State Senator - District 33
J. Gustavo Rivera
Has represented Senate District 33 in the Bronx since 2011 and has chaired the Senate Health Committee since 2018, after six years as its ranking member.
Issues J. is raising
Health care and hospitals
Sponsors the New York Health Act for a single-payer state health system. Sponsored laws keeping medical debt off credit reports and on insurance coverage for epinephrine auto-injectors; the governor vetoed his 2025 bills on notice before hospital closures and on school health centers. Voted for medical aid in dying.
Housing and tenants
Supports protecting rent-regulated apartments and holding landlords accountable; his campaign says he voted for the tenant protections that made rent laws permanent. Sponsors a bill requiring housing, building and fire code penalties within 14 days; it passed the Senate in June 2026. Voted for the 2025 law capping bounced-rent-check fees.
State budget
Voted for the 2026-27 budget bill implementing the state fiscal plan and for two 2024-25 budget bills, one covering health and mental hygiene and one covering education, labor, housing and family assistance; all three were signed into law.
Criminal justice and public safety
Voted against a 2024 bill making evidence of a defendant's prior sexual offenses admissible in sexual offense trials, one of four no votes as it passed the Senate 55-4. His Senate biography says his first law let charities post bail for people who cannot afford it.
Addiction and overdose prevention
Backs overdose prevention centers: he is the main sponsor of the Safer Consumption Services Act to establish and regulate them. His Senate biography says a 2021 bill of his created the Opioid Settlement Fund for substance use prevention, treatment, recovery and harm reduction; he co-chairs the Senate task force on opioids and overdose prevention.
Background
Based in Bedford Park
Before taking office he was a community organizer, worked on Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign, served as director of outreach for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and taught political science at Pace University and Hunter College.
- Chair of the New York State Senate Health Committee since 2018, appointed by Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins; ranking member of the committee for six years before that
- Co-chair of the Joint Senate Task Force on Opioids, Addiction & Overdose Prevention
- Former ranking member of the Senate Crime Victims, Crime and Corrections Committee
- State senator for District 33 since Jan. 1, 2011, after defeating incumbent Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. in the 2010 Democratic primary
- Re-elected on Nov. 5, 2024 with 74.7% of the vote (51,635 votes) against Republican Dion Powell; in 2022 he won the Democratic primary against Miguelina Camilo by 506 votes (51.9%) and the general election with 99.5%; in 2020 he defeated Republican Dustin Martinez and Conservative Party candidate Steven M. Stern
- Advanced from the canceled June 23, 2026 Democratic and Working Families Party primaries without appearing on a primary ballot
- His Senate biography says he has sponsored 71 bills that became law, among them his first, which let charitable organizations post bail for people who cannot afford it; three laws banning smoking around schools, after-school programs and libraries; and 2021 laws on safe staffing in hospitals and nursing homes
- Board member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO)
- Community organizer for candidates including State Senators Jose Marcos Serrano and Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Fernando Ferrer's 2001 mayoral campaign
- Hired by SEIU in 2008 to manage activities for Barack Obama's presidential campaign in several primary states; later Obama's Florida constituency director
- Director of outreach for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand
- Taught political science at Hunter College until 2002 and was an assistant professor of political science at Pace University until 2010
- Faculty member and mentor for Somos el Futuro, the annual Model State Senate program
- Bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Puerto Rico (1998); came to New York in 1998 to begin a doctoral program in political science at the CUNY Graduate Center
- Born Nov. 19, 1975 in Santurce, Puerto Rico; lived in Kingsbridge Heights for more than 20 years and now lives in Bedford Park
- His campaign says he lives as a tenant in a rent-stabilized apartment
Support
New York Working Families Party
Also on your ballot on the Working Families Party line
Money
$268K
raised
Top donors: Committee for Action for a Responsible E, Paul Tallaj, New York State Laborers Pac