to my mother. Although she was an uneducated cleaning lady, she had the fortitude and the strength to raise me, and educate me. My mother refused to accept failure and refused to accept that we were not capable of reaching our goals.

I admire her for her tenacity because without it, I would not be completing this questionnaire.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

I have the necessary temperament that allows a lawyer to be firm yet fair; impartial yet open minded; consistent yet compassionate; an academic but with common sense. I can deal with the broad scope of issues that brings me into contact with litigants affording everyone to maintain their dignity throughout the process. have knowledge of the law, but even more importantly, knowledge of "real life", and have the ability to navigate these situations skillfully on a constantly changing day to day basis.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

Judges should be prepared to take the bench at the start of the business day and put in a full day's work. The public has the right to expect a judge who is willing to
understand the issues and take them into account when hearing the story of a case. This is a skill that is not always (even rarely) seen in the courtroom. It requires experience and an understanding of the reality of a case that is not gained only through the law but through life experience.

What is your favorite book? Why?

"The Name of the Rose" by Umberto Eco. He can describe the smallest of details quite vividly giving the reader the ability to close their eyes and actually see the setting.

If you could be any fictional character, who would you want to be?

Macgyver

What was the last song that got stuck in your head?

"Ni un Ya No Estas" written by Cuban composer Alberto Tosca and made famous by Internationally acclaimed jazz singer Xiomara Laugart.

Is there a particular judge, past or present, whom you admire?

I admire Justice Thurgood Marshall and could only aspire to someday be considered a fraction of the person he was considered.

Justice Marshall was always cognizant of his humble origins and with a keen sense of humor had the amazing ability to not permit others to sweep racism and inequity under the rug. He was a great example and reminder of everything that is great in this country, all while remaining humble.

Justice Marshall and his written work are a constant reminder and blue print for humility and kindness to all regardless of class, gender, and socio-economic background.

Do you believe that empathy is an important quality for a judge?

Being well versed in the law and handling cases in a timely manner are the hallmark of a good judge. However, what distinguishes a good judge from an excellent one is his or her sense of empathy.

Judges who understand and appreciate the complexities of people' lives are better equipped to render life changing decisions without stripping litigants of their dignity.

Have you ever been rated by a Bar Association? If so, what was the rating?

No

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2025 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

Search Google News for this topic

Candidate

New York City Civil Court Bronx County

Website

Footnotes

New York courts

---

Federal courts:

Second Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of New York, Western District of New York, Northern District of New York, Southern District of New York

State courts:

New York Court of Appeals • New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division • New York Supreme Court • New York County Courts • New York City Courts • New York Town and Village Courts • New York Family Courts • New York Surrogates' Courts • New York City Civil Court • New York City Criminal Courts • New York Court of Claims • New York Problem Solving Courts

State resources:

Courts in New York • New York judicial elections • Judicial selection in New York