New York inspired the nation last year by electing Zohran Mamdani as New York City’s next Mayor – a young, socialist, Muslim Assemblymember who effectively tied the need for climate action to the affordability crisis and stood up to Donald Trump. Nonetheless, Governor Hochul just finalized a budget that deeply cuts the state’s climate goals which the state was already falling behind on. In a state that should lead the nation on climate, New York needs leaders who will demand action and funding to act on climate, tackle the affordability crisis during ever-rising gas prices by rapidly transitioning to clean energy, and take on the state’s corrupt corporate utilities. We’re backing:

David Orkin for Assembly District 38: Orkin is an immigrant workers’ rights attorney and union organizer in Queens who will fight in Albany to shut down the polluting fossil fuel peaker plants in New York City, transition them into clean energy industry hubs, and provide a supportive pathway for the workers there to transition into good-paying clean energy jobs. In particular, he will fight to finally implement Cap-and-Invest, which will provide billions of dollars in clean energy investments to classified disadvantaged communities in his district. 

Christian Celeste Tate for Assembly District 54: Tate is a Brooklyn organizer who helped elect Zohran Mamdani as his campaign’s East Brooklyn Field Coordinator, and organized with the East NY Community Land Trust and NY Communities for Change to keep neighbors housed and pass policies to freeze the rent. He also worked with the No NBK Pipeline Alliance to successfully limit National Grid’s fracked gas pipeline in North Brooklyn. As the city’s energy monopolies raise rates again, he’ll fight back in office against the fossil fuel lobby, build public power through the New York Power Authority, and demand green infrastructure and environmental remediation. 

Maurice Brown for State Assembly District 129: A veteran and student advisor at Onondaga Community College, ​​Brown first got involved in politics through Bernie Sander’s 2016 presidential campaign and has since organized with the Working Families Party. If elected, he’d ensure New York leads on climate by voting to block new fossil fuel infrastructure and advancing legislation that moves the state toward a fully renewable energy economy.

Phara Souffrant Forrest for State Assembly District 57: Before being elected to the Assembly, Souffrant Forrest was a maternal child field nurse and president of her building’s tenant association during which the fight to pass the Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act inspired her to run for office. She has been a major champion of the Build Public Renewables and All-Electric Buildings Acts, and currently cosponsors legislation to center public investments in renewable energy projects in disadvantaged communities.

Adam Bojak for Assembly District 149: For almost a decade, Bojak has represented everyday Western New Yorkers in the courtroom as a Family Court and housing rights attorney where he’s provided free legal housing services and represented tenants facing legal disputes with their landlord. If elected, he’ll fight to ensure the state actually funds and implements its landmark climate legislation like the CLCPA.

Eon Huntley for Assembly District 56: Huntley has represented his Brooklyn community as a bargaining representative for his retail union, and as the PTA president for his daughter’s school. If elected, he’ll focus on fully funding and implementing the Build Public Renewables Act, passing the NY HEAT Act, passing the Climate Superfund Bill, and investing in climate resiliency and renewable energy especially in frontline Black, brown, and low-income communities.

Aber Kawas for State Senate District 12: For more than 15 years, Kawas has led community organizing efforts in Queens like the Fight for 15 to raise the minimum wage and campaigns to counter police surveillance and harassment. If elected, she’ll use public funds through the Building Public Renewables Act to supercharge the clean energy transition, take on corporate utilities by fighting ConEd and National Grid, freeze electric rates, and expand the work to get homes off fossil fuels by financially supporting home and apartment owners trying to comply with new building electrification rules. 

Brian Romero for Assembly District 34: Romero grew up in the district he is running for and has given back to his community by serving as chief of staff to the Assembly offices of both Representatives Jessica González-Rojas and Kristen Gonzalez. He wants to take that experience to fight for a statewide data center moratorium, protect funding for the state’s hard fought climate programs, and tackle major environmental justice issues in the state like Astoria’s “asthma alley”.

Yuh-Line Niou for Senate District 27: As a State Assembly member, Niou championed tenant protections that keep working families in their homes, advanced consumer protections to protect New Yorkers from predatory practices, and was an early critic of Andrew Cuomo’s culture of fear and consolidation of power. If elected to the Senate, she’ll lead the fight to protect New York’s investments in climate action and ensure the state gets back on track to transition to 100% clean energy. 

Kristen Gonzalez for Senate District 59: A former community organizer and tech worker, Gonzalez was part of the organizing that stopped the NRG and Danskammer fracked gas plants in New York and led to the passage of a historic public power bill. She has been a champion for the climate movement in office where she’s worked to secure a $10 billion investment in the state budget for a Green New Deal to fund renewable energy, public transportation, building electrification, climate resiliency projects, and the creation of more than 50,000 green, union jobs.

Sarahana Shrestha for Assembly District 103: Shrestha first ran for office in an insurgent climate-forward campaign that knocked over 56,000 doors in the Mid-Hudson Valley, defeated an incumbent, and built power for an eventually successful campaign for publicly owned renewable energy through the Build Public Renewables Act. We’re helping her get reelected so she can continue to hold the state’s utilities accountable, fight for all major climate efforts in the legislature, and lead organizing for bold climate action in New York.

Emily Gallagher for Assembly District 50: Since she was elected in 2020, Gallagher has been a stalwart champion for the climate movement – leading the passage of major bills like the All Electric Buildings Act to get housing off fossil fuels, the Climate Change Superfund Act to penalize climate polluters, and fighting to protect funding in Albany for landmark climate bills like the CLCPA. Looking forward, she’ll continue to fight in office for New York to lead on climate by fighting to pass the SUNNY Act which promotes plug-in solar and social housing.