State Senator - District 26
Andrew S. Gounardes
Represents the 26th State Senate District in western Brooklyn, covering neighborhoods from Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights to Downtown Brooklyn and Vinegar Hill, and was re-elected in 2024 with 78.5% of the vote.
Where they stand
Transit and street safety
Supports smart regulations, well-designed streets and transit investments to make travel safer and easier. Sponsored the law letting New York City put red-light cameras at up to 600 intersections, and was one of two senators to vote against requiring at least one conductor on city subway trains except where running without one is now allowed.
Public safety and policing
Sponsored the 2026 law requiring sexual offense evidence to be collected and reported in the statewide tracking system within ten days after the alleged victim permits its release.
Schools and public colleges
Voted for the 2024-25 state budget bill carrying the education, labor, housing and family assistance parts of the budget. His campaign says he proposed the New Deal for CUNY and SUNY, legislation to make public higher education tuition-free and hire more faculty.
Issues Andrew is raising
Cost of living, housing and the state budget
Supports universal child care, affordable housing, lower utility costs and the Working Families Tax Credit. Voted for a 2025 law barring knowingly or recklessly helping residential rental property owners or managers agree not to compete, including through coordinating software or algorithmic devices, a 2025 law on gas service to new customers, and the 2026-27 budget bill.
Children's online safety and artificial intelligence
Sponsored laws barring social media platforms from giving minors addictive feeds, creating the Child Data Protection Act, requiring warning labels on platforms with addictive feeds or infinite scroll, and regulating frontier AI models. Says they protect children from addictive algorithms and unregulated AI.
Workers' rights
Sponsored laws setting protections for freelance workers under the Freelance Isn't Free Act and giving employees access to their personnel records, with notice of negative information in them and a chance for review.
Immigration
Supports protecting immigrant families; his campaign says he introduced the New York For All Act to protect immigrant families from deportation.
Medical aid in dying and abortion
Voted for the medical aid in dying act, which became law in February 2026. His campaign says that in his first term he voted to pass the Reproductive Health Act, which put Roe v. Wade protections into state law.
Background
Based in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Born and raised in Bay Ridge, he is a fourth-generation Greek-American who lives there with his wife and their three children.
- State senator for District 26, representing neighborhoods from Bay Ridge and Dyker Heights to Downtown Brooklyn and Vinegar Hill
- Re-elected in November 2024 with 91,407 votes (78.5%), defeating Republican and Conservative candidate Vito LaBella
- Won the November 2022 general election with 69,976 votes (79.1%) over Republican and Conservative candidate Brian Fox, after winning the August 2022 Democratic primary with 65.3% against David Yassky
- His campaign says he has passed more than 100 bills into law as a state senator
- Fourth-generation Greek-American, born and raised in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Support
New York Working Families Party
Also on your ballot on the Working Families Party line
Money
$406K
raised
Top donors: Michael Stamatis, Dov Barnett, NY Self Storage Leadership PAC
Others running for State Senator - District 26