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.

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.

[11] 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.

[13] 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.

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.

[17] 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.”[18] 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.

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.

One of the candidates is Tony Avella, who split the ballot of her failed 2018 New York State Senate election bid, and is once again hoping to draw moderate Republicans away from her.