Today is Primary Day, and polls will be open in New York from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can find your polling site, review a sample ballot, confirm your registration status, and see other election-related information at vote.nyc. Outside New York City, visit voterlookup.elections.ny.gov.
We're excited to have endorsed 16 excellent candidates for New York State Senate and Assembly, including nine who have contested primary races. The nine candidates we've endorsed who appear on the ballot today are running in races in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and in a first for us, upstate New York. You can read more about each of them, including important aspects of their records and platforms on street safety and transportation, below. Candidates are listed by legislative body, and in ascending order by district number. You can find information on all 16 of our endorsees here, and we do anticipate making a number of additional endorsements in advance of November's general election. Stay tuned for that.
Turnout in the absence of a contested Presidential or statewide primary is expected to be low, so your vote for a candidate committed to making streets safer and calmer and public transit more reliable and efficient can truly make a difference. Please make a plan to get to the polls, and don't forget that as long as you're in the queue to vote by 9 p.m., you can't be turned away.
Lastly, there were two races in which we interviewed multiple candidates but were unable to come to consensus around an endorsement, which was due to their across-the-board good positions on the issues on which StreetsPAC is focused. We offer a bit more detail about those races at the end.
If you live in one of the nine districts in which we have made an endorsement, we urge you to vote for the StreetsPAC slate!
State Senate
Kristen Gonzalez, 59th State Senate District, Brooklyn, Manhattan & Queens (Incumbent) – Kristen Gonzalez handily won her Senate seat in 2022 with StreetsPAC's endorsement, which she earned by expressing a strong commitment to public transit and street safety, causes on which she's delivered during her first term in office. She has been a staunch supporter of the campaign to redesign McGuinness Boulevard, a position that has earned her a primary challenger backed by opponents of the proposed road diet. Last year, she collaborated with colleagues in the Assembly and City Council, and advocates, to develop the Western Queens Street Safety Plan. Senator Gonzalez continues to be a proponent of the MTA's free-bus pilot, while remaining committed to advocating for expansion of bus and subway service across the city. And along with her fellow State Senate endorsees, she has stood strong in opposition to Governor Hochul's attempts to sideline congestion pricing.
State Assembly: Queens | Brooklyn | Manhattan | Bronx | Upstate New York
Jessica González-Rojas, 34th Assembly District, Queens (Incumbent) – Assemblymember González-Rojas won her seat in 2020 with StreetsPAC's support. During her initial term, she introduced and led the passage in the Assembly of the MTA Bike Access bill, which became law in 2021 and mandates the creation of a strategic plan to facilitate access to the MTA's bridges and stations. She has continued to advocate for the redesign of dangerous Northern Boulevard with dedicated, separated spaces for buses and bikes, and was a vociferous proponent of the passage of Sammy's Law, working her Assembly colleagues hard to include it in this year's budget. Assemblymember González-Rojas has also been one of the major champions of the 34th Avenue Open Street, a position that has landed her a challenger in the Democratic primary. Like a number of our endorsees, she has stood resolutely in support of the timely implementation of congestion pricing.
Claire Valdez, 37th Assembly District, Queens (Challenger) – Claire Valdez, a union organizer and Democratic Socialist, is challenging incumbent Juan Ardila for this western Queens Assembly seat. Valdez is running on a broadly progressive agenda that includes a detailed transportation and street-safety platform, and if elected, would join several DSA-backed legislators in Albany who have emerged as champions of public transit and calmer, more accessible streets. She rides the bus almost every day, and supports the long-term vision of the QueensLink campaign to restore passenger service on the Long Island Railroad's Lower Montauk branch. Valdez has been a ubiquitous presence at safe-streets rallies and protests from the first days of her campaign, and is committed to pushing for comprehensive infrastructure improvements, including protected bike lanes and daylighting. Assemblymember Ardila, whom we endorsed in 2022, did not return our questionnaire; to his credit, he has been outspokenly opposed to the Governor's congestion pricing flip-flop. Johanna Carmona, who's also running for the seat with significant institutional support, did submit thoughtful questionnaire responses, but too far past our deadline for interviews. All that said, we believe strongly that Claire Valdez is the best choice for voters in the 37th Assembly District.
Emily Gallagher, 50th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Emily Gallagher, who first won her seat in the Assembly in 2020, has more than delivered on the promises that secured our endorsement as an outsider candidate taking on a 48-year incumbent. A member of the Assembly's Transportation Committee, she has championed street-safety projects that include the redesign of dangerous McGuinness Boulevard, which has earned her the ire of road-diet opponents who recruited and fund her primary challenger. She's been a strong advocate for Open Streets, and organized a rapid-response rally among her Assembly colleagues in the wake of the Governor's congestion pricing announcement. Assemblymember Gallagher has also teamed with Senator Gounardes to introduce a bill requiring the installation of speed-limiting technology in the vehicles of drivers with significant numbers of dangerous driving violations, which they hope to pass in 2025. She's been beating the drum for robust transportation accommodations during this summer's planned G train shutdown, and is supportive of significant reform of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Jo Anne Simon, 52nd Assembly District, Brooklyn (Incumbent) – Jo Anne Simon is running for her sixth term in the Assembly, and has won StreetsPAC's backing several times during her tenure in Albany. She's a member of the Assembly's Transportation Committee, and her name regularly appears as a sponsor on legislation crucial to improving both the safety of streets and the efficacy of public transit. Assemblymember Simon just introduced a bill that would prohibit New York City from opting out of the state's daylighting law, carries legislation that would reduce the legal blood-alcohol level for DUI infractions, and continues to lobby the MTA for restoration of the discontinued B71 bus route as well as the creation of a bus route connecting Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood with Lower Manhattan. The Assemblymember's primary opponent, Scott Budow, impressed us with his interest in transportation issues, but Jo Anne Simon has earned the support of voters with her strong track record.
Eon Tyrell Huntley, 56th Assembly District, Brooklyn (Challenger) – Eon Tyrell Huntley, a retail worker, union organizer, PTA president, and Democratic Socialist, is challenging incumbent Stefani Zinerman in the primary for this central Brooklyn Assembly District. A regular subway commuter who doesn't have a driver's license, Huntley is deeply committed to advocating for straphangers by pushing for better buses, including dedicated busways and expanded free routes, and more reliable subway service. As the father of two young daughters, he's acutely aware of the importance of safe streets, and supports getting there through better street design, including intersection improvements and implementation of protected bike lanes.
Maria Ordoñez, 70th Assembly District, Manhattan (Open Seat) – Maria Ordoñez first came to our attention in 2021, when she ran a highly competitive race for City Council while still an undergraduate at Columbia University, finishing second in a crowded field. A tenant organizer and Democratic State Committee member, she's running on a broadly progressive platform that embraces the importance of better transportation policies. For public transit, that means a commitment to fare-free and more reliable buses, improved station accessibility, and clean and accessible bathrooms. Where street design is concerned, Ordoñez supports expanding the bike network, getting trash off the sidewalks and into curbside containers, and more Open Streets.
Jonathan Soto, 82nd Assembly District, Bronx (Challenger) – Jonathan Soto, a former staffer for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a background in law and urban planning whom we endorsed in 2022, is mounting a repeat challenge against incumbent Assemblymember Michael Benedetto, who's represented this East Bronx district for two decades. Soto remains concerned with the area's too-often "dangerous" car culture, which he says has only gotten worse, and wants to make it much easier, and safer, for residents to get around without driving. He's supportive of the nascent movement to improve cycling conditions in the district with better infrastructure, and says there's a clear need to improve bus service, which is too infrequent and slow.
Chloe Pierce, 107th Assembly District, Rensselaer, Washington & Columbia Counties (Challenger) – Chloe Pierce, a lifelong resident of the state's Capital Region, is running in the Democratic primary for the 107th Assembly District. A lobbyist who has represented the New York State Nurses Association and companies in the clean-energy sector, she's been involved in public service since she was a child. Though much of Rensselaer County is rural, there's growing advocacy in towns like Bethlehem for better bike infrastructure, which Pierce supports. While there are local concerns around traffic safety, especially speeding, she believes the primary transportation issue in the district is the need for better public transit, especially to connect residents with health care facilities. She's also expressed interest in working to improve the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.
A Note on Two Additional Races
4th Assembly District, Suffolk County – Both candidates running in the Democratic primary in Long Island's 4th Assembly District, covering Port Jefferson, Stony Brook and Brookhaven, completed our questionnaire and participated in interviews – and both impressed us.
Skyler Johnson is an advocate for overdose prevention and women's health issues who ran for State Senate in 2022, and Rebecca Kassay is an elected Trustee and Deputy Mayor of Port Jefferson Village.
We were ultimately unable to choose between the two, and believe 4th District primary voters will have a difficult choice to make, as well. We anticipate supporting the winner of the primary in November's general election.
69th Assembly District, Manhattan – Three well qualified candidates vying to succeed the retiring Danny O'Donnell completed our questionnaire and met with us for interviews, but after much deliberation, we were unable to come to consensus on an endorsement.
Those candidates are Micah Lasher, who has many years of experience in government, most recently as Policy Director for Governor Hochul, and whom we endorsed when he ran for State Senate in 2016; Eli Northrup, a public defender and criminal-justice reform advocate; and Melissa Rosenberg, a member of Community Board 7 and housing advocate.
Any of the three would be a strong ally on transportation and street-safety issues, and the voters of the 69th District are fortunate to have a cadre of attractive candidates from whom to choose. We anticipate supporting the primary winner in November's general election.
