State Senator - District 59
Kristen Gonzalez
Represents District 59, covering parts of Western Queens, Northern Brooklyn and the East Side of Manhattan, won the seat in Nov. 2022, and chairs the Senate Internet and Technology Committee and the Elections Committee.
Issues Kristen is raising
Artificial intelligence and data privacy
Sponsored New York's 2024 law regulating how state agencies use automated decision-making and AI, a 2026 law on AI hiring tools used by certain state and local entities, and a 2024 law requiring disclosure of deceptive media in political communications. Sponsors bills barring unsafe AI companion features for minors and requiring data brokers to register.
Housing and tenants
Supports guaranteeing housing as a human right. Sponsors a bill to provide internet access to everyone living in temporary housing, which passed the Senate and the Assembly in June 2026.
Climate and energy
Supports building publicly owned renewable energy in New York. Voted for a law on gas service to new customers, signed in December 2025.
Health care
Supports providing single-payer health care in New York State. Voted for the Medical Aid in Dying Act, which passed the Senate 35-27 in June 2025 and became law in February 2026.
State budget, taxes and local government
Voted against the budget bills carrying the 2024-25 education, labor, housing and family assistance budget and the 2026-27 state fiscal plan, both of which became law. Sponsors a tax on non-essential helicopter and seaplane flights in cities of one million or more, which passed the Senate in May 2026. Voted against speeding up downstate casino licenses and a 2023 law on incorporating villages.
Background
A former tech product manager and community organizer raised in Elmhurst, Queens, she is the youngest woman ever elected to the State Senate.
- Chair of the New York State Senate Internet and Technology Committee and of the Senate Elections Committee
- Former product manager in the tech industry
- Worked for the New York City Council, in the Obama White House and in Sen. Chuck Schumer's office before her election
- Served on the New York City Council's Young Women's Advisory Council, writing policy recommendations, and on her local community board
- Organized with the Western Queens Community Land Trust and helped launch a citywide campaign for public internet
- Graduate of Columbia University, which she attended as a first-generation, low-income student; attended the Dalton School on a scholarship
- Raised in Elmhurst, Queens, by a single mother from Puerto Rico
- Re-elected on Nov. 5, 2024, with 98.9% of the vote, after winning the June 25, 2024 Democratic primary with 85.1%; first won the seat in Nov. 2022 after taking 57.8% in a five-candidate Democratic primary
Support
New York State AFL-CIO
Union
United Federation of Teachers
Union
New York State Nurses Association (NYSNA)
Union
Communications Workers of America
Union
Money
$144K
raised
Top donors: David Bliven, Local 8 Committee On Political Education, Friends Of Mike Gianaris