State Senator - District 30
Cordell Cleare
Represents Senate District 30, covering Harlem, East Harlem, the Upper West Side, Washington Heights, Hamilton Heights and Morningside Heights; she won its November 2021 special election and chairs the Senate Committee on Aging.
Issues Cordell is raising
Housing, rents and lead hazards
Sponsors a bill, passed by both houses in early 2026, setting state environmental standards for ambient lead and for lead contamination in soil and on floors and window sills. Voted for the 2025 law barring anyone from knowingly or recklessly helping two or more residential landlords or managers agree not to compete with respect to rental units, including through coordinating software or algorithms.
Health care and medical aid in dying
Voted against the Medical Aid in Dying Act in June 2025, and in February 2026 against the bill setting requirements for providing aid-in-dying medication, which was signed into law that month.
State budget and taxes
Voted for the 2026-27 budget bill implementing the state fiscal plan and for the 2024-25 education, labor, housing and family assistance budget bill. Voted against a 2025 law granting Yeshivas Nachlas Sofrim retroactive real property tax-exempt status.
Criminal justice and prisons
Sponsored a 2024 bill, vetoed by the governor, to end the lifetime ban on jury duty for people with felony convictions who have completed all sentencing requirements, and the 2024 law giving incarcerated people access to breast cancer screenings every two years and information on breast self-exams.
Consumer protection and product safety
Sponsored three laws enacted in 2025: one letting people bring claims over debts incurred through coercion, one banning the sale of infant walkers and restricting their use in certain settings, and one requiring operating manuals for e-bikes and other devices powered by lithium-ion batteries.
Background
Based in Harlem
She served as chief of staff to Bill Perkins in the City Council and the State Senate for nearly two decades, starting in 1997.
- Chair of the New York State Senate Committee on Aging
- Chairs the Housing sub-committee of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Caucus
- Elected to Senate District 30 in a Nov. 2, 2021 special election with 88.6% of the vote (43,148 votes); won the Aug. 23, 2022 Democratic primary against Shana Harmongoff with 69.9%; re-elected on Nov. 8, 2022 with 99.6% and on Nov. 5, 2024 with 99.5% (90,523 votes)
- Placed fourth of 14 candidates in the June 2021 New York City Council primary
- Chief of staff to Bill Perkins in the New York City Council and the New York State Senate for nearly two decades, beginning in 1997
- Democratic District Leader for two Assembly districts covering East Harlem and Central Harlem
- A founder of the Michelle Obama Democratic Club
- Board President of Community School District 3 and President of the district's Community Education Council
- Tenant organizer and Chair of the New York City Coalition to End Lead Poisoning
- Raised in Harlem, where her family has lived for four generations; attended New York City public schools, including Brooklyn Technical High School
- Her Senate biography says she and Constance Baker Motley are the only Black women elected to the New York State Senate from Manhattan
- Her Senate biography says she wrote and introduced 238 bills in 2023, of which 43 passed the Senate and 17 passed both houses
Support
New York Working Families Party
Also on your ballot on the Working Families Party line
Money
$88K
raised
Top donors: Law Pac of New York, 1199, Harter Secrest and Emery