State Assembly Member - District 52
Jo Anne Simon
A disability civil rights lawyer and former teacher of deaf students who has represented the 52nd Assembly District since January 2015 and chairs the Assembly's Committee on Mental Health.
Where they stand
Energy sources and utility costs
Supports moving to public power, with electric generation and utilities publicly owned and renewable, and opposed siting fossil fuel infrastructure such as the Williams pipeline. Voted for a 2026 law on providing gas service to new customers and sponsors the NY Home Energy Affordable Transition Act.
Schools and reading
Sponsors bills requiring school districts to screen all children early for dyslexia and requiring reading-proficiency assessments and dyslexia screening for incarcerated people without a high school diploma; the second passed the Assembly in January 2026. Her campaign says she founded the annual Dyslexia Awareness Day at the Capitol.
Health care and medical decisions
Voted for New York's medical aid in dying law and for a 2026 law barring malpractice insurers from denying coverage or raising rates solely over the legal use or prescription of certain gender-affirming care drugs. Sponsors bills on notice before adult care facilities close and on assisted outpatient treatment. Her campaign says she helped pass legislation codifying Roe v. Wade into state law.
Issues Jo is raising
State budget and taxes
Voted against the 2026-27 transportation, economic development and environmental conservation budget bill, which passed the Assembly 110-33, and for the bill carrying major parts of the 2026-27 state fiscal plan.
Background
Based in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn
She grew up in Yonkers, has lived in Brooklyn since 1981 and lives in Boerum Hill.
- Assembly member for District 52 since Jan. 1, 2015
- Chair of the Assembly Committee on Mental Health; member of the Higher Education, Judiciary and Ways and Means committees, the Legislative Women's Caucus and the Task Force on Women's Issues
- Won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary over Lydia Green with 71.1% of the vote; advanced on the Working Families line after that party's primary was canceled
- Defeated Brett Wynkoop in the 2022 general election with 91.9% of the vote and in 2024 with 93.9%
- Opened a disability civil rights law firm in Downtown Brooklyn after working as a judicial law secretary and teaching in Hofstra University School of Law's clinical program
- Adjunct assistant professor of law at Fordham University
- Worked as a plaintiff-side employment lawyer representing union members
- Former teacher of the deaf and sign language interpreter
- Bachelor's degree in communication sciences from Iona College, master's degree in education of the deaf from Gallaudet University, and a law degree earned at night from Fordham University School of Law
- A founder of the Association on Higher Education And Disability (AHEAD) and its general counsel; former president of Everyone Reading, Inc.
- Former president of the Boerum Hill Association, where she chaired its Traffic & Transportation, Land Use, and Atlantic Yards committees
- Elected female Democratic District Leader and State Committeewoman for the 52nd Assembly District in 2004; served as district leader for a decade
- Co-founder of the New York State Democratic Committee's Progressive Caucus
- Received the New York League of Conservation Voters Climate Champion award
- Lives in Boerum Hill with her husband, Bill Harris
Support
Letitia James
New York State attorney general
Tom DiNapoli
New York State comptroller
Nydia Velázquez
U.S. representative
Jabari Brisport
New York State senator
Zellnor Myrie
New York State senator
Money
$90K
raised
Top donors: Teresa Toro, Doctors Council SEIU, Henry Gutman
Events & record
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